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Sri Lanka, the way we know it
the people behind your journey
Our Story
“We built the company we wished existed when we first fell in love with this island — one run by people who actually live here.”
2011 · How it began
Founded by people who never left
Lanka Ivory began in 2011, when two conservation biologists and a former Colombo hotel director shared one conviction: that the best way to see Sri Lanka is slowly, with guides who love it.
What started as a handful of tailor-made trips for friends has grown into hundreds of journeys a year — but the conviction hasn't changed at all.
Our approach
Slow travel, deep connection
We build itineraries around what most tours skip — a dawn with elephant mahouts, lunch in a family-run rice mill, a private audience with a temple guardian who has kept the flame lit for forty years.
Every partner lodge, every guide, every meal is chosen by someone who has been there personally — and returned.
What guides us
The things we won't compromise on
Local at heart
Every guide, driver and consultant is Sri Lankan. This is their home, not a posting.
Honest counsel
We'll tell you when a hotel isn't worth the money, or a season isn't right. That's the whole job.
Travel that gives back
We work with conservation projects and community enterprises across the island.
Registered & protected