The hour after dawn is when Sinharaja is loudest. Spurfowl and junglefowl call from the forest floor, thrushes sing from the lower storey and, with luck, a mixed flock sweeps through: babblers, drongos, malkohas and Blue Magpies moving together through the trees.
Your naturalist meets you on the deck at 05:30. Depending on your targets, you walk the forest edge or enter the reserve, and you are back for a Sri Lankan breakfast around ten.
