Wanderlust - 04.2020

SRILANKA

wanderlust.co.uk April 2020 95

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DURATION1012days

ROUTEUdawalaweNational

Park•YalaNationalPark•Mirissa

WHYDOIT?Forachance

tospotSriLanka’s‘BigFive’–

SriLankanleopards,Asian

elephants,slothbears,blue

whalesandspermwhales.

SriLankaissynonymouswith

sandybeachesandTomb

Raider-likeancientculturalsites.

However,theislandishugely

biodiverseforitssizeand

harboursavastarrayofwildlife.

Ifyou’revyingtoseesome

oftheworld’slargestland

mammals,UdawalaweNational

Park,asouthernreservecentred

aroundameanderinglake,

fostersaround 400 Asian

elephants.Furtherwest,Yala

NationalParkishometothe

widestsliceofwildlifein

SriLanka,andleopardsare

oftenspottedstriding

The ‘Big

Five’ circuit

Bestfor:Bigcats,bears,elephants&whales YalaNP

BundalaNP

Udawalawe

National

NP

DondraHead

Mawella

Mirissa Beach

Beach

DalawellaBeach RekawaBeach

Galle KahandamodaraBeach

Mirissa

Weligama

Habaraduwa

Tangalle

COLOMBO

0 40 km

throughthescruborrelaxing

inthecrookoftalltrees.Sloth

bearsarealesscommon

sighting,althoughtheytendto

bemorevisibleinMayandJune

whentheyfeast,drowsily,on

thefruitsofthepalutree.

Onthesouthcoast,Mirissa’s

harbourisapopularlaunchpad

forbluewhalecruisesbetween

NovemberandAprilwhenthe

ocean’satitscalmest.Blue

whalescansometimesbe

spottedwithin 30 minutesof

leavingtheshore.Glimpsesof

spermwhales,however,require

alittlemoreluck.

MUST SEES

Elephants are synonymous

with Sri Lanka although

they should always be seen

in the wild – Minneriya,

Kaudulla and Udawalawe

national parks are three

of the best reserves for

elephant encounters.

⊳

Camoulage outit

The leopard is a solitary

creature, only interacting

with others to mate and

raise young; (below)

a blue whale’s tongue

alone can weigh as

much as an elephant

⊳