Buttala Lodge for rent
Tree Tops Jungle Lodge in Buttala Southern Province Sri Lanka

Tree Tops Jungle Lodge offers a journey back to basics, living as close to nature as possible. Located in a wilderness bordering Sri Lankas largest national park, Yala, we offer a true jungle experience and wild elephants have their tracks right through the premises of the lodge. The simple huts and houses are made in local,traditional style; from clay and wood. Situated in uninhabited jungle bordering Sri Lanka’s largest protected area, the 1300 km2 Yala NP, we live amidst the whole range of animals found in the neighboring sanctuary. Most prominent among our wild visitors are the elephants.
We don't boast of any modern amenities - on the contrary we stick to a philosophy of minimalism; the surrounding nature is in focus. Visitors sleep in a clay or tree hut, there's no electricity, meals are prepared on wood fire, and bathing is at a beautiful freshwater well situated in the midst of the jungle and with spectacular views to forest, birds, and steep rocky mountains. The main amenity is complete silence except the natural sounds of living creatures of the jungle. Our clay huts are simple and rustic, quite similar to traditional huts of the local area. We combine traditional building methods with fresh ideas about design, strength, and function. The architectural style is based on a radical principle of being integrated with environment. Materials used for the huts are very local: an inner wooden structure (from fallen trees found in the surrounding forest) plastered with a thick layer of clay dug from our land. Walls and floors are polished with a mix of clay and cow dung to make a soft look and prevent insects from finding a place to live inside our walls. The tree huts are made with inspiration from the traditional 'chena tree huts'. From these huts farmers watch their cultivated plots in safety from wild animals, especially elephants. Morning – bed tea or coffee. A choice is organic highland grown Sri Lankan coffee made french press style. The menu is native style. For breakfast usually ’rotties’ – flat bread baked on wood fire. Another traditional dish is ’string-hoppers’; a spaghetti-like pasta made from rice flour. Both rotty and hoppers are usually served with ’dhal’ (spicy lentil soup) and grinded coconut. If the hot stuff is too much for breakfast, there is a selection of fruit and delicious waterbuffalo yougurt which goes very well with kitul-palm syrup. The youghurt is homemade first quality, produced by a villager who is the owner of the herd of waterbuffaloes often roaming the scrub outside the lodge. Lunch is served early afternoon about 1.30 pm and dinner between 8-9 pm. It’s all flexible and depending on treks and individual preferences. Manager Kushan – who is also the cheff - prepares delicious traditional Sri Lankan vegetable curries using exotic ingredients such as banana flower, manioc, green bananas, jack nut and fruits, as well as herbs and spices often found in the jungle. You can also experience well known vegetables (grown in the cool climate of the mountains) as potato, carrots, beetroot, pumpkin, and leeks, prepared Sri Lankan curry-style. Kushan arrange colorful displays of the variety of fruit vegetables used so that you can see the raw version of the curries you eat. The menu is flexible: meat and fish dishes can be prepared upon request and Kushan could fulfill a wide range of individual wishes.