Galkadawala Forest Lodge - Living among nature
What is the cost of progress?
It’s a question we ponder on our rare days when we are one with ourselves and wonder about where the world is going towards. These days, with climate change, global warning and other environmental catastrophes, we started questioning this very regularly. A few of us take action, another few talk about it, and the rest just go on about their daily lives living the way they have always lived.
One such person who took action is Maulie de Saram, the founder of Galkadawala Forest Lodge in Habarana, Sri Lanka. We had the priviledge of staying at this forest lodge for four days in the month of November 2024 to experience living life among nature.
Maulie, after working a long and arduous career for 20 years decided to quit her corporate job and go back to her roots - to lead a simple life in harmony with the nature. She also wanted to build a place where people can experience living among nature. Maulie and her architect friend, Vijitha Basnayaka had many long conversations about building a forest lodge using sustainable practices.
For this project, Maulie acquired an abandoned land, a land that has been destroyed by excessive usage. She intended to transform it into an eco-friendly forest lodge built using sustainable materials, with the help of her friend, Vijitha.
Maulie nurtured the barren land, and planted many trees and over the last twenty years, the land has sprawled into a thick forest. Her goal while building the forest lodge, was to minimize the impact on the environment and use existing materials. With the help of her architect Vijitha, she designed the bungalows to naturally cool using the breeze from the lake nearby. The bungalows also used various discarded materials like cable trays from power plants and clay dug from her own land. The pillars are made with timber that is specially grown for construction purposes. The ambience and the lightning of the forest lodge is designed consiously to not disturb the birds and various animals living in the area.
Why did Maulie build this place?
Maulie liked to recall that people in her childhood always lived this way, i.e. in harmony with nature and to always consume moderately. She always dreamt of living the same way as she did in her childhood days and therefore she built this place.
My Experience
Galkadawala offers an unique experience for guests to live among the forest in one of the two bungalows and a tree house. Birds, animals, insects and various flora are part of their daily life in Galkadawala.
I was a little excited and anxious on the first day of my stay, but I quickly eased into the Galkadawala life. I was also fortunate to see a couple of fireflies buzzing near my bed (they were hovering above the mosquito net) on one of the nights, and it was a magical experience to fall asleep to the tiny light buzzes of these creatures. As the days passed in Galkadawala, it became easy to forget the busy bustling city life and slowly accustom to the slow, relaxed and calm Galkadawala life.
Our bodyguards
Galkadawala is also home to five rescued dogs (Thomas, Suki, Mali, Angel & Poppy) and whenever we would go to the lake, at least one, if not 4 or 5 of the dogs would accompany us on the way. We were always protected and loved, having the privilege of being a guest at Galkadawala. One of the dogs even frightened away a small monitor lizard and didn’t let it approach us when we were at the lake.
Interaction with other guests
During meal times, we were served food with other guests in Galkadawala.
It felt like a small family gathering. Each of the guests who arrived at Galkadawala had a positive and curious vibe.
And at the dinner table, one would be treated to many different stories and conversations. I
strongly believe that like minded people attract other like minded people. And Maulie, through her
personality and creation of Galkadawala, attracts similar like minded individuals as guests.
Food
Galkadawala offers healthy, vegetarian meals three times a day. They cook the food with home grown vegetables, fruits, and various traditional ingredients. The food is prepared with a lot of love and our caretakers serve it with bright smiles. The food included a variety of Sri Lankan dishes made with coconut, rice flour, brinjal, bitter guard, bottle guard and leafy vegetables. Being a person who doesn’t like to try traditional food (let’s just say that I have an acquired taste with traditional food), I was quite skeptical about these dishes, but honestly I adored everything. I even tried and loved a bitter guard curry (among all the vegetables, this one gives me a nauseating sensation and I generally avoid this vegetable).
An opportunity to slow down
Galkadawala allows you to slow down among nature. Walking along the lake or in the Galkadawala forest lodge and the nearby areas is a great activity to spot many birds and animals. The area abounds with endemic creatures of all types, including 133 of the 453 avian species and 50 of the 230 species of butterflies of Sri Lanka.
The forest lodge also has many books on Sri Lankan history, culture and travel, and one can just cozy themselves in one of the many sitting lounges and spend hours reading the books.
Admist the nature, one can also practice yoga and meditation. Galkadawala can also arrange for yoga classes conducted by an experienced yoga guru. When the water levels in the lake are sufficient, Galkadawala can also arrange for a kayaking experience.
Things to do near Galkadawala
Galkadawala is located near Habarana, in the cultural triangle of Sri Lanka. The cultural triangle is home to many ruins and temples and also a few elephant sanctuaries.
Sigiriya
Sigiriya is an ancient architectural marvel that was developed 1500 years back by King Kashyapa of the Moriya dynasty of Sri Lanka. It contained the ruins of an ancient palace. The palace was situated on top of the 200m rock that was accessible only through the mouth of an enormous lion (the paws of the lion carved on the rock are still intact and can be seen today). The rock is also home to many different frescoes that showcases golden skinned women wearing lavish jewellery. There is a mirror wall where people across the centuries have written about the frescoes (like a small guest book). Along with the rock palace, there are sprawling water gardens and a botanical garden that one can stroll along and experience the simplicity and elegance of the place.
Dambulla Cave Temple
Dambulla Cave temple is home to an ancient monastery of 2000 years old. There are many Buddhist mural paintings and statues from that period. This cave complex is very unique, showcasing exceptional craftmenship and displays brilliant compositions of mural paintings across the walls of the caves.
Elephant Safari
Near Galkadawala, there are two main elephant sanctuaries - Minneriya National Park and Kaudulla National Park. One can visit them and take a jeep safari and see the various wildlife including many different elephants. Visitors can easily spot anywhere between 20 to 100 elephants on a given day.
My thoughts
Galkadawala is a place that brings out the harmony between man and nature. My stay there made me realise one thing - that we have forgotten how to live with nature. We, humans are not the only creatures in this world and we should learn to live in harmony with the birds, animals and plants and most importantly the Earth.
