Included in the programme fee:

• Week one: volunteer house accommodation in Unawatuna with Wi-Fi, three meals a day, local transport to the project, orientation and training, and your placement on whichever of the three projects you choose
• Week two: accommodation throughout the tour, transport, a local guide, and daily breakfast and lunch
• Shared arrival transfer from Colombo airport on Saturdays within the set time windows
• Entrance arrangements and the Yala jeep safari
• An experienced bilingual operations team, staff on 6am to 8pm, and 24/7 local emergency support
• Comprehensive pre-departure information and a certificate of participation on request

Not included:

• International flights
• Sri Lankan ETA (visa) fee
• Dinners during the tour week
• The return transfer to Colombo — arranged for you but paid locally
• A private arrival transfer if you land outside the Saturday windows
• Travel and medical insurance, which is mandatory. Buy it through us at extra cost, or bring your own and send a copy
• Vaccinations, tips and personal spending

The price shown already includes your application fee – there is nothing further to pay us on arrival. Payment can be split into interest-free instalments, with the balance due 45 days before you start.

Read this before you book your flight. The arrival transfer is included, but with conditions that catch people out.

You are collected from Colombo Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB) and driven to Galle, about two and a half hours south. The included transfer is shared, on Saturdays only, within two set windows — one morning, one afternoon or evening.

• Land on a Saturday inside a window and it costs you nothing.
• Land outside the windows, or on any other day, and a private transfer costs USD 100.

The tour week ends closer to Colombo than Galle does, so check with the team where your final day leaves you before booking your outbound flight.

The return transfer to Colombo is not included — it is arranged for you and paid locally in Sri Lanka.

Accommodation changes between the two weeks, which is worth knowing before you pack.

Week one, at the project: you stay in Unawatuna, in one of two volunteer houses a hundred metres apart, both overlooking Unawatuna Beach. The beachside house has twelve en-suite air-conditioned bedrooms, most with balconies, plus a dining area, lounge, terrace and garden, with CCTV and overnight security. The larger house has thirteen en-suite bedrooms, most with ocean views, and a private forty-foot pool. Rooms are shared and both houses have Wi-Fi.

Week two, on tour: selected hotels and guesthouses along the route — Sigiriya, Kandy, the hill country and Yala. Standards are comfortable rather than luxurious, and each stop is chosen for its position on the route.

Pack a small bag for the tour week and leave the rest at the volunteer house if that is easier; you will be moving every day or two.

Week one, at the project: breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, cooked at the volunteer house. Mostly Sri Lankan — rice and curry, dhal, coconut sambol, hoppers, fresh tropical fruit — with western options in rotation.

Week two, on tour: daily breakfast and lunch are included. Dinners are not. That is deliberate: the evenings are when you get to pick where you eat, and the towns on this route have far better food than any fixed arrangement would give you. Budget accordingly.

Tell the team about allergies and dietary requirements before you arrive. Vegetarians are extremely well served in Sri Lanka; vegans and anyone with a serious allergy should flag it early, particularly for the tour week.