Gal Oya Lodge

Gal Oya Lodge is a ten-bungalow eco-lodge on the edge of Gal Oya National Park, in Sri Lanka's remote south-east. The lodge runs the only boat safari in Sri Lanka, out onto Senanayake Samudraya, the country's largest reservoir, where elephants occasionally swim between islands using their trunks as a snorkel, a sight found nowhere else on the island. Nine thatched bungalows and one family villa sit across 20 acres of private jungle bordering the lake, built from local materials, each with floor-to-ceiling windows, a four-poster bed and an open-air bathroom finished in bamboo and brass. The lodge's neighbours are the Vedda, believed to be Sri Lanka's original inhabitants. Around 80 per cent of the staff come from surrounding villages.

The Vedda village chief leads forest walks explaining medicinal plants, old hunting grounds and cave dwellings still used by his community, and the lodge runs its own research programme alongside local conservation groups to monitor wildlife in the park. Jeep safaris track leopard and sloth bear. Other experiences include a sunrise climb up Monkey Mountain for a 180-degree view over the lake, or a Sri Lankan cooking class in the outdoor kitchen. Gal Oya remains one of the country's least-visited parks, so sightings take patience, but with just two or three boats permitted on the entire lake, there's rarely another vessel in sight while you wait.