The Bogawantalawa Valley is a miracle of nature. On one side it is surrounded by one of the world’s most beautiful national parks and wilderness reserves, on the other side it is bordered by verdant mountains shrouded in mist. The ancient name of the Valley, Baghavanthalawa, literally means “the plain of the gods”.

But it was not beauty alone that attracted the first Scottish planters to the Valley, way back in the year 1869. These first generation planters found that the extremely fertile soil and the high elevation were conducive to the production of high quality tea – very high quality tea. High mountain winds and the abundant monsoonal rains induce a slower, more concentrated growth in the tea bushes. This in turn brings out a tea that is rich in its flowery bouquet and refreshing in its warm taste.

So the hardy highlanders from Scotland set to work. They soon transformed this other highland into the world’s finest and most beautifully sculptured tea growing region, making it a match for its scenic surroundings. Indeed no less a person than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle remarked that “the tea fields of Ceylon are as true a monument to courage as is the lion at Waterloo”. Today as a result of their labours the Valley produces nearly 12 million kilos of high grown tea from over 39 million finely maintained tea bushes.