Ayu, means ‘life’ in Sanskrit.
We are an owner-managed and women-led full-service boutique DMC based in Sri Lanka, specialising in luxury experiential travel that supports home grown initiatives. We help visitors unearth the most unique nuances about life in Sri Lanka through immersive experiences. Being born, educated and living in Sri Lanka we know the ins and outs of life on our island intimately, yet, what makes our bespoke trips even more special is our connection with locals made long before Ayu in the Wild was launched in 2012. For decades, amidst their careers in development finance and law, the two co-founders uncovered breathtaking places across Sri Lanka and met some fascinating locals who are now Ayu in the Wild’s intriguing network of immersive experience hosts. Discovering the intricacies of experiential travel around the world, and the joy of low-footfall sustainable tourism in Africa influenced our ethos of slow, sustainable travel.
"…If we can contribute to protect our island as a biodiversity hotspot, help disadvantaged Sri Lankans and support home grown initiatives that do good things, while inspiring someone to travel in stylish luxury - then, that's really what responsible travel with Ayu in the Wild is all about. What we love to curate are small group impact journeys, anthropology trips, slow travel walking holidays, private wildlife expeditions, discreet experiences for adventurous celebrities, curated culinary journeys, honeymoons and multi-gen family holidays…”
Chamintha Jayasinghe - Co Founder
A WOMEN-LED, PURPOSE-DRIVEN TEAM
Chamintha helms the Ayu in the Wild team and is personally hands-on with every trip curated, bringing her years of experience in development finance and a deep love for impactful tourism to reflect in every tailor made trip. We work proactively with our partners before delivering a seamless itinerary with meticulous attention to detail. We design our own portfolio of experiences which are tailor made in consultation with our partners to match the interests of each guest - and we don’t depend on hotel-led experiences. We’re here, on the ground. A 100% Sri Lankan, women-led, purpose-driven Boutique DMC and proud of it.
GLOBAL INDUSTRY COLLABORATIONS
Ayu in the Wild is Sri Lanka’s first and only Travel Partner of The Long Run and a Founding Member of The Conscious Travel Foundation, UK.
ACCESS
With our personal contacts to experts as well as the most fascinating locals on lesser trodden paths - we make extraordinary travel possible. From poets to farmers, artists to conservationists, marine biologists, mindfulness and yoga specialists, chefs, jazz artists, orchestras, architects, handpicked community based guides, Naturalist-Guides, hoteliers and writers - we have friends on the ground who we can draw on to curate extraordinarily exclusive luxury holidays beyond the ordinary.
BESPOKE TRAVEL FOR THE CURIOUS
Our guests love our trips because we curate luxury, tailor-made travel in a deeply personal way. That's why we intentionally limit the number of trips we offer each year, to allow us time to understand, pre-empt, consult and refine. Ceylon Concierge by Ayu, is Ayu in the Wild's ultra-luxury travel option, to design private travel for the most discerning guests with villa buyouts, exclusive-use lodges, charter flight services and VIP experiences.
INDEPENDENT
Our property recommendations are independent. We are not affiliated with any particular hospitality brand in Sri Lanka and work with a wide portfolio of handpicked hotels, villas and lodges chosen for the value and style they add to our guests’ bespoke holidays to Sri Lanka.
POSITIVE IMPACT
We are Sri Lanka’s first Travel Partner of The Long Run. Each trip supports Ayu in the Wild's positive impact initiatives including, 'Classroom in the Wild’ - initiated by the Founders in 2014 to teach spoken English to children in a disconnected community in Sri Lanka’s Cultural Triangle. The journeys are designed to provide a source of income to many Sri Lankan experience hosts creating little pockets of circular economies. We support home-grown conservation efforts, speak up against elephant back safari rides and against interacting with captive wild animals. We reduce our plastic foot-print and stay away from mass tourism. Through our pioneering digital platform - Sustainable Travel Sri Lanka, we champion tourism that benefits the island, the people and the wild.