But the temperature changes and sometimes it can be as low as 3°C. In the winter months it is quite cold at night, and there can even be frost. although it rapidly warms up as the tropical sun climbs higher during the day.
At the heart of the southern hill country is Nuwara Eliya (Colombo 180km), Sri Lanka’s highest town and a favourite hill station during British colonial times. The town is still touted as ‘Little England’, an illusion maintained by the presence of the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, a racecourse, the Victoria Park and excellent trout fishing in nearby lakes and rivers.
You will find the temperature can drop close to freezing at nights and log fires are a common feature of the many Tudor-style houses. Adding to the atmosphere is the spectacle of its townsfolk wrapped up in winter jackets and woolly hats, carting great bundles of turnips, leeks, marrows and cabbages to the markets. Nuwara Eliya is a great base to explore the surrounding countryside: there are many walks on offer, including hiking around the lower slopes of the thickly-forested Mount Pidurutalagala, at 2,555m the island’s highest peak. A visit to the Hakgala Botanical Gardens, a short distance from Nuwara Eliya, is also recommended.
Among the most iconic vistas of the hill country are the rolling tea estates with their vast swathes of terrain carpeted in an emerald sea. Women draped in colourful saris resemble butterflies as they work their way along the tea bushes, deftly picking just two leaves and a bud from each branch and tossing them into baskets slung on their backs.
Introduced to the island in the late 19th century by the British, tea remains of vital importance to the economy. Some of the finest teas in the world are produced in the hill country. Visit a tea factory and see how the plucked tea is dried, crushed, fermented and fired using machinery that remains largely unchanged since Victorian times.
The town's attractions include the golf course, trout streams, Victoria Park, and boating or fishing on Lake Gregory. Victoria Park is an attractive and well-used oasis. It is popular with birdwatchers at quieter times because of the good opportunities it gives to see various species, particularly the Indian Blue Robin, Pied Thrush or Scaly Thrush lurking in the denser undergrowth. The Kashmir Flycatcher is another attractive bird species found in the park. Galway's Land Bird Sanctuary, close to Lake Gregory, is another wildlife site of 0.6 km².
The town is a base for visits to Horton Plains National Park. This is a key wildlife area of open grassy woodland. Species found here include the Leopard, Sambar, and the endemic Purple-faced Langur. Endemic highland birds include the Dull-blue Flycatcher, Sri Lanka White-eye, and Yellow-eared Bulbul. The plains also has a well-visited tourist attraction at World's End, a sheer precipice with a 1050 m drop. The return walk passes the scenic Baker Falls. Early morning visits are best, both to see the wildlife, and to view World's End before mists close in during the later part of the morning.
One of the distinctive features of Nuwara Eliya's countryside is the widespread growing of vegetables, fruit and flowers usually associated with temperate Europe. This "Little England" is covered with terraces growing potatoes, carrots, leeks, and roses, interspersed with tea bushes on the steeper slopes.
The slow-growing tea bushes of this highland region produce some of the world's finest Orange Pekoe tea, and several tea factories around Nuwara Eliya offer guided tours and the opportunity to sample or purchase their products.
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