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| Sunday, 27 February 2005 |
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| News Business Features Editorial
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Ranweli Holiday Village among top 10 eco-destinations by Christie Fernando, Chilaw special correspondent
Ranweli Holiday Village in Waikkal, off Chilaw an eco-friendly vacation resort in an exotic beach environment, abounds in indigenous flora and fauna - with a luscious mangrove conservation habitat. It is 18 kilometres from the Katunayake International Airport in a miniature peninsula between two rivers, a lagoon and the sea. 'USA Today', the largest circulating newspaper in the world today has listed the Ranweli Holiday Village among the top ten eco-destinations in the world, namely: Kenya, Tanzania, Peru, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Cameron, Australia, Namibia and Sri Lanka - the only Asian destination in the world. The Travel Web page of the 'USA Today' has described the Ranweli Holiday Village as a great eco-friendly resort silhouetted against a colourful beach location, which is idiosyncratic and distinctive in its own environmental setting. A brisk ferry-ride across the meandering river reaches the nine-hectare (22-acre) peninsula leading the traveller to the resort nestling with 72 bungalows and 12 family rooms which provide comfortable accommodation for over 170 guests. The chalet type construction with local material resembles a characteristic Sri Lankan village.
There's no access to the property by any other automobile than a ferry ride across a scenic estuary. All rooms are air-conditioned - and solar power provides hot showers. The interior decor includes terracotta pots, brass lamps, artefacts produced by local craftsmen, and also handmade local fabric. Indigenous raw materials were used in its construction work in 1975, and refurbished later to cater to international standards in 1996. Besides, bird watching tours are organised for ornithologists along the canal and river in an outboard motor boat powered by a 25 hp engine. About 59 species of birds can be spotted at this mangrove landscape. Bungalow-type accommodation completed with local biodegradable materials is available for visitors in an ethnic style resembling a model Sri Lankan village. The hotel arranges eco-friendly tours to Anavulundawa, a man-made wetland constructed in the 12th century AD and located on the western migratory route of birds. Overnight trips to Sri Lanka's natural World Heritage site in the Sinharaja Bio-sphere Reserve are also arranged on request. An Ayurvedic centre has been opened to offer guests an authentic ayurvedic health treatment using medicinal herbs. Yoga exercises and meditation programs are also available on request. ######## Exotic holidays from The Travel Club The Travel Club has launched a series of packages to exotic destinations such as Fairbanks in Alaska to Dunedin in New Zealand across US, Europe, Africa, Far East and Australia this season. In addition to the tours to the Canadian Rockies, East and West coasts of America and the Alaskan and Carebean Cruises a tour to South America is now available to visit Iguassu Falls an Rio in Argentina, Buenos Aires, Santiago Chile and Machu Pichu in Peru. In Europe tours are offered giving an insight to many places of interest in Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France, Greece, Turkey and the UK. Of the tours to Africa the Kenyan safari can now be taken with or without an extension to Tanzania visiting Serrengetti, the Ngorongoro crater and Lake Manyara, or South Africa with an extension to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and The Chobe National Park in Botswana. The tour to Egypt covers Cairo, Alexandria, the cruise on the Nile with extension to the famous temple built by the Ramses II - Abusimble. Indochina tours cover the ancient Temple of Angkor wat and the Grand circuit, Luang Prabang and Pak ou caves in Laos an eight-day tour of Vietnam and Myanmar. In addition to a standard package to China Beijing, Xian, Guilin and Shanghai one could also embark on a cruise on the Yangtze River or proceed to Suszhou and Kunming. A tour to Japan is unbelievably cheap considering the fact that the hotels are located in the heart of Ginza and visiting places such as Mount Fuji, Hakone and full day tour of the city of Tokyo where some main meals are included too. The real experience is provided on a Shinkansen to Hiroshima, Kyoto, Nara and Osaka. The packages to Australia and New Zealand cover a cross section of the country, providing an opportunity to see the outbacks, Glaciers, Volcanoes, the typical farm life and the scenic beauty of these countries. Operating with a network of Travel Agents in 17 cities in India packages to many places of interest in Rajasthan, Mahrashtra, Karnataka. Tamilnadu and Kerala and available for selection where travel cost could also be reduced by surface travel using the high speed Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains where the tickets too could be purchased through them. The advantage are that the minimum numbers are not required for many packages as they are tailor-made packages of well-known branded products of Cosmos and Globus of USA and Europe, Princess, Royal Carribean and Carnival Cruises and JTB tours of Japan. |
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