The Bunker Camp is a subsidiary of the Purple Sun Resort in Avissawella and is a mere 90-minute drive from Colombo. The Bunker is an adventure camp packed with all kinds of challenging recreational activities that are centered around pushing your limits.  
Nestled within the backdrop of a natural setting surrounded by trees and rocks, the Bunker Camp follows the theme of a military adventure camp and creates a curated experience for adventure seekers. They have several activities such as abseiling, rock climbing, zip-lining, rope course, giant ladder, target shooting, archery and specially created team building exercises for corporate teams. 

“The Bunker Camp is all about pushing physical and mental limits. We’ve got experienced trainers and we’ve invested in the best safety equipment and we’ve created an experience that is difficult and challenging but also satisfying in the end” said Founder of the Bunker Camp and owner of the Purple Sun Resort, Susan VanCuylenberg. 

The Bunker Camp is a full day experience. Upon arrival we are given a ‘Medi Pack’ of snacks to get our energy for the long day ahead and from there onwards it is a full day of activities. In the evening, we washed off our exhaustion with a camp fire BBQ enjoying a grilled smoky selection of meats and freshly made hoppers. 

For the complete experience the Bunker Camp also offers several Log Cabins for a night stay. 12 ft above the ground the log cabins are built attached to the rock surface and equipped with the bare essentials to give an authentic camping experience. 

Safety/ Training 

The Bunker Team is headed by retired Base Warrant Officer of the Sri Lanka Air Force Wijitha Perera with 22 years of experience in ground combat and recruit training, commando course, fire fighting and basic ground combat, who is also certified in safety training and group team building activities. His team of trained instructors is what really makes the Bunker Camp a worthy experience.  “You have nothing to worry about, your safety is in our hands and we will make sure nothing happens to you” was the reassurance we were given before we started off. 

The team at Bunker Camp were our constant cheerleaders with shouts of ‘you’ve got this!’, ‘don’t give up now!’ and ‘you are almost done!’. Its difficult to do most of the activities without encouragement and support which is exactly what the Bunker team delivers with confidence and enthusiasm. 

Moreover, we were assured that the Bunker Camp uses the finest safety equipment imported and designed for the highest safety standards and all activities go through daily safety checks to ensure the total safety of guests. 

Our Experience

We tried out all of what the Bunker Camp has to offer and here is our verdict on each of the activities based on their difficulty level and experience. 

Difficulty - Hard
Abseiling 

Abseiling is a technique of descending off a vertical drop using a rope.  The Bunker Camp uses a single – pitch, natural surface, double rope technique to descend off an 83 ft rock surface.  At first glance climbing down the rock feels like an easy task as it doesn’t seem as daunting from below but once we made the small trek to the top of the rock and looked down below – we certainly felt our nerves step in. 

Safety is number one for Bunker Camp so we were strapped in with a safety harness and helmet and given thick gloves to prevent rope burn before we were sat down and given strict instructions; maintain a 90-degree angle, don’t bend your knees and let the rope do the work for you. 

The trick for abseiling (we realised towards the end) is to allow the harness and the rope to do the work. At the beginning (and as pure natural instinct) we tried to control our descent with our body – trying our level best to let our feet have a good grip and hoping that we don’t stumble down but towards the middle we realised it’s a lot easier to put our weight on the harness and put our energy into controlling the rope in order to have a smooth descent. 

Experience rating (5/5 stars) – This writer really climbed down the rock muttering loudly ‘why did I get myself into this?’ with shaking knees but once the feet touched the ground, any and all fears disappeared and was replaced with an overwhelming amount of confidence. Nothing like climbing down an 83 feet rock to make you feel like nothing is impossible!

Rope Course 

The Rope Course is rumoured to be the toughest of the activities at the Bunker Camp and we can personally verify this rumour to be true. The Rope Course involves 3 phases; start off with the Toddy Tapper which is essentially tightrope walking, then the Bear Walk where you crawl from one plank to another and end it off with the Toddy Tapper again. 

The Rope Course is a test for confidence and persistence and also your ability to balance! The challenge lies in the fact that this is done well above the ground and requires you to balance yourself on a single cable. For safety – you are strapped onto the cable above which means even if you lose your balance you will merely be suspended on the cable till one of the trainers help you off so there is little risk involved. 

Experience rating (5/5) – This activity probably took the longest simply because we had several shaking knees and plenty of stops mid-way screaming ‘I can’t do it’. However, that eventually became the beauty of this activity. Despite being scared out of our wits and the numerous times we almost gave up – the trainers at the Bunker Camp were our personal cheerleaders and encouraged us towards the very end no matter how long we took (and we took a long while!). And the satisfaction of completing such a difficult task that tested not only your confidence and your balance but your ability to persevere and be patient is a feeling you can only know once you do it yourself! 

Difficulty - Moderate
Zip Lining 

Here’s an activity for the adrenaline seekers. Bunker Camp offers a 493 ft zip line from one corner to the other offering a bird’s eye view of the whole camp.  A zip line is a pulley suspended on a cable that is mounted on a slope and allows you to propel down the cable.  Zip Lining requires absolutely no effort from you whatsoever. It simply requires you to sit down on the harness, relax and let yourself slide down the cable. Make sure to ask your instructors on what is the correct way to keep your legs while sliding down or you might down a 180 degree turn mid zip – line like we did! 

Experience Rating (5/5) - We thought that the zip – line was such a rush because it allows you to feel like you are flying just for a couple of seconds. The experience happens very quickly in the span of 20 seconds but we absolutely loved it and enjoyed every second of it! 

Giant Ladder 

The Giant Ladder is a 43 ft vertical set of rungs set up further apart at each level. The goal is to reach the very top. This activity won’t induce your fear of heights but it will test your ability to think creatively and push yourself to reach the top. Unlike the other activities the instructors don’t tell you how to reach to the top so we were left to think for our own. 

Experience Rating (4/5) - Because each rung is set up further apart at each level – we could only manage to get past the first two rungs. In the end one of the trainers showed us how it could be done and while the task is difficult – its not impossible. Moreover, the Giant Ladder is often done in pairs as its used mostly as a team building exercise and done in pairs – the goal is far more easier to achieve!

Difficulty - Easy
Target Shooting 

These tasks are the more easy-going, fun activities that are ideally done towards the latter part of the day.  We were given air riffles and pellets and taught how to aim to the target. This task requires a lot of upper body strength (the riffles are quite heavy and the task of reloading the pellets require maximum effort!) and a good eye. 

Experience Rating (4/5) - This writer personally had neither good upper body strength nor a good eye but did eventually manage to hit the target on and off and that was definitely satisfying.

Archery 

We channeled in our inner Robin Hood for this task! Archery was our final activity for the day so we spent a good 45 minutes trying to find the perfect angle to shoot our arrows. The instructors were our biggest help – they taught us how to stand properly, how to position our arms and how to arch our bow and arrow in order for us to hit our target. 

Experience Rating (5/5) – While we couldn’t quite reach the bullseye, we did get close to it and after several failures of the arrow going well above the target, we considered that as a win!   

The Bunker Camp was by far one of the most fun experiences we’ve ever had. It is both physically and mentally exhausting but it is also completely empowering. We walked in with a bundle of nerves, convinced that we couldn’t do most of the activities due to our fear of heights and lack of athletic experience, but we walked out feeling more confident in ourselves and with a greater understanding of what we are capable of.  

Packages (Minimum of 4 persons)

Tier 01 (Rs. 5,000 per person) – welcome drink and snack, zipline, rock climbing, abseiling, archery, target shooting, giant ladder, rope course, 5 fun activities, lunch, 3 hours of swimming pool usage at the Purple Sun Resort and evening tea. 
Tier 02 (Rs. 3,000 per person) - welcome drink and snack, zipline, archery, target shooting, giant ladder, rope course, 5 fun activities, 3 hours of swimming pool usage at the Purple Sun Resort. 
Extra – Bon Fire (Rs. 500), Cycling (Rs. 600 per hour), Cabins (Rs. 750 per person), Hiking to the Maniyangama Rock (Rs. 3000 per head) 

Address – The Bunker (No 64, New Ratnapura Road, Avissawella)
Contact -  +94364932773
Email: http://[email protected]
Website: http://www.thebunkercamp.com
Instagram:  http://@thebunkercamp