Explore the Best Places in Sri Lanka
Minneriya National Park. Sitting in the centre of the cultural triangle, Minneriya is a good alternative to the busier parks in the south and it's easy to weave in a day here between visiting the ancient cities. The dry season, preferably from June to September, is the best time to visit the 8,890 hectare park when the ancient tank, the lake that dominates the area, dries out and the grasses and shoots push through. During this time it is possible to see herds of up to 150 elephants feeding and washing, as well as toque macaques, sambar deer and leopards. The hungry bird flocks include cormorants and painted storks. Minneriya, closest by car to the ancient city Polonnaruwa, was upgraded from a nature reserve to a national park because of the increased number of tourists coming to see the elephants.
Yala National Park is also known as the Ruhunu National Park and is one of the biggest jungles in the country. Set in the southeast of Sri Lanka, it is a 305 km drive from Colombo. Elephants are the Park’s main attraction although leopards are seen frequently and sloth the bear occasionally. Yala is also home to hundred species of birds, endemic and foreign, including the jungle fowl, Sri Lanka’s national bird, and flocks of peacocks. Yala also has a beach front and swamps haunted by crocodiles.
As one of the first National Parks established in Sri Lanka (in 1938), Yala is an established place for tourists to visit and stay as it has plenty of accommodation near its gates, both luxurious and budget and even camping; morning and evening safaris by jeep can be arranged easily.
UDAWALAWE NATIONAL PARK is located approximately 200 km south-east of Colombo city and is a major eco tourism destination in Sri Lanka . The 30,821 hectares dry zone game park has an annual rainfall of 1524 mm and an average temperature of 29.4°C.
It is most famous for the many elephants that live there (about 400 in total). During a visit, it is not unusual to see whole herds of adults and young elephants– feeding or bathing and playing in the water! In addition to this main attraction, the park is home to many water buffalo, water monitor lizards, sambar deer, monkeys and the occasional leopard, as well as being an exciting location for bird enthusiasts.
The ever smiling, mischievous dolphins will put on a show while some of the oldest and the largest sea creatures, the humpback and the blue whales, will nonchalantly glide past you, when you embark on a whale/ dolphin watching excursion off the Southern, Eastern or the West coast of Sri Lanka. The ideal locations for whale watching would be Dondra Point (accessible from Galle, Hikkaduwa and Mirissa) and Trincomalee while the sea off Kalpitiya teems with an abundance of dolphins.
