What we say

Gal Oya sits in Sri Lanka’s wildest corner, where the island’s raw beauty remains largely untouched by tourism. The Senanayake Samudra reservoir dominates the landscape, its waters stretching between forested islands where elephants occasionally – if you’re extraordinarily lucky – swim between landmasses, trunks raised above the waterline. It’s a sighting few witness, and one you’ll never forget.
The lodge neighbours one of the last remaining Veddha communities, Sri Lanka’s indigenous forest-dwelling people. While expert in-house naturalists guide your wildlife encounters, explaining leopard territories and sloth bear behaviour, there’s also the chance to walk with the Veddha village chief himself through ancestral jungle. He brings the forest alive in ways no textbook could – identifying medicinal plants his tribe has used for generations, pointing out ancient hunting grounds and cave dwellings that tell stories reaching back millennia.
The accommodation is built to meld within the jungle using locally sourced illuk, granite stone, teak and mara wood. Lodge Bungalows feature built-in four-poster beds with mosquito nets, private verandahs, and indoor-outdoor bathrooms that blur the line between shelter and wilderness. Signature Bungalows add private plunge pools, while the Lodge Villa offers two bedrooms perfect for families.
Mornings bring boating safaris across glassy waters, afternoons by the pool beneath Monkey Mountain, evenings watching the sun set over the reservoir. Nature runs the show here, and your only job is to pay attention.

Our three words:

Wild | Immersive | Extraordinary

Philippa…