Sri Lanka wildlife safaris and holiday tours … an amazing destination that we will focus in this article. Towering up in the central highlands, Horton Plains is the highest plateau on the island. The cloud forests here are rich in endemic plants and animals that have adapted to the cooler climes (temperatures can fall below freezing at night). Birds such as the Sri Lankan whistling thrush and Sri Lankan bush warbler are best seen here. The dwarf lizard, found only in the montane zone, has evolved the ability to give birth to live young in order to avoid the problems of laying in such egg-chilling temperatures.
Yala National Park: is famous for its population of leopards, but sightings are not so frequent, so make sure you don’t plan your safari just on this. Yala boasts a high biodiversity including 44 species of mammals, 215 kinds of birds and many reptiles. During our safari at Yala, we spotted the beautiful red-spotted deers, a dozen of crocodiles, serpents, water buffaloes and many birds. And, we were fortunate enough to spot 2 leopards resting on a tree branch.
One of Sri Lanka’s most iconic sights is the Nine Arch Bridge in the small mountain town of Ella. This viewpoint offers spectacular panoramas of the surrounding area, which is made up of verdant greenery and tea fields. Visitors can watch trains roll over the bridge as they make their way along the Demodara Loop. Constructed in the early days of the railway expansion in Sri Lanka, the bridge is particularly impressive because it is made of cement, stone and brick, without the use of any steel. Mihintale is a mountain near the town of Anuradhapura. Its summit has much spiritual significance to the Buddhist community. It’s believed that on this mountain top a Buddhist monk named Mahinda met King Devanampiyatissa and together this meeting introduced Buddhism to the country. Monk Mahinda impressed the King with the peacefulness of the Buddhist doctrine and his contented, serene nature. The King subsequently renounced war, and went on to spread peace throughout the nation. There are several impressive religious and historical structures on and around Mihintale Mountain. Hundreds of pilgrims visit the site each year. See extra info https://lankan.holiday/.
Diyaluma Falls is the 2nd biggest waterfall in Sri Lanka and is the perfect spot for a full day adventure. There are multiple falls and natural pools throughout this hike in the Badulla region. I could’ve spent days here. The hike was almost entirely downhill and led us through the long grass but the trail was marked the whole way. It appeared that the trail wasn’t used too often as the trail was quite overgrown in many parts. After about 30 minutes we reached the top of Diyaluma Falls. Here you have a series of pools cascading towards the edge of the cliff. When the falls finally reach the edge they fall into one final pool before crashing 628 feet into the pool, far below. This is the 2nd highest waterfall in Sri Lanka and it is hard to get a good look from this vantage point but if you are game enough you can peer over the edge. After chilling on the edge for over an hour we headed back up the track passing the upper falls and arriving at the top of the upper falls. This was a 15-minute hike and we just followed the track alongside the upper falls. Here we found more pools. It looked quite average until we explored further towards the edge of the upper Diyaluma falls and found a spot where we could jump. We checked the depth and found an area with no rocks and spent the next hour flipping through the refreshing water.
