Best of Sri Lanka's Wildlife

Description

This holiday is a private tour of the island accompanied by your own driver and naturalist guide and you can travel when you like. It takes in many of the best locations for seeing some of the diverse wildlife of the country including two key locations for leopards and sloth bear - Wilpattu, Sri Lanka's largest national park and Kumana, the huge expanse of tropical dry forest in the far southeast that backs onto the more famous Yala National Park. Other highlights include elephants in Wasgamuwa and Uda Walawe and the cloudforests of Sinharaja.

Your journey begins on arrival in the island's international airport in Negombo to the north of Colombo. After meeting your guide you travel north to Wilpattu. The national park here is fairly densely forested but this is broken by numerous small lakes. A scenic park it holds a good number of prey species for leopard, the apex predator. The park is also known to have a healthy population of sloth bear. To get into the main area of the park is quite a drive and we only recommend full day game drives from your accommodation, of which there is a good selection of places to stay.

The cultural triangle beckons and this may be the area for your first sighting of wildlife elephants in one of the reserves. However, one the highlights of this region is a walk with toque macaques, grey langurs and purple-faced leaf monkeys, that have been habituated for many years through scientific studies. You can observe their morning rituals and social interactions. A second highlight of the area is the possibility for a nocturnal walk in search of grey slender loris, again another primate, one that is native to India and Sri Lanka and that has been well studied here.

Next you climb high into the hills to Nuwaya Eliya, 'Little Britain' and the heart of the tea growing area. It is also the launching point for a full day tour high up at Horton Plains National Park where there is breathtaking scenery, different to anywhere else in Sri Lanka. Besides the numerous sambhar deer there are a good number of endemic species here from very rare birds to frogs and lizards. You will spend some time walking and away from a vehicle.

Kumana is fabulous, remote, scenic dry forest bordered by the white sandy beaches of the Indian Ocean. Inland that are numerous water sources that ensure the bird life abounds. There are many open grasslands where spotted deer and buffalo roam and of course bush country where you may find leopards. The park is rapidly becoming known for great sightings of the big cat and it is certainly our preferred choice over Yala which remains busy with tourists.

After several days enjoying safaris in Kumana it is time to move westwards and we break your journey to the cloudforests of Sinharaja with a night or two in Uda Walawe, although the drive is possible in one long day. Uda Walawe is a popular southern destination for observing elephants but you will also visit Lunugamvehera which is seldom visited and whilst the wildlife is less habituated the wilderness experience more than compensates and there is always the chance of seeing some of the key mammal species.

Sinharaja Forest Reserve is a different world to the rest of this tour. Mountainous forested slopes abound in all directions, cut through by deep valleys. This isolation has created a fabulous reserve for some of Sri Lanka's endemic wildlife. In fact 28 of Sri Lanka's 34 endemic birds can be found here including the Serendip Scops Owl, Bay Owl and Sri Lanka spurfowl. Giant squirrel, kangaroo lizard and hump-nosed lizard are among other species likely to be seen. On a walk through the rainforest you can also discover pitcher plants and tree ferns. It really does feel like another world.

However, this best of Sri Lanka's wildlife tour must come to an end and if you decide not to visit Mirissa this time for whale watching, then you will be heading north for a final night at the lovely Villa Hundira on Negombo lagoon before your departure flight in the morning.

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