Sri Lanka wildlife safaris
Udawalawe National Park is mainly grassland and is on the boundary of Sabaragamuwa and Uva provinces. To the north of Udawalawe, is a plain to the Balangoda Mountain Range and to the West, Rakwana Range.
The main attraction here is the large herds of elephants that can be seen throughout the year. In the dry season, elephants gather around the tank beds.
A few kilometers past the Udawalawe Reservoir is the Elephant Transit Home. It was set up to take care of abandoned elephants and calves.
They are brought here, treated and cared for by some extremely hard working individuals until they are fit and healthy enough to fend for themselves………and not a minute sooner!
They are then released into the National Park and back into their natural habitat.
The Elephant Transit Home has a foster parent scheme, whereby you may foster an elephant for the period it remains in the care of the Transit Centre.
The park is also a good birdwatching area. Painted Storks migrate to the park whilst Black capped Kingfishers and White Wagtails are rare migrants.
The Udawalawe Reservoir, a beautiful scene it itself, enjoys visits from a variety of water birds such as the Spot-billed Pelican, Erasian Spoonbill, Black headed Ibis and Asian Openbill.
The resident breeders to be seen here are the Brown-capped Babler, Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Sri Lanka Spurfowl and Red-faced Malkoha.
Birds of prey are attracted to the Park and you will five types of Eagle:
The White-bellied Sea Eagle, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Changeable Hawk Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle and the Booted Eagle.
Whislt driving through the Park you will see an abundance of Indian Rollers, Indian Peafowls, Pied Cuckoo and The Malabar Pied Hornbill.
The riverine forest along the Walawe River adds extreme beauty to this already naturally stunning home of the elephants and their many friends.
