We left Colombo at around 4 pm on Friday, planning to stay overnight at the Wildlife Trust TREE centre at Randenigala. We left Kandy at around 7.30 pm after picking up a member of our group. It was a wet night and visibility was poor – interestingly the route tracked on my GPS (which has preloaded 1” topo maps of Sri Lanka) varied quite significantly from the roads marked on the map. We reached the barrier at the reservoir shortly before 10 pm – the road is closed to traffic at 10 pm, and reopened at 6 am, and reached the TREE centre soon afterwards.

We were assigned two cottages at the centre – very clean and newly refurbished – though the bathrooms were in need of attention – though usable. The rooms were airconditioned, and the total cost for both was around Rs.5,000.

The morning air was very fresh and we welcomed the change from the city! Birdlife was not spectacular. We found that the centre was a part of a bigger complex which could accomodate up to several hundred people. There was a huge crowd of cadets being housed at some adjacent cottages and dormitories. The arrangements are very practical, though may not be ideal for a holiday communing with nature and far from crowds. The centre provided us with a tasty kiribath breakfast with a welcome cup of hot tea.

We headed off at around 7.30, and rejoined the Mahiyangana Bibile road in an hour or so. Thereafter, on to Bibile where we stopped to pick up some fruit and last minute items. The road from Bibile to Nilgala was very scenic, and the country side quite unusual – this was our first time in the area. The short run from the Nilgala turn off to the park gate plunged us almost immediately into scrub jungle – the road requires a vehicle with high clearance, and in wet weather most likely 4WD. We reached the park office at around 12.30pm.

The park office is scenically situated overlooking a large tract of paddy. There were watch huts on stilts at the edge of the jungle, and we were told that marauding elephants were a real problem. In fact we later found that elephants could mostly be viewed in the paddy field rather than inside the park proper!

The park office is scenically situated overlooking a large tract of paddy.

There were watch huts on stilts at the edge of the jungle

There was some confusion over which campsite we could use – we were shown all three, and settled for the Makara site although we had to carry our equipment about 300 meters to the campsite down (and up!) a rocky slope. The site was really most beautiful large and wide with the river crashing down just beyond it.

We settled for the Makara Camp site, the site was really most beautiful large and wide with the river crashing down just beyond it

It took us a few hours to set up camp and cook ourselves a meal – and we were able to finally sit down and relax by around 4 pm.

Suffice to say that I will not provide an hour by hour description of what we did – just the highlights…..

The river was of course the focal point of our sojourn at the site. The upstream end comprised a kind of rocky wall over which water cascaded in a number of mini waterfalls – the action of the water was very strong, the rocks below were smooth an slippery. Getting under the cascades was an exceptional experience rather like a strong massage for head and shoulders!

Right opposite the campsite the river was calm and the bed sandy such that it provided a perfect place for relaxing in the water. The opposite bank of the river had a sandy beach, beyond which was a rocky cliff – we noticed a huge wasps nest hanging off the cliff and the tracker warned us not to get too close or to be too noisy around that area – fortunately it was some way off from the campsite!

Right opposite the campsite the river was calm and the bed sandy such that it provided a perfect place for relaxing in the water

Getting under the cascades was an exceptional experience rather like a strong massage for head and shoulders!

Downstream from the campsite the river seemed to be blocked by a tumble of huge boulders – hence the name Gal Oya, one presumes. We make the trek over the boulders right up to the “gilma” where the river joins the Senanayake Samudraya. This walk was an awesome experience, and not for the faint hearted. It took us four hours to cover what was essentially a 2KM stretch of the river. The boulders were as much as 30 feet high in places, and route had to be found under, over or around the rocks. A pathway through the forest only takes you a short distance after which the jungle becomes too thick to safely navigate. The effort is worth is however, as the following pictures will show.

Downstream from the campsite the river seemed to be blocked by a tumble of huge boulders – hence the name Gal Oya, one presumes

In the course of our trek we found the pug marks of a jackal or fishing cat in the sand below the boulders.

The forest around the campsite is not typically dry zone scrub, and was quite reminiscent of the kind of woods encountered in the northern latitudes of Europe and the US. There was no undergrowth in most places, and together with picturesque rocky outcrops, it was most delightful to walk in.

We make the trek over the boulders right up to the “gilma” where the river joins the Senanayake Samudraya	This walk was an awesome experience, and not for the faint hearted.
we found the pug marks of a jackal or fishing cat in the sand below the boulders	Together with picturesque rocky outcrops, the forest was most delightful to walk in.

The only track in that area of the park is the one that leads from the park office to the Makara campsite. There are no other tracks which can be used to explore parts of the park – the tracker and the ranger admitted that better access is required as there are very interesting areas that could otherwise be explored.

Each evening we would drive down to the park office and carefully walk across the paddy fields with a ranger and tracker in an attempt to see elephants. The area was frequented by a small herd of them, but we were not lucky enough to encounter them at a visible distance – they could be heard deeper in the forest, but never emerged to feed on the stubble in the paddy fields until very late at night.

More than birds, the area had a profusion of interesting insects and butterflies – a few are pictured here.

More than birds, the area had a profusion of interesting insects and butterflies

This particular spider had a very unusual web…..

More interesting butterflies

In conclusion, this trip was a very interesting one, very different to the usual conditions and attractions encountered in dry zone parks. In a sense, the limited mobility forced us to enjoy the surroundings of the campsite which we tend not to usually do.

As we exited the park, a superb view of a frogmouth in a tree close to the park office….Can you spot it?!

a superb view of a frogmouth in a tree close to the park office….Can you spot it?!