Would you believe if I said there is a rain forest in the dry mountain zones of eastern Sri lanka??? Yes there are two large patches of forest with plenty of “Hora” trees bordering “Kiri oya” (tributary of Kumbukkan oya) which is enclosed by two mountain ranges. It’s located in the Valley of Udakiruwa in Lunugala. Since I heard about this place for the first time from a friend I wanted to go there and finally I did manage to pay a visit recently.

Kurundu Oya Ella has been a very difficult customer all this time evading from our view every time we tried to get close to her. I don’t have to tell you how frustrated I felt missing her very narrowly about 3 times before. She proved to be a tough cookie and I intended to go see her even if it was the last thing I’d do. While the time passed and opportunities lost, I had kinda taken a backward approach mainly because of visiting a bunch of them during the heavy rains appealed more to my waterfall hungry mind.

Mysteries are to be solved and this time we made sure to put an end to this long lasting mystery. Galagama falls which is very well marked on many maps is a glamorous beauty hidden in the wilderness. It all started many years back when a discussion was started in our forum regarding this mysterious fall. Few years back when Lahiru and I decided to reveal this mystery we ended up with a failure.

Now that I’ve taken it off my chest, let’s see what was in store for me upon arriving in Kumbalwela where the Ella-Wellawaya Road begins. It had gone 8am, much later than I’d planned but there was hardly anything I could do about the crawling bus, when we reached Kumbalwela and waited for a bus to get us to Ella. The under construction road was full of dust and waiting proved to be a huge challenge but after it felt like an eternity, there was a bus and we got in quickly.

My efforts to catch up on sleep became futile so had a tough time waiting till we reached Belihul Oya for breakfast. Pan Cake just out of the oven washed down with ginger-flavored plain tea brought the active adventurer in me. From there the journey became more pleasant. The Walawe Valley stretched into miles with vivid colors. Finally around 8.30am, we reached Kumbalwela and got off the bus. Then it was another sometime before a bus arrived for us to get to Ella.

Would you believe that if I said there is a mini Horton plains in the peak wilderness. Yes that’s true this beautiful savanna plain first came to my notice during an Adams peak hike in 2009 and after seen it for the second time in 2013 I started gathering information about this mysterious plains. Once there was a newspaper article but without any pictures of the plains and reading it urged me to explore this unseen territory some day in my life. It is said a Bison like buffalo called “Gawara” once lived here long ago and hence the name Gwarawila was given. It is also said that once the Haldumulla route to Adams peak fell across this plains of Gawarawila too.

The smartly dressed engine driver reminded me of a senior air force officer. Their uniforms were that good. Climbing up the steps into the engine at Nanu Oya was like a dream. Thinking back, I was as if sleep walking into it. Inside, the space was fully occupied by the two comfortable seats for the engine driver and his assistant, pilot and copilot in aviation terms. Behind them in the middle were two fire extinguishers. They could move about along the narrow path behind the seating. The engine compartment was the bulk of the sky blue enclosed wagon with no access whatsoever for others including them. If there was, I wasn’t gonna push my luck that far. The full length dashboard has various control panels including the touch LCD screen of the computer making it easy for the operators. The German and Canadian engines are more towards manual operations whereas this Chinese is largely computer-controlled.

I wanted to start my trip calendar of 2015 with some fresh waterfalls hunting following heavy rains of end of 2014. My first visit to Bambarakanda happened in 2010 and this is after 5 years. Bambarakanda area doesn’t have much rain during last two weeks. But feeding lands of these waterfalls-Hortain plains had such heavy rain. Therefore waterfalls showed their full phase in our visit.

After the journey to Mandaram Nuwara and then to Victoria & Randenigala, I was feeling lonely and jittery. I’m sure Hariya would have thought differently but couldn’t ignore the proverb, “make hay while sun shines”. Watching TV was an agony, and news only managed to rouse the adventurer in me showing all the overflowing reservoirs, tanks and waterfalls. When they showed St. Claire in full flow, my heart not only missed just one beat, but quite a few. How wonderful even to see her come alive on TV. I was craving for the big moment. The news once again showed that the spills of wretched Upper Kotmale Reservoir were open so I could wait no longer. The next morning I called Morgan, and found out St. Claire was really blooming.

Year and Month February, 2014 Number of Days Three Day Trip Crew 5 (between 25-30 years of age) Accommodation Short stay at Samanalee shop near Gangulathenna. Short stay at Chooti mama’s shop near Ehala kanuwa (Rathnapura path) Camping near the waterfall in Hapugasthenna trail Transport Bus, Dimo batta and of course on foot Activities Pilgrimage, Sceneries, […]

was dreaming for close to one year on conquer the Delwala Seven Falls….. I had the chance to hike the 1st two falls (1st three falls, according to my count) in April, 2014…… One can refer to my earlier report…….First a brief description of the seven falls…. As many might not hear about it…. But every single main fall in the complex is more than 20 meters in height…

Mostly used road is the one along A26 up to Medamahanuwara then turn into the Medamahanuwara-Adikarigama (B493) that runs through the Victoria dam. However we were skeptical about this due to landslides and resorted to the former choice. We finalized the journey around 8.30pm and decided to leave at 5am. Hasi’s wife and one of his friends, Gayan, too joined for the trip making it a full package for his car. We were excited and looking forward to the sight of the biggest dam in Sri Lanka.

Spills of Victoria are something you don’t get to see every now and then so this was going to be something unique and grand.

Road condition up-to Panamura is quite good with carpeted road…. But after passing 2-3kms road become old tar road with on and off road constructions. As there were no big pits on the road, easily motorable by a car with less speed. One has to beware of the edges of the road as road constructions and erosions have caused considerable height difference….