House rules
The rules, and the reasons behind them.
Most of this is ordinary hostel housekeeping. Two things are not: there is an age limit, and there is a point in the evening after which nobody leaves the property. Both are easier to read now than to be told at the gate.
Timings
The windows that matter.
Worth a screenshot before you travel. These four are the ones guests ask about at the door, and the only ones you need on the day you arrive.
- Check-in
12:00 – 16:30
- Beds are ready from midday and the window shuts at 16:30, which is comfortably before dark. Dark is when the property closes to the outside, so arriving inside this window is not just our preference.
- Check-out
06:00 – 11:00
- Early by hostel standards, and deliberate. Most people are back from the morning drive well inside it, and the beds turn around for the same night.
- The pool
07:00 – 21:00
- Open through the day and closed after 21:00. Swimming is in the pool only, never in the waterhole it looks down on, which belongs to whatever comes to drink from it.
- Quiet hours
22:00 – 05:15
- Not only a noise rule. Almost everyone here is awake again before it ends, so the quiet is what makes the early start survivable for the rest of the building.
Living next to it
The waterhole is the whole reason to be here.
Everything in this group exists for one reason. Animals come down to drink because nothing is waiting for them when they do, and that holds only as long as we are boring to them. Break it once and it takes weeks to come back, for every guest after you.
Watch quietly, and from a distance
The deck is for looking from, not for getting closer. Keep your voice down when something is at the water and it will stay long enough to be worth watching.
Nothing gets fed
Not the monkeys, not the birds, not whatever turns up under the deck after dark. A fed animal stops being wild and starts being a problem, usually for somebody else.
Nothing goes home with you
No flora and no fauna leaves the property, alive or dead. Insects, butterflies, lizards and frogs included. This is the edge of a national park rather than somewhere to collect from.
No parties, events or loud music
At any hour, not only after 22:00. Noise pushes animals off the water, and once they stop coming they stop coming for everybody.
Indoors
Small building, shared with strangers.
The other group is about what is outside the fence. This one is about the fact that you are sharing a small open building with people who are getting up before five.
Visitors stay out of the dorms
Anyone visiting you is welcome in the hangout area and out on the viewing deck. The dorm rooms are for people staying with us and nobody else.
No food or snacks in the dorm rooms
Sealed or not. This is an open building on the boundary of a national park, so food in a dorm becomes a wildlife problem rather than a tidiness one.
Smoking outside only
Not indoors and not in the shared spaces. There is a designated spot outside for it, and we will point you at it when you arrive.
No pets
Yours would not enjoy the neighbours, and the neighbours were here first.
Before you book
The rest of what people ask us.
What is the cancellation policy?
Free up to 3 days before you arrive. Cancel later than that, or do not turn up at all, and we charge for the first night. Once that window has closed we cannot refund a change to the booking either, and bookings cannot be amended once you are here. Full payment is due at check-in, early check-outs are not refundable, and unused nights are not refunded.
What currency can I pay in?
Sri Lankan rupees, or any other major currency, whichever you are carrying when you get here.
Is breakfast included?
Yes, with every bed. It is served after the morning drive gets back rather than at a fixed hour, so you are not choosing between eating and seeing a leopard.
How do the safaris work?
Jeeps leave at 05:30 and are shared, up to six guests, with the cost split between the seats. Where you go is planned around where the leopards have actually been moving rather than a fixed route. Tell us when you book and we will put you on one.
Is there wifi?
Free Starlink, and it works. Worth knowing that it is the only connection out here, so if it goes down during bad weather there is no mobile fallback to speak of.
Can I swim in the waterhole?
No, and you would not want to. You swim in the pool, which sits above the waterhole and looks down onto it. The waterhole is for the animals that come to drink from it, which is the whole point of watching from up there.
Ready when you are
Come and stay on the edge of it.
Message us and we will sort the beds and the safari in the same conversation. Or book through a platform if you would rather.