‘Ayu’ is Sanskrit for 'life'. Built from the ground up with no prior travel industry contacts, Ayu in the Wild unravels Sri Lanka through a remarkable black book of carefully curated sustainable slow luxury travel experiences, where a host of stories and storytellers showcase life on a biodiversity hotspot.
CONNECT WITH CHAMINTHA
“At Ayu in the Wild, luxury travel is not just about boutique-chic. It's about weaving in unique, one-of-a-kind experiences which are magical and off-radar. It's about meeting ordinary Sri Lankans with extraordinary stories to tell; and ultimately, knowing that your travel supports community economics and cultural conservation.”
THREE QUESTIONS WITH chamintha
What makes travelling with Ayu so unique and special?
“Our ethos since 2012, that low-footfall private luxury travel can, and must benefit the island, the people and the wild.”
Describe the most enriching family travel moment that you’ve ever created?
“When a mum of two told us that meeting the kids of 'Classrooms In the Wild' taught her kids about gratitude, important life lessons that are hard to teach at school, and how to be travellers (not tourists). How her 6 year old's questions about the lack of computers and ipads in this rural local school, the real face time and unscripted conversations were all she wanted for her kids to take away from this trip. It felt amazing to know that the few hours they spent with the kids of Ayu in the Wild's community outreach initiative to teach spoken English in a disconnected rural community where wild elephants roam - were memories the family will keep for a lifetime.”
Favourite national dish?
“'Roast-Paan'-crab curry- pol sambol combo. Roast-Paan is a local crusty bread baked in a wood-fired oven, and when dipped in a crab curry cooked with just a subtle touch of Sri Lankan spices and a coconut sambol on the side, it creates an explosion of flavours.”
“Our meticulously designed trips always start from a blank canvas, where we align the style and passion of each traveller with an armoury of inspirational and personally curated grassroot experiences across the island, without compromising our dedication to exceptional luxury travel.”
– Chamintha Jayasinghe