Ours was a siblings (aged 54-61) and a young'un aged 21 on a 8D7N tour around Sri Lanka. From landing we went right across to Trincomalee (D1), Sigiriya/Habarana (D2), Kandy (D3), Ella (D4), Mirissa (D5), Bentota (D6), Colombo (D7). Lots of van on road time to take in this beautiful country.
Hasantha was smiling ear to ear greeting us at the airport. Settled our dues accordingly and helped me get SIM card.
In the van waiting was our driver Nirmal, whom we quickly discovered to be careful and responsible, totally unfazed by all that nonstop sibling banter on the journey.
He listened intently to our needs and delivered accordingly. He knew we were avid birdwatchers so wherever we went he made enquiries around our stop about the birds. From his enquiries we got a special treat to see a fish eagle resting in long grass just a few feet away from us at a lake.
Most memorably, he literally saved us from prolonging our train journey which stopped at a tiny little halt by telling the station master not to allow the train to leave cos his foreigners were on board and had to get off the train. We honestly could not be sure where we had stopped cos it was pitch dark and tiny station platform was the length of only 2 coaches. It was a hilarious relief to see Nirmal coming to our rescue!
Nirmal continued his diligent responsibility till our last stop and we thank him sincerely that our long drive around Sri Lanka was without incident. We were truly blessed to have been recommended SLD from a friend, and I am more than happy to endorse the recommendation. Keep up the good work Hasantha and team!

We went on holiday with another family of friends, we were 8: 4 adults and 4 kids from 6 to 12 years old.
We had a very pleasant preparation of the travel with the help of Mr. Hasantha, the communication via email was smooth and responsive, we received many good suggestions also in the planning phase.
When we landed to Colombo we met Mr Hasantha, our fantastic guide Roshan and the excellent driver Danu.
The first impact with the traffic jam has been quite impressive (...yes, you have to try it to understand...) but our driver always drove safely and we could stay on our car without any concern. Roshan has been a very precious guide from the first minute to the last, both listening and organizing for us anything we wanted to do and, upon request, suggesting visits if we did not have clear ideas. Roshan loves his work, his country and children, so he soon became for our kids a part of our families. We visited Kandy on Perahera Full Moon Day (incredible !), Nuwaraeliya, Ella, climbed up at Sigirya.... and many other wonderful places of this beautiful country during our 20 days holiday. We could do all of these things thanks to the sharp organization of every detail: if we had been alone we would never have been able to do the same things in the same time. Thanks to the explanations we got from Roshan, we also had the chance to understand much more of Buddhism and Hinduism.
On the last day we also received a very appreciated surprise... :-D
Overall: 5 full stars service.
See you again in Sri Lanka !

The Driver - we had Thilak. A nice man who has been a driver for years and knows his way around. He was thoroughly professional in his approach. He had always prepared in advance for the destination, called Hotels etc to make sure of the route. Never saw him fill up, that was always done when we were out and about. He knew his drive times to each location. He was very proud of his no1 driver status in the company. Thilak's English is good enough for general chit chat but less so if you tried to explore more complex conversation nevertheless he is was very amiable company over our 3 week trip.
The Driving - I planned our itinerary and confirmed with SLD - it takes longer than you think, much longer. Speed limits are slow and that is generally so you have time to avoid buses who seem to be the one class of vehicle who ignore them. Overtaking on blind bends is pretty standard so you need to be prepared to stop, pull over etc and you may find a tuk tuk is trying to find a way through on the left. Police were all over waiting to pull over offenders so even an unbroken white line would not be crossed despite a clear road ahead as far as you could see. Net result of this is that what I figured to be a 3 hr drive looking at a map, was in fact 6.
The Transport - an air conditioned black 7 seater, tinted windows making us anonymous to the rest of the world. It was kept in good nick.
The Deal - understand and agree the terms of the booking. You need to arrange several things separately e.g. Jeeps for any safari, Horton plains, they are not licences to drive up the mountain so you need local bookings. All UNESCO entry fees are not peanuts so with a family it adds a few hundred to the budget. Thilak suggested we could climb the rock neighbouring Sigiriya to view it from there. Less people, less cost. We did Sigiriya to tick the box but there are options. We skipped the elephant sanctuary because you will see a hundred in the wild and you can sit and watch them for hours and it's another venue which sounds like it is more for tourism these days.
The Trip - it was a great time but this mode of moving around does make you feel a bit removed from the life. You slide open the doors, hit by 35 deg and 98% humidity, join the tourist masses to view another spectacular UNESCO heritage site before jumping in and moving off to next. Nevertheless you should see these places and a short holiday is probably difficult to sort out local transport.
Horton plains - great views and beautiful location but again, you are just wandering a vast expanse on one single track which is clogged with tourists which takes the edge off.
Don't miss the exhibits room in the museum before you set off. We were bent double. Given the stated importance of this location it is a hugely funny introduction to the great esteem in which the place is held. Book up and make sure you like rice and curry first.