Sri Lank wildlife safaris and vacation tours … an incredible destination that we will focus in this post. Udawalawe National Park: does not have an “ideal” time to visit as animals at Udawalawe can be spotted at any time of the year, including leopards. The park has the biggest concentration of Asian elephants in Sri Lanka, so your probabilities to see them are very high. Udawalawe is always open for safaris even during the dry season in September / October. This is when the water levels are at the lowest and when most of the mating occurs for the Asian elephant. If you want to spot baby elephants, come from October to January during the rainy season when most births are occurring.
These two parks are within half an hour’s drive of each other in the North Central Province, situated around two large reservoirs. Scrub jungle surrounds the lakes and contains many mammals, but game viewing is generally poor – except for the wonderful seasonal congregation of elephants. The ‘gathering’ takes place in Minneriya during September and October, when over 300 elephants come together on the bed of Minneriya Lake, which dries out to create a lush grassland. Read extra info Sri Lanka safari holidays.
One of Sri Lanka’s seven World Heritage Sites, this rock-top fortress dates back to the 5th century AD. The atmosphere is more spiritual than militant: in its time it has acted as a royal palace and Buddhist monastery. The site is also regarded as one of the most important urban planning projects of the first millennium, and is home to some of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world. Look out too for the mirror wall, a masonry wall that was so well-polished that the king could see his reflection in it.
One of the most popular tourist attractions in Sri Lanka, the Kataragama Festival takes place every year in July or August and is dedicated to one of the Hindu gods. It takes place over a two-week period and people from all over the world come to join in. The festival is jam-packed with parades of elephants and colorfully dressed performers. There are countless traditional dances that take place; with musicians, acrobats, and fire-breathers feeding into the festival’s contagious energy. There are few places in the world where elephant sightings are so frequent. However, elephants are not the only animals to see within Udawalawe National Park; peacocks, jackals, water buffalo, crocodiles, monkeys and deer also roam the area. Safaris are most popular in the early morning hours when animals are at their most active. The biodiversity of the park can be attributed to its varied landscape; it is flanked by mountain ranges to the north with wetlands and rivers hugging the grasslands and forests at the base of the mountains.
