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Planning Your Safari

Where to Go

Where to go depends entirely on what you
want to see and what kind of safari you
want to take. For example Yala National
Park in the far southeast is the most popu-
lar overall park and is fantastic for leopards,
but it’s also very busy and can become
something of a circus with minibuses chas-
ing each other around in search of cats. If
you want your leopard-spotting quieter (and
less certain), try Wilpattu National Park.

National Parks & Reserves

More than 2000 years ago, enlightened

royalty declared certain land areas off

limits to any human activity. Almost every

province in the ancient kingdom of Kandy

had such udawattakelle (sanctuaries). All

animals and plants in these reserves were

left undisturbed.

Today’s system of parks and reserves is

mostly an amalgamation of traditionally

protected areas, reserves established by the

British, and newly gazetted areas set aside

for things like elephant corridors. There are

more than 100 of these areas under govern-

ment guard, covering approximately 8%

MAJOR NATIONAL PARKS & RESERVES

PARK AREA FE ATURES BEST TIME

TO VISIT

Bundala National

Park

62.2 sq km coastal lagoon, migratory birds, elephants year-round

Gal oya National

Park

629.4 sq km grasslands, evergreen forest, deer, Senanayake Sam-

udra (tank), elephants, sloth bears, leopards, water

buffaloes

Dec-Sep

Horton Plains

National Park

31.6 sq km Unesco World Heritage Site, montane forests, marshy

grasslands, World’s End precipice, sambars

Dec-Mar

kaudulla National

Park

66.6 sq km k audulla Tank, evergreen forest, scrub jungle, grassy

plains, elephants, leopards, sambars, fishing cats, sloth

bears

Aug-Dec

knuckles range 175 sq km Unesco World Heritage Site, traditional villages, hiking

trails, caves, waterfalls, montane pygmy forest, ever-

green forest, riverine forest, grasslands, scrub, paddy

fields, 31 mammal species

Dec-May

kumana National

Park

181.5 sq km grassland, jungle, lagoons, mangrove swamp, waterfowl May-Sep

Lunugamvehera

National Park

235 sq km grasslands, reservoir, elephants May-Sep

Minneriya National

Park

88.9 sq km Minneriya Tank, toque macaques, sambars, elephants,

waterfowl

May-Sep

Sinharaja Forest

reserve

189 sq km Unesco World Heritage Site, sambars, rainforest, leop-

ards, purple-faced langurs, barking deer, 147 recorded

bird species

Aug-Sep &

Jan-Mar

Sri Pada Peak

Wilderness reserve

192 sq km Unesco World Heritage Site, Adam’s Peak, hiking trails Dec-May

Uda Walawe

National Park

308.2 sq km grassland, thorn scrub, elephants, spotted deer, water

buffaloes, wild boar

year-round

Wasgomuwa

National Park

393.2 sq km evergreen forest, hilly ridges, grassy plains, elephants,

leopards, sloth bears

Jun-Sep

Wilpattu National

Park

1317 sq km dry woodland, scrub, saltgrass, leopards, sloth bears,

deer, crocodiles

Jan-Mar

Yala National Park 141 sq km tropical thornforest, lagoons, elephants, sloth bears,

leopards, water buffaloes, lesser flamingos

Nov-Jul

PLAN YOUR TRIP

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