We, two groups on two vehicles, met at a road side night shop near Negombo at around 3.45 am. Six of us were on Prasanna’s Mitsubishi jeep, started from Nugegoda and went to Negombo while Theshantha started from Kiribathgoda, picked up 3 others and came to Negombo in his Toyota Double cab. We had a tea there and set off towards Puttalam

Peace in the country means that we can explore it at will and that was what took us to Mannar. Out of bounds until recently, exploring Mannar was an unforgettable experience as the area is steeped in both history and culture. After a lovely lunch at Four Tees, the first day had us exploring Mannar. The Fort and some birding at the Vankalai Sanctuary was all what we could manage

Once upon a time, I came across this very unusual name “Kanneliya Forest Reserve” and since then, I couldn’t stop myself being told over and over again, “must go see, must go see”… Well, that mantra has reaped its benefits coz I managed to visit this beautiful lady on 24 & 25 March.

කැබලිත්ත සියඹලාව දේවාලය හාස්කම් වලින් පිරුණු ස්ථානයක් ලෙස බොහෝ දෙනාගේ පිළිගැනීමයි. පුරාවෘත්තයන්ට හා ජනප්රවවාදයට අනුව ඉන්දියාවේ සිට පැමිණි ස්කන්ධ කුමාර හෙවත්, කතරගම දෙවියන් ලංකාවේ නතර වීමට තීරණය කල බැවින්, එතුමන් පැම්ණි රන් ඔරුව ගල් කල බවත්, එම ස්ථානය රන් ඔරුගල නමින් හඳුන්වන බවත් සඳහන් වේ.

The journey was stared on a evening of a busy Friday (15TH February 2013), from Colombo around 10:30pm. We reached the Kandy city by 1:00am and had a snack and started travelling towards Matale road and then to the Daha ata Wanguwa- Hasalaka. We reached Wasgamuwa Park at 5.45am and began a morning safari. As we planned our jeep came loaded with our breakfast which we in the river bank of Mahaweli River inside the park.

Few months ago myself and Mithila got together and thought of doing the last two remaining trails of Sripada which were Dehena kanda/Hapugastenna trail and Morray/Rajamale estate foot path. We intentionally postponed this journey to march hoping that the path would be cleared off by then. This was a long awaited dream for me and this year it came true. This time our group was a huge one comprising 7 Lakdasun members and others been Theshantha’s family members. I knew this was going to be a unique experience that i will never ever forget and indeed it was.

We started the trip by 4.30am by 2 4X4 from Colombo. But due to heavy rain on last few days we got news as many roads were under water but we just went ahead with our plan decided not to have a route plan. We had everything for three but we carried drinking water and things need for a BBQ dinner.

Wilpattu has always been on our wish list, more so after reading Nihal de Silva’s The Road to Elephant Pass. Even though the park was reopened in 2009, we were not able to go that way due to many constraints. The wish finally became a reality only in December 2012.

Year and Month December, 2012 Number of Days Three Day Trip Crew 8 (between 25-30 years of age) Accommodation Ondaatje Bungalow Transport Nissan Caravan, Land Rover Activities Wildlife, Photography Weather Average. Some rain and cloudy. Never been a big problem though. Route Gampaha -> Awissawella -> Rathnapura -> Palmadulla -> Udawalawa -> Thanamalwila -> Sooriyawewa [...]

Year and Month December, 2012 Number of Days Two Day Trip Crew 8 (28 years of age) Accommodation Back of Beyond – Kahandamodara Transport A Jeep & a Car Activities Waterfalls, Sightseeing, Photography, Leisure Weather Mixed. Scattered rains, overcast and clear Route Day 1 : Kottawa -> Piliyandala -> Horana -> Rathnapura -> Pelmadulla -> [...]

We met 2 wild elephants on the road from Yala junction to Yala entrance. Van driver was so scared and we had to speak him through to reach the entrance. We reached the entrance by 6a.m. then our jeep came. Mr. Rupasinghe ( 0718424056- we highly recommend him .awesome person with 28 years of experience) in his old Land Rover. Jeep’s running condition is superb comparing to Indian jeeps which chases the animals away due to their sounds of the engines!!!

ll this started as my friend Yasa a keen wildlife enthusiast and the CEO of a private restaurant chain were planning to open their newest outlet in Anuradhapura and from last October, every weekend both of us were in and out to Anuradhapura to find a suitable location with the help of their Project Manager who was stationed in A’pura and all the time we used to go to Wilpattu on return journey for just a half a day run.