This is Our Story
From the very beginning of Our Journey following our Dream, we were looking for that Place…
..That Place, where You just would have to Stop at this particular Point and your Entire World Changes..
The Cliff Lodge Family
Anke & Naveen
Wasantha
Harris
Niroshan
Tharuka
Kutti
The Beauty of this Place can’t be described in Words, it’s a Feeling,
a Magical Time of Seeing Yourself…
“The Cliff Lodge” is
Not Only a remote Mountain Lodge,
Not Only a Glamping Site,
Not Only a Spring Water Shower with openly breathtaking Views,
Not Only a Dining Experience under the Stars with Delicious European, Sinhalese and Tamil Dishes and “The Cliff Lodge” is Not Only a Place to Experience the Extraordinary Natural Beauty of Mother Nature’s Creativity!
“The Cliff Lodge” is the Life we want to Live..
…the Life we Created out of a Dream to become True….
…Join Us on our Journey to who we were and who we are now,
back to how it all begun and what The Cliff Lodge is about…
From a Cosmopolitan London city lifestyle
To living in a rural off-grid Cliff Top Lodge in the Mountains of Sri Lanka Be honest… Who on earth would do this?
Crazy, right?
Well, we did just that… and it wasn’t hard at all…
….But…
….we had to give up everything….
….a comfortable home with all luxury gadgets you can imagine, well paid jobs, promising careers and travelling the world…
..But Wait…
…..all of this is true but even so we Gained a lot More than we Gave Up……
….A home within Pure Nature and Wildlife healing our Busy Minds and Bringing us even Closer together, giving chances to our Crew from the surrounding Communities and Creating Opportunities to Support People In Need and the Environment……
…..Up in the Cloudy Mountains…
….Down to Earth & Back to Nature..
A Real
Simplistic Life
So…You still would say it is Crazy, right?
Well it is, kind of…..
.. and it’s definitely not Everyone’s Cuppa Tea…..
For us...It’s the most Rewarding decision We have ever Made.
“With all the experiences we gained throughout our lives,
we now feel even richer than ever before.”
….Back in 2017 we were travelling around Sri Lanka for a few months, Created a Business Plan for an extensive Glamping project at the cliff and Failed to find like minded people to Invest in our project…
.. Well, that was exactly the struggle we knew back from London and it wasn’t much of a shock to us….
…..In December we decided to Camp at the cliff for a few days to See it, to Hear it, to Touch it, to Taste it and to Feel it…
….The tea pluckers and their families left the line houses and Mother Nature once again embedded the ruins in a picturesque scenery…
We Loved it even more than we Already did..
On the Last day we met with Wasantha to tell him that we have to Go Back to London and Work for the Money we needed to Start. In the end He said: let’s just Start Now, we Have everything here we Need and I will be with You….
He said: “We can do it Together and Start Small…”
Honestly this was something we never heard before.. He took a High Risk in going with Us and Supported Us all the way…..
And this is exactly what The Cliff Lodge is all about…
to Learn from Each other, Support each other and to Grow Together…
4th of January 2018 was the day we moved our Entire Universe to the cliff and
we did start very Small…
There were 3 tents and 3 lanterns, a very wobbly roof on one compartment, a toilet, a shower and running water which Wasantha had been organising already the months before…
……Being full of Energy and Enthusiasm Wasantha actually encouraged us
“We can do this” – he said and now “We are doing it”
– All Together…
Step by Step! Stone by Stone! Bit by Bit!
It was Pure Freedom and Peace..
We were sleeping in a tent inside the roofed compartment and had a small fire place right next to it……
When you need 45 min in the morning to make yourself a Cuppa Tea you get to know the Reality of the Life up here very quick and we can only say it was the Most Rewarding Experience you can ever imaging……
So what happened since we opened The Cliff Lodge?
…Step by Step…
…..we started to Blend in with the Life up here
(in the end of the day We were proper City Dwellers before)
and the Three of Us with the help of the Communities around Started creating
The Cliff Lodge.
…..From clearing the jungle out of the old line house ruins, setting up Stone Floors in the compartments, Fixing Roofs and a Kitchen, Clearing Pathways around the lodge and Building Stone walls. Cutting Chairs, benches and Tables out of Fallen Trees in the forest, setting up an Indoor Fireplace, open air showers and Viewing Points……..
Things were changing Day by Day and Month by Month…And they still are…
Back then it was just us but already in late January 2018 we were ready to Welcome our First Guests to Experience this absolute Escape and Explore the wonders of Mother Nature……
…The Cliff Lodge is situated in a very rural surrounding and only 4×4 vehicles can master the last 8 km off-road to the nearest village to us…
….It has been a challenge to organize the transport from and to Haputale as only very few people were willing to take on this road…..
…Wasantha found a driver with a jeep and made sure, that all guests could experience a safe and also exciting ride to The Cliff Lodge….
Well, it didn’t stop there…
We were talking a lot about how to make this even better and returned the favor in being the Driving Force for Wasantha to start his very Own Business!
“You can do this!” – we said and now he is doing it…
….Being the proud and humble owner of Haputale Mountain Tours, by now he is one of the Most known People in Haputale for providing Exclusive day experiences and managing all guest transports and deliveries for The Cliff Lodge.
His Dream of his very own Business became True…..
….We followed our Dream, created a home and opened it to You to Share
the Life and the Beauty of this Extraordinary Place…
..The most remote “Back to Nature” experience in the Haputale Mountain Range..
We would love to shout out a Big Thank You to all the people who helped us along the way and are now part of this Amazing Story ..
..Especially Gnana Uncle, for Trusting Us..!
…….Thank you all for joining us on this journey and stay tuned for more
Adventures to Come…….
