It was a strenuous trip. Need not to say that drving 170km and back with more than 8 hours spent in the park made us spend almost 2 hours in the jeeps. Still it was fun and adventurous!

We left our homes quite early in the morning. The plan was to leave at 3.00 a.m. but by the time we left Colombo it was almost 3.30 a.m. We drove straight to Rathnapura on almost deserted roads. By 5.45a.m. we were at Rathnapura, on time to witness an amazing assembly of nature.

This event was organized by Adventure Sri Lanka (flickr) group as its 4th consecutive event on this year. Anawilundawa is a bird sanctuary located aproximately 10Km away from Chilaw on Colombo Puttalam road (120Km from Colombo) and Nawadankulama is a lake complex about 10-15Kms away from turn to Anawilundawa. Anawilundawa is a ramsa wetland where there are many migrant birds in the migration season.

This event was organized by Adventure Sri Lanka (flickr) group as its 3rd event on this year.

Yala Ruhuna National park also known as Yala block one is situated approximately 280Kms away from Colombo. This is the only open area of Yala National park for visitors, since the block 3 is closed after some LTTE attach at in the area. Entrance to Yala block one is at Palatupana. Yala block one is so popular among visitors due to it’s high density of leopards. Park guides at Yala says that block one has of approximately 32 leopards. Yala block one is roamed by 15 tuskers. Most popular one of them called “Kublai Khan” died reacently.

The drive to Vilpattu was quite effortless. It was early morning and road up to Puttlam is in great shape. With just two stops, one for fuel and the other for breakfast, we were at the park entrance well before noon.

I’m a big fan of Vipattu. One reason I love it because of its shear size. The camp site we reserved is known as the “Kali-Villu” which is 40km in side the park from the entrance. For a country that is just 400km long from the top to bottom, that is quite a bit of a distance away from civilization!