Randenigala Wild Life Santuary

Situated in the eatern part of Sri Lanka, Galoya is an ecological destination and a National Park which centered around the Senanayaka Samudra Reservoir the largest inland body of water in Sri Lanka, Wild Life an Irrigational Culture of a District of many communities. Galoya is a great place for bird watching, nature expeditions and Elephants. Galoya also has several Archeological Site with ancient Ruins.

How to get there
You can reach Galoyala from Kandy Mahiyangana through Ampara or from Batticaloa coming from North or from Down south via Monaragagala

Habarana National Park

Elephants are the main attraction in Habarana National Park on the way to the north. The Tank, forest and the peaceful environment of Habarana is appreciated by any tourist who enjoys wild life and elephant safaris , birds and nature.



How to get there
You can reach Habarana from Dambulla or from Anuradhapura on your way towards Trincomalee

Minneriya National Park

This ancient city by the Tank built by King parakramabahu is a habitat for wild life and birds. Minneriya now a wild life and Games park is an ideal destination to see wild life and elephants.




How to get there
You can reach Minneriya from Dambulla or from Polonnaruwa

Kumana National Park

Known as Yala East Kuman is Sri Lankas best Destination to see large number of migratory bird and aquatic birds including flamingos, herons, ibis and many others nest in the mangrove swamps especially in May and June. You can see endemic Red faced Malkoha in forest areas. You can also see herds of elephants and some times spot leopards and are bears too.




How to get there
You can reach Kumana through Yala National Park

Wilpattu National Park

Wilpattu is one of the oldest National Parks in Sri Lanka Located in Northwest coast lowland dry zone of Sri Lanka. The park lies within the North-central & North-western providences. The area of the park is 131693 ha. The unique feature of this park is the existence of “Willus” (Natural lakes).

As the park lies in dry zone rainfall is highly seasonal. Inter-monsoonal rains in March and the northeast monsoon (December – February) are the main sources of rainfall. Mean annual rainfall is about 1000 mm and the mean annual temperature is about 27�C.

The park consists of willus, dry-lowland forests, scrublands, open grasslands and coastal belt. Characteristic feature of the park is that majority of park area is covered with dense forest.

The vegetation dominated by tree species such as Palu (Manilkara hexandra), Weera (Drypetes sepiaria) & Satin (Chloroxylon swietenia). Milla (Vitex altissima), Ebony (Diospyros ebenum) and Wewarana (Alseodaphne semecaprifolia) are also found in fair numbers.

Elephants, leopards, sloth bear, water buffalo and spotted deer are among the large mammals. Coastal belt and willus support abundant birdlife such as painted storks, white ibis, open bills, Whistling teals, spoonbills, cormorants and kingfishers. Apart from them serpent eagles, great racket tail Drongo, Malabar pied hornbills, crested hawk eagles & Sri Lanka junglefowls are commonly seen. Both water monitors and mugger crocodiles can be seen in the willus.

Horton Plains National Park

Horton Plains National Park is in the highlands of the country belonging to central province. This is the highest plateau in the country. This was declared as a National Park in 1988. The park area is 3160 hectare.

The second & third highest mountains of the country namely Kirigalpotta & Thotupola respectively are found within the borders of the park. Park receives rainfall from both northeast & southwest monsoons as well as inter-monsoonal rains. Frequently occurring mist and clouds are one main source of precipitation. With annual precipitation of about 5000mm Horton Plains is the most important catchments area of the country. Three major rivers of the country start from this area namely Kelani, Walawe & the Mahaweli the longest river of the country. There is a slight dry period between January to March. Due to altitude the area is comparatively cold. Mean annual temperature is around 15�C and during colder months it will go down further where it is cold enough to create ground frost.

Park consists of montane cloud forests embedded in wet montane grasslands. Horton Plains has rich biodiversity. Most of the fauna and flora found in the park are endemic and furthermore some of them are confined to highlands of the island.

Forests are dominated by Calophyllum sp. & Syzygium sp. Giant tree fern Cyathea sp. and colourful Rhododrendron are among the main attractions. Park is also famous for beautiful flowers of endemic Nellu (Strobilanthes sp.), Bovitiya (Osbeckia sp.), Binara (Exacum trinervium) and many other orchid species. Endemic dwarf Bamboo (Arundinaria densifolia) dominates the edges of the river while Chrysopogon zeylanicum and Garnotia mutica dominate the grasslands.

Though this was one of the best elephant habitats in the country they are locally extinct due to poaching & sports hunting occurred during the British colonial era. Leopard and Sambhur & wild boar are the most common large mammals in Horton Plains. Endemic Bear Monkey, Rusty- Spotted and Fishing cats, Otter, Black napped hare and Giant Squirrel are among other mammals. Many species of endemic & threatened rats & shrews are also found in the park. Diversity & endemicity of reptiles (Lizards) and amphibians are remarkably high.
Though this is cold highland plateau the bird diversity is very high. More than 70% of Sri Lanka’s endemic birds are found here.

Weerawila Wild Life Santuary

This dry zone sanctuary is mainly comprises with three lakes namely, Weerawila wewa, Debara wewa and Pannagamuwa wewa. Yodha wewa and Tissa wewa are another two lakes, which located little far away from above three lakes. All these lakes are act as ideal habitats for shorebirds. Since they are situated close to south coast and Bundala National Park, which is the south most destination of the migratory birds of Sri Lanka lot of migratory birds also can be seen here. Egrets, Cormorants, Asian Openbill, White Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill and many winter migrants can be seen here. Being the most prominent water resources in the area these tanks attracts considerable number of animals during the dry season. However the most common animal of the area is feral Buffalos.


How to get there
Weerawila can be reached from South Coast on your way from Yala
passing Hambantota a fascinating fishing town with a Natural harbour.

Maduruoya National Park

Maduruoya is situated by Kuda Sigiriya a great eco location yet to be explored by travelers to Sri Lanka. You can see large elephant herd reaching maduruoya reservoir.

Maduruoya well known elephant habitat. Other than elephant, leopard, sloth bear, sambhur, spotted and barking deer, wild boar and wild buffalo are also found here. Torque Macaque, Purple face leaf monkey and nocturnal slender Loris is also found in the park. Lesser Adjutant, Wooly necked stork, open bill, painted stork, Racket tailed Drongo, Yellow fronted barbet, Sri Lanka Junglefowl & Spurfowl are among the over 100 species of birds found within the park.


How to get there
Maduruoya can be reached through Matale and Hettipola or from Dehiattakandiya coming from Polonnaruwa or from Mahiyangana.
Maduruoya is closer to Wasgomuwa National park.

Wasgamuwa National Park

Wasgamuwa National Park was originally declared as strict nature reserve in 1938 and then change to a national park in 1984. The park lies within central and north- central provinces. The total park area is 39,322 ha.

Rainfall is mainly by northeast monsoon (December � February) and inter-monsoonal rains. Mean annual rainfall varies from 1750mm in dry zone area to 2250 in intermediate zone. Mean annual temperature is around 27�C.

Park consists of riverine forest, dry mixed evergreen forest, grasslands and wetlands. As park is almost surrounded by Mahaweli & Amban Rivers, riverine forest area is fairly large.

Flora of the park consists of Palu (Manilkara hexandra), Weera (Drypetes sepiaria), Satin (Chloroxylon swietenia), Wa (Cassia roxburghii), Gal Siyambala (Dialium ovoideum) and Ebony (Diospyros ebenum). The riverine forest dominated by Kumbuk (Terminalia arjuna), Mee (Madhuca longifoloa) and Thimbiri (Diospyros malabarica). Grasslands mainly consist of (Imperata cylindrica).

Wasgamuwa is famous as an elephant habitat. These elephants are known to be less habituated to people and are more wildish. Other than elephant, leopard, sloth bear, sambhur, spotted and barking deer, wild boar and wild buffalo are also found here. Torque Macaque, Purple face leaf monkey and nocturnal slender Loris is also found in the park. Lesser Adjutant, Wooly necked stork, open bill, painted stork, Racket tailed Drongo, Yellow fronted barbet, Sri Lanka Junglefowl & Spurfowl are among the over 100 species of birds found within the park.


How to get there
Wasgomuwa can be reached through Matale and Hettipola or from Dehiattakandiya coming from Polonnaruwa or from Mahiyangana.

Udawalawe National Park

The Udawalawe National Park situated in the dry zone of the country and belonging to Sabaragamuwa & Uva provinces. The park area is 30,821 ha. The park was established in 1972.

The park lies within dry zone and small segment lies within intermediate zone. The long dry season is characteristic feature. Main source of rainfall is southwest monsoon (May � September) and mean annual rainfall is about 1520mm. the mean annual temperature is around 29�C.

Park consists of dry lowland forest, riverine forest, thorny scrublands and grasslands. One special attraction of the park is the Udawalawe reservoir and the Walawe River which flows through the park.

The main tree species found in the forest area are the satin (Chloroxylon swietenia), Milla (Vites pinata), ebony (Diospyros ebenum) and Ehala (Cassia fistula). Riverine forest dominated by Kumbuk (Terminalia arjuna) & Mandora (Hopea cordifolia). Mana (Cymbopogon confertiflorus), Illuk (Imperata cylindrica) and Daminiya (Grewia tiliaefolia) are found in grasslands & scrublands.

Udawalawe National Park is world famous for its large elephant populations. In this park one can observe elephants at any given time of the day. Other than Elephants water buffalo, spotted & barking deer, wild boar, sambhur, jackal & ruddy, grey & striped necked mongoose are also found in this park. Though the leopard, jungle & fishing cats have recorded in the park sightings are very rare.

The park is also famous for birdlife. Crested serpent eagle, changeable hawk eagle, white-bellied sea eagle & grey-headed fishing eagle are the main raptors found in the park. Painted stork, open bill, little & Indian cormorant, Indian darter, many species of waders are also found within the park. Among the forest birds are the warblers, Sri Lanka Junglefowl, Malabar pied hornbill, Sikir Malkoha, Blue face Malkoha, common Caucal, and grey hornbill.

How to get there
Uda walawe is easily accessible via Ratnapura after a 4 hours drive. You can also reach Udawalawe from Downsouth via Tangalla or Hambantota. Udawalawe is closer to Haputale and Bandarawela if you are coming from central hills. Yala National Park also near by Udawalawe.

Yala (Ruhunu) National Park

Yala National Park is situated in the southeast region of the island in the dry zone boarding the Indian Ocean. Park area is belonging to two provinces namely South and Uva Provinces. The total area of the park (which is of 5 blocks) is 97,881 ha but only Block I and Block II are open for visitors.

The park was initially established in 1938 only with block I and other blocks were included later.Rainfall is highly seasonal. Main source of rainfall is Northeast monsoons (December – February) and inter monsoonal rains during March-April. Mean Annual Rainfall: 900 – 1300 mm. Area is experiencing drought during June –October. Mean annual Temperature 27o C. Daily temperature above 30oC is not uncommon.Vegetation is mainly consists of Secondary lowland dry monsoon forest & semi arid thorny scrublands. Small patches of riverine forest, mangroves, sand dunes and dry grasslands also presented.

Forest area is dominated by Palu (Manilkara hexandra), Weera (Drypetes sepiaria), Malitthan (Salvadora persica), Ehala (Cassia fistula), Divul (Limonia acidissima) and Kohomba (Azadirachta indica). Thorny scrubland is dominated by Eraminia (Ziziphus.sp) and Andara (Dichrostachys cinerea). Sonneratia, Acanthus, Rhizopora and Lumnitzera species dominate the mangrove vegetation.

All the big game mammals of the country are found within the park. Elephant, Leopard, sloth bear, Spotted Dear, Wild Boar and sambhur. Apart from them small mammals such as Black naped hare, Grey, Ruddy & Striped necked mongoose, Grey Langur & porcupine are common small mammals.

Park is also famous for its abundant bird life. Over140 species have recorded so far within the park. Changeable Hawk Eagle, Crested serpent Eagle, Malabar pied Hornbill, Jungle fowl, painted Stork, White Ibis and Black necked Stork are commonly seen

How to get there
You can reach yala from South coast via Tangalla and Hambantota or via Udawalawe from Ratnapura, Haputale or via Bandarawela, Tanamalwila from Nuwaraeliya. Yala is close to Udawalawe national park

Sri Lanka National Parks

There are manyNational Parks you can visit in Sri Lanka. Yala is the largest national park. The National Parks of Sri Lanka are managed by the department of Wild Life and Conservation. National Parks are bit different from Wild Life sanctuaries which allow free movements. You need to obtain permission and a guide provided by the park. You are not supposed to get out from the vehicle under any circumstances.
You need drive a 4 WD vehicle and stay only in specified roads.

• Yala National Park
• Udawalawe National Park
• Wasgomuwa National Park
• Maduraoya National Park
• Weerawila national park
• Horton Plains National Park
• Bundala National Park
• Willpattu National Park
• Kumana National Park
• Minneriya National Park
• Giritale National Park
• Habarana National Park
• Lahugala National Park
• Galoya National Park
• Randenigala Santuary