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Senior Travel Consultant, Colombo Office
Twenty-two years in travel, five companies along the way, and one steady principle: Samanthie plans the kind of trip she would want to take herself. She knows Sri Lanka the way only a local can, and India well enough to send you from the Golden Triangle to the cool pine forests of the Himalayas. Ask for her favourite corner of home and she will point you somewhere most people overlook: Kumana, the quieter neighbour of Yala.
Away from the crowds
Kumana is my favourite park, and a telling choice. It sees a fraction of Yala's crowds but rewards you with much the same cast: elephants, leopards and a remarkable amount of birdlife around its lagoons.
A jeep safari there is my idea of a perfect day out, and exactly the sort of place I love sending people who assume they have to queue to see the wild.
“Every journey begins with a single step.”
There is very little Samanthie does not cover. Honeymoons, families, multigenerational groups, wildlife and safari, luxury, solo travellers, adventure, culture and history, and trips built around religion all sit comfortably in her hands. Twenty-two years in, the instinct is for the personal detail.
At home I have covered a lot of ground, from the ancient cities of the Cultural Triangle to the safari parks, tea country and southern coast. In India I have travelled through Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Goa, and lost my heart to Shimla and Manali in the Himalayas. I love how a few hours on the road can change the climate, landscape and mood entirely.
The most remote place I have reached is Meemure, a secluded village deep in the Knuckles Mountain Range. The journey is long and rough, and what waits at the end is somewhere genuinely untouched, ringed by forest, rivers and mountains.
The team lives in Sri Lanka, so we know the country, hotels and practicalities inside out. We know what actually works rather than what merely looks good on paper, and with offices in Sri Lanka and the UK, travellers have support across both time zones.
Outside work I spend as much time as I can with family, usually out exploring more of Sri Lanka together. Music is the other constant. I love to listen, and to sing.
Samanthie's address book
Off the record
From their travellers
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Share your ideas with Samanthie and the Red Dot team will help shape them into a tailor-made journey, built around how you love to travel.
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