This trip was planned by our crew when we hiked Eratna to Sri Pada last year. We were informed about this route by the shop owner at Indikatupana, so with the help of Lakdasun team members we were able to fulfill our dream this year.

We started around 4.30 am from Kolonnawa, had our Breakfast closer to Deraniyagala. We had bought all our requirements on the previous day so we did not have any problems in the morning.
We were at the Dik elikanda Primary School junction by 9.am; We got down from there and asked our Driver to meet us at Nallathanni following morning. We were at the Trail head by 10am..

Due to the dry weather we did not have many problems from the leeches, for which we were thankful though we were prepared with Tobacco spray and other things..

Tobacco spray was good enough to get rid of few leeches which climbed, but I am not sure if they in larger quantity.

Crew looks very happy….
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Now you can see the worried and tired faces…	Beautiful jungle……
Beautiful jungle……	Beautiful jungle……
Beautiful jungle……	Beautiful jungle……

.	Beautiful jungle……
.	Beautiful jungle……
Elephants had been here before us	Elephants had been here before us
Elephants had been here before us	.
Kuru ganga crossing…	Kuru ganga crossing…
Kuru ganga crossing…	At Eranthna Trail (Click Image to Enlarge)
Happy faces having seen the lights at Erathna Trail	At the summit…
At the summit…	At the summit…

At the summit…	At the summit…
At the summit…	At the summit…
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Panorama shot inside the jungle… (Click Image to Enlarge)

I had been looking forward an opportunity to visit the Hiyare Forest Reservoir since long time as I have never got a luck to visit this place even if I have born and grown in Galle up to 20 years of age. Still I am regretting to miss that great chance to visit this during my early stages. This located just 10Km away from my Parents place.

Hiyare Forest reserve is located just 18 km (about half an hour’s drive) Galle town. The 55 acre reservoir was built in 1911 to supply water to the Galle city and was only decommissioned in 2002. In 2003 the reservoir and 600 acres of the surrounding low country tropical rainforest was turned over to the Municipal Council of Galle. One part of Hiyare is managed by the Sri Lankan Forest Department and the Wildlife Society of Galle administers the reservoir area.

Route Map (Click Image to Enlarge)

In addition to this there is a Biodiversity Breeding Centre and an Animal Rescue Programme, which provides medical treatment and rehabilitation for injured wild animals, they are treated, rehabilitated and then released back into the wild.

Among its many activities, the Society also carries out educational workshops and conducts regular classes to interested parties.

Some of the injured and rescued wild animals under medical treatment.

Purple -faced Leaf Monkey (injured)	Eagle
Baby Slender Loris	Baby Slender Loris
Crested Serpent Eagles with damaged wings	Forest Eagle-Owl
Black Naped Hare	More Black Naped Hare
Injured Pangolin – Hide & Seek	Hog Deers
Hog Deers	Baby porcupine
Baby porcupine different pose	Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir
Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir	Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir
Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir	.
Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir	Natural forest surrounding Hiyare Reservoir

Boats are ready for a ride

I have a dream to visit Uda-Maliboda, ඇලි හත (Seven Waterfalls) for quite a long time. Finally with some of my friends we decided to do it in beginning of the year 2012. Our objective is to visit all the seven waterfalls without a guide and also explore the area.

In the early morning at 5.00 AM we started the journey from Kiribathgoda by hired van. At around 9.30 AM we reached Uda-Maliboda. From there we had our breakfast and started the hike near the Naya Ganga.

Map of the area

Naya Ganga with Bambaragala at distance

1st and 2nd waterfalls

Old bridge goes to Uda-Maliboda

Babaragala and Seven virgin mountains

We had to walk about 2KM to reach the base of 1st waterfall. New mini hydro power plant is building at the base of 1st waterfall. We reach there around 11:30AM. Mahinda Aiya is the supervisor of this hydro power plant and he gave us direction to waterfalls and also kind enough to offer a tea. After having the delicious tea we started hiking parallel to Naya Ganga water stream inside the forest from lest side. Within 15 minutes we were able to visit the 2nd waterfall. It’s quite high and beautiful waterfall. We stayed some time with enjoying the beauty of waterfall.

1st waterfall	2nd waterfall
Mushrooms	Gon Diva

Again we entered into forest and climbed parallel to Naya Ganga form left side. Because of steepness we had to climb down to water stream. The time is near 3PM and we find a place to camp and decided to stay there. We had a cool dip of the water steam and prepared rice and dhal curry for the dinner. In the evening there is a mist and some rain. Because of rain we have to keep alert of the water level.

Where we camped 1st day night

Early morning

Next day morning we rise with the sound of singing birds. We prepared noodles for breakfast. We started hike around 9.30AM. We couldn’t follow the steam from left hand side of the stream because of the left bank is so steep. Therefore we cross the stream and entered to forest from right side of the stream. There the undergrowth is thick and we need to make a path though the bushes. About an hour we were able to reach the base of 3rd waterfall. Threre is a ‘Dhothuru’ tree side of the 3rd waterfall and this may be the reason to call it ‘Dhothuru Ella’.

3rd waterfall with ‘Dhothuru’ tree

Upper part of 3rd waterfall

Again we climbed though the forest to top of 3rd waterfall. On top of 3rd waterfall there is a quite space and can see the distance from there. We crossed the stream and again entered into forest from lest side of the steam. After climbing half an hour we were able to reach 4th waterfall. Along the water stream we climbed to 5th waterfall. These are small compared to other waterfalls.

Top of 3rd waterfall

4th waterfall

Time was around 4PM and we thought to camp top of 4th waterfall. We prepared rice for dinner with soya-meet and sinisambol. There was a clear sky and we can see the moon very nicely. Also it was a cold night.

4th waterfall	Wood carving?
Top of 4th waterfall	5th waterfall
Where we camped 2nd day night	Early morning view

Next day morning we got ready by 7AM and stared climbing without our backpacks. Our aim is to climb up to top of 7th waterfall and climb down to the place we camped second day. We started from the bottom of 5th waterfall and cross the stream to right bank and went parallel to stream. Then we climb down to bottom of 6th waterfall which is we think most beautiful. Then we cross the stream and entered to left bank and climbed up to where we can peek into upper part of 6th waterfall. From there again we climbed up to top of 6th waterfall where 7th waterfall can be seen. There is a quite flat space in top of 6th waterfall where you can clearly see the valley.

6th waterfall	Upper part of 6th waterfall
Top of 6th waterfall	7th waterfall

Top of 6th waterfall

More views from top of 6th waterfall

Fish tank?

After spending more than half an hour we started climbing up till we found the top of 7th waterfall. Here also there is a flat surface where you can see the valley. Time is nearly 1PM and we stared to climb down. Around 4PM we were able to reach our camp site near the 5th waterfall. We had noodles for dinner and also prepared rice for the morning since our plan is to leave early in the morning.

Top of 7th waterfall	Top of 7th waterfall
Bambaragala mountain peak	Achievement

Next day morning at around 7AM we stared to climb down. At around 2PM we were able to reach bottom of Bambaragala near the tea plantation. After meet Mahinda Aiya we haven’t seen any human been for 3days. Even no cell phone signals after 3rd waterfall. Then we had to walk more than 2 km to reach trail head. We had a bath from Naya Ganga and hired two three-wheelers and came to Deraniyagala. From Deraniyagala we took the bus to Avissawella and from there to home. This is the most adventurous memorable hike I have ever done.

Thank you very much for reading.

We started at 5 am and reached Sinharaja via Mathugama/ Kalawana (Kudawa Entrance) at 7am. Unfortunately we had to park the vehicle 1 km before the ticket office at the regional forest office as a bridge was under construction.The climb to the park entrance was steep and by 7.30 we were inside with the tracker Somapala( 045 7210845)

May be Brown Shrike (migrant)

Green pit Viper

We came across the 1st bird flock around 8 though there were only about 6 species consisting of Orange billed Babler, Crested Drongo, Malabar Trogan, White faced Starling, Laughing Thrush and Schimeter Babler.

Malabar Trogan	Greenish Wabler (migrant)
Dark fronted Babler	Brown Breasted Flycatcher (migrant)
Orange billed Babler	White faced Starling
Female Jungle Fowl	Yellow fronted Barbet

It was a perfect day with the Sun up and was a very good session for photography.The best thing was finding a Frogmouth couple inside the shrub.I hope that some of the Birding members might enjoy looking at the photos.

Blue Magpie	.
Frogmouth	.
Sri Lanka Laughing THRUSH	Crested Drongo
Asian Paradise Flycatcher	Schiemiter Babler
Black Headed Bulbul	Kunakatuwa (a Pit Viper)

Giant Squirell

Nelu flower blossoming every 4 years

Back at the Entrance

While returning from Sinharaja yesterday, from Mathugama we turned towards the highway and after checking the credentials of my friend who carried a special pass we were allowed to proceed. We started at 3.15pm and by 4.45 we were back at Kottawa exit.

There were some work been carried out to finish before the opening on the 27th and the different colours of the carpet due to re-doing at places were seen but it was a good experience but it will be a different ball game when the full vehicular flow starts. The noteworthy concern was the number of dogs staying near the middle fence but hope that the necessary action will be taken to sort this out.

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I was away from Sinharaja for too long…….  It had been more than a year since the previous visit. Its a place which you can’t stay away from for long so I had to some how squeeze a two day trip in July. It  was going to be Thihela’s first visit to Sinharaja as well.

We left Moratuwa around 8.00 in the morning.  With no stops, we straigt away drove to the Blue magpie lodge. We reached there just passed noon.

This was my first visit to the Bluemagpie lodge. The lodge was located bordering a paddy field and a tea field. In front of the lodge, across a narrow concrete village road, was a crystal clear stream which was so inviting for a dip.

Shallow pool was so inviting

View Upstream from where we were bathing

rest of the day was dedicated for relaxation (a.k.a sleeping ). The lodge was well maintained and had all basic facilities required for a comfortable stay. The staff was friendly and very helpful. All in all it was a pleasant experience at the Blue magpie lodge.

After a good night sleep, we woke up to a beautiful morning.

Early Morning at Blue Magpie Lodge

Dining area overlooking paddy fields

After breakfast we thought of doing a short walk inside the forest.

The forest department ticket office has now been relocated further towards the protected area entrance on the Jeep track. The road up to the new ticket office is well paved. There is a parking area in front of the office as well. This new setup effectively reduces the length of the walk to the entrance of the forest from 2.5km to 1.5km.  The jeep track is now closed for vehicles and therefore you have to use the alternative jeep tack through the village (check trail map) if you want to drive up to the forest entrance (4WD only)

After completing the formalities we were greeted by our guide “Ajith”. Since we had the little one with us, we decided to drive up to the forest entrance.

By the time we entered the forest it was around 9.00 a.m. It was way past the prime bird watching window. It wasn’t meant to be a bird watching walk anyway.

We started walking leasurely towards the research center along the jeep track. Thihela was throughly enjoying his first walk in the rainforest. A lot of things facinated him on the way but what really caught his eyes was the little pool with a large shool of fish, on the side of the road.

Lush Green

Walking in a new world!

Fascinated by the large school of fish in the road side pool

The forest was full of may other fascinating creatures such as this Caterpillar swinging in the cool breeze

Even though we were not particuallry behind birds, we were pelasantly surprised when we came across a fairly large feeding flock where we were able to observe species such as Red Faced Malkoha, Malabar Trogon and couple other regular endemic species of bablers along with other regular feeding flock species.

We leisurrly reached the summer hut at the second Mulawella entrace at which point Ajith told us that there was a pair of frogmouth roosting in a tree fern and went to see whether they are still their. After some searching in the forest he came back with the good news. He had located them!

We were really happy to see the pair peacefully perched on a tree fern. Eventhough the location and light was not ideal to take pictures, I managed to take couple of “Average shots”

Pair of Frogmounth

Location and Light condition was not ideal but manageable

A closer frame with a long zoom Point and shoot

We spent a considerable time observing and photographing these rare Owls and came back to the summer hut to find another beautiful visitor at close range.

It was a flock of Blue Magpies. There were couple of individuals hanging in and around the summer hut. They appeared to be very comfortable with us and I could get as close as couple of feet from them.

Eye Catching Blue Magpie at Close range

Another one

They appeared to be very comfortable with People. So much so that one of them would even perch on a pillar of one of the concrete benches where we were seated!

The blue magpies were there for the entire duration of our stay at the summer hut. It appeared that they gather there when ever a group comes there to rest. These were clear signs of people feeding these birds there. In my opinion it is a bad trend which I have not previously observed in Sinharaja (Even though feeding wild animals have become serious concerns elsewhere for an example people feeding wild elephants at Udawalawa, See discussions Begging Elephants at Udawalawa and Elephant Beggars….)

We left the blue magpies and started walking back to the entrance. Up on our arrival at the gate guard brought us news of a GreenPit viper at a closeby location. It was easy to locate it with the information privided by the guard and the conditions were good of some macro shots.

The last photo opportunity of the day was a good one

green pitviper - a more serious look!

After a satisfying couple hour walk, we thanked our guide Ajith, particularly for his enthusiasm to show us most of the forest and locating some “not so easy to spot” species on his own initiative. We got back in to the double cab and drove back to the Blue Magpie Lodge.

after another cool bath in the river, we had lunch and drove back home. It was a short but an eventful two days at Sinharaja.

This was a trip that we had planned for quite some time but we had to abandon the trip on many previous days because of the weather.

The route was from Galle to Lankagama via Wanduramba, Udugama and Neluwa. The road conditions up to Neluwa was good but after that the road was extremely narrow and in many areas was in pretty abd shape. A special note is that the bridge over the Gin ganga is very narrow. If your vehicle is wide, you should use the route via Kosmulla from Neluwa. This route joins the shorter route just after the bridge. All in all it took about 2-2.5 hours to get to Lankagama from Galle.

Brahmana ella from Road

Brahmana ella

At Lankagama there are 5 main waterfalls and many smaller cascades. The largest of them is Brahmana ella. This is clearly visible from the road at Lankagama. You have to walk through the jungle to see the other waterfalls.

A small cascade	Thattu ella
Thattu ella	On the way to Duvili ella

Thattu ella is a smallish waterfall consisting of 2 steps. Hence the name. Above Thattu Ella is Dhuvili ella and is probably the most beautiful of the waterfalls at Lankagama.

Duvili ella	Duvili ella
Near duvili ella	Near gal oruwa ella
Gal oruwa ella. It’s very difficult to get a good shot	Gal oruwa ella
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The other 2 waterfalls should be visited from a different route. Gal Oruwa ella is very unique. It falls through a very narrow gorge and is quite dangerous (watch your step although there is a railing)

Above Gal oruwa ella is the Uran wetuna ella. This has multiple cascades and it’s possible to climb a certain distance by the side of the waterfall.

Uran wetuna ella	.
Uran wetuna ella	.
Uppermost cascade of uran wetuna ella	Finding your way is pretty easy because there are signposts along the way with distances.
Pool near the road

It has been many years since I last visited this isolated corner of Siharaja. This time the trip was meant to be more of a family outing. Walking the Dhoovili Ella trail was also in cards.

We left home at around 7.30 in the morning in two vehicles. We took the A4 to Pelmadulla and then A17 from Madampe and reached Suriyakanda by 1.00 p.m. At Suriyakanda we bought some vegetables to complete the rations we were carrying for the next two days. Suriyakanda is a fairly small town with a limited number of shops. It is the heighest town in the scenic Madampe-Deniyaya-Galle Highway (A17) (From Madampe to Deniyaya, this is probably the narrowest A grade road in Srilanka )

After topping up provisions, the next task was to find a place to safely park the car. The path to Morningside forest camp from Suriyakanda is in pretty bad shape. It is not safe to drive anything other than a proper 4WD on that route. I had got several useful contacts of places to leave the car from the forum but a helpful local person suggested that we speak to the chief monk of the temple situated right in the middle of this small town. The chief monk kindly allowed us to park the car in the temple premises.

Having sorted out parking, the next big task was to load 10 adults, 2 kids, bags and rations, all in to the double cab which had the task of tackling 6+km of rough roads to elevate us 250+m to The Morningside forest camp.

Breakfast under a Giant "Mara" tree, past Hanwella on A4	The only other stop before Suriyakanda - a tiny tea shop at Sannasgama, just before Pelmadulla
At Suriyakanda - Its 116km to Galle via Deniyaya from here	Topping up rations - There is always room for some bites and sweets!
Where we Parked the Car	Loading the cab - Compression ratio is 2 to 1!

With the double cab fully loaded, we headed towards Galle on A17. In Less than 1km from Suriyakanda town, we reached the estate road on the right hand side, going uphills through the tea bushes. Conditions of the jeep track was as expected. It had been badly washed away and did not appear to have been repaired in years. Slowly but steadily the poor machine started hauling all of us uphills.

There is approximately 6.5km to the forest camp from the A17 turn off. The condition of the road was worst in the first three kilometers where the ascend was also steep. Once climbed up, the track became somewhat easier than before. All together we spent just under two hours to reach the Forest camp from Suriyakanda town.

At the bungalow we met Thilakasiri; the long standing forest department caretaker of the Morningside bungalow.

The jeep track to Morningside branching off from the A17

Bad roads and steep ascend made it a time consuming task

Scenery on the way - Unfortunately it was gloomy and overcast

After the first 3km, the conditions were better

Last stretch of road as seen from the Bungalow

Thilakasiri the friendly Bungalow keeper who has been stationed at Mornigside for over a decade!

The rest of the day was spent in the bungalow. Weather was gloomy throughout. I still remember the colorful sunset that one can witness from behind the bungalow when the conditions are right. This time, we had no luck

File Photo - Sunset as seen from behind the bungalow

File Photo - Conditions were not right this time; both afternoons we spent there were gloomy and boring. Did not come even close to this

On the following morning; we woke up early to exepreince the misty mornings which made English planters name this area “Mornigside”. It was truly a misty morning

Sunrise through the misty atmosphere

The mist was so thick that it never let the sunrays to break in; not for the whole day!

View of forest (regrown) and the distant mountains; the time was 6.30 in the morning

One of the interesting hikes one can do from Morningside forest bungalow is the hike to the Dhuwili Ella falls. This is the least visited out of the four Dhoowili Ella falls in Sinharaja. I had some GPS points of this trail from a previous visit but I couldn’t locate the file in my computer before trip (I later found them and posted in the thread – Dhoovili Ella Trail – Sinharaja, MornigSide ). Thilakasiri did not encourage us to take the trail sigthing that no one has walked that for a long time and the trail may not be visible now. Without Navigation aid; we did not want to take a risk. So we gave up the plan of mapping the trail and decided to explore the Morningside estate and pay a visit to the natural pool to have a cool dip.

To reach the natural pool; one has to travel further on the jeep track without turing in to the forest bungalow to reach the Morningside Estate. Inside the estate, you can drive up to the old estate bungalow (1.8km from the forest bungalow). Beyond the old bungalow the jeep track continues towards Ittakanda where it rejoins the A17 but the road is not open for vehicles as it is a private road. You have to walk another 1km along this jeep track before turning right and walk in the jungle for another 400m to reach the Pool. (Check the trail map posted in – Morningside – Access Roads, Trails and Points of Interest). This natural pool is a nice place to spend sometime; relax and have a cool dip.

From the forest bungalow up to the Morningside estate the jeep track is not frequently used but is ok for a 4WD.

Some beauties seen on the way

Morningside Estate - Directions to the Old Bungalow	The Lower Pool
Mini waterfalls	A refreshing Bath for grand parents and play time for kids!

After spending couple of hours at the pool we returned to the bungalow just in time to avoid getting caught in the thunderstorm that followed. After a late lunch it was time for a good sleep.

On the third and final day of the trip; the weather changed dramatically. The sun broke out early in the day and chased away the mist. The surrounding looked so fresh and the forest had suddenly bounced back to life from the long sleep. Spider webs were glistinng all over the place in morning rays. It was like a completely different world all together

6.30 in the morning again; as oposed to the day before; the sun seems to have won the game and cleared the mist

Rays dancing on the receding mist - it 7.00 a.m. Now

The bungalow

A glistening Spider web

...and a tiny little flower

Unfortunately we had to leave this heaven as it was our last day at Morningside. We left the bungalow at around 9.00 a.m. Back on the bumpy track the truck started crawling along, this time however due to good weather conditions we could enjoy the heavenly beauty of the surrounding mountains that we were leaving behind to go back to the boring concrete jungle!

Wow!

Leaving the Heavens Behind!

Back on A17 (Click Image to Enlarge)

We reached the temple where we parked the car; redistributed stuff and the passengers in to two vehicles and started our return journey. Instead of taking the A17 back to Madampe; we decided to proceeded to Morawaka via Deniyaya on A17 and and then took interior roads via Neluwa, Palewatta, Meegahatenna, Horawala, Matugama, Kalutara, to return home at Katubedda.

Crossing the boarder; from Sabaragamuwa province to the Southern province

A17 is qiute scenic throughout

The poor road conditions of A17 suddenly improved to this after Deniyaya

The Last "Click" of the trip; some where close to Matugama

A 3 day visit to southwestern part of Sinharaja, called morningside due to its weather is always feels like morning

March 18

Harsha and myself (iro)(left Colombo around 6.00 am by a CTB bus to Ambilipitiya (through low level road – Try to use bus through low level since it is 10 Kms shorter than high level).

We reached Rathnapura at about 8.20 am and met Kavinda (other member of the group). Then we had our breakfast and we bought some rice. kavinda already bought other stuff for cooking.

We missed 9.30 bus to Deniyaya, so we got into Rakwana bus at 9.50am. (Rakwana buses are very frequent, once every 20 minutes or so). Once we reached Rakwana we were able to catch 9.30 bus we missed. We got off from the bus from Kadamuduna, since we want to go Suriyakanda peak, where Rupawahini, ITN and Telecom tower are located. You don’t need permission to go up there. You can observe some distance from the peak. It is 4 km up to the peak from the Kadamuduna. Normally three wheeler would cost around Rs.250 up and down.

Suriyakanda Telecom tower

We met good person who worked for telecom and part time driving a three wheeler called Wijesiri. We hired him up to the peak and on the way we went to “Sinharaja Aranyaya” temple. They are building a big statue of lord Buddha. From that point you could observe Rakwana town, which is difficult to observe from Suriyakanda peak.

Then came back to Kadamuduna and travelled few hundred meters towards Rakwana to reach nice simple restaurant as we were guided by Mr.Wijesiri. There we had our lunch. Then we travelled to starting point of our hike. On the way we came to Suriyakanda town. There was a nice cooperative shop.

There are 2 roads to enter the Morningside forest bungalow. Check the google earth .kmz file attached above. The official route is about 2 Kms from Suriyakanda town. Alternate route through Morningside estate is about 7Kms from Suriyakanda town. We choose official track to Bungalow, which is by far the most beautiful track.

At about 3.20pm, we came to the starting point of our hike. There was a name plate mentioned 7Kms to Morningside Bungalow. We gave Rs.1000 Mr. Wijesiri to full journey from Kadamuduna, Suriyakanda peak, Sinharaja Aranyaya, restaurant and finally to starting point. (He asked for less, but we gave 1000 since we felt it was worthy than that- even he worked as our guide also at sometimes – He is a nice person, if you can hire him).

After all preparations we started our hike around 3.20 pm. Track was a relatively easy one to hike and it could be easily tackled by any 4wd vehicle. Only tricky thing is navigation. There aren’t any road marks to the way to forest bungalow. Because there roads to tea estate also.

From first major Y junction, turn to right, i.e. ascending road. Other road will descend to tea estate.

Then there was a L bend to right (6°25’31.91″N, 80°36’47.13″E) you can identify this place easily since there was house near the bend. There was a short cut (foot path) which can save you 300m. But it was a 30m 45degree climb.

After those junctions the road was heavenly. In this section you have to tackle little gradient, the road is beautiful and misty. This is the last place you can make a phone call.

If weather is dry you may encounter little resistance from leeches. But if it rains, they will be there in thousands. My two friends ignored this fact purposely and paid a big penalty.

Finally there was a T junction ( 6°24’28.03″N, 80°36’37.35″E) to tackle with.

Since I was wearing leech socks, I was hardly intact by leeches. I found only 2 leeches in my belly near hip belt of the pack. But nearly few dozens of them were found outside of my boots and leech socks. But no one was able to break through my defense.

Once we arrived at bungalow time is around 6.20pm. We had to knock the door of the bungalow to open the doors. Only one bungalow keeper was available at that time. He seems to be bit unfriendly.

View from bungalow at 6.45 pm

Day2 – March 19

View from the bungalow

Second day we planned to observe Duwili fall. But we were told that this track has very popular for its high density of leeches. Since my friends were not equipped with leech socks, we had to give it up. So we planned to relax full day.

There are few shallow streams available to bath.

There are few shallow streams available to bath

Site A- Site is located only about 50ft away from bungalow through a foot path. Shallow and little flow of water. But this area could get muddy. Not very pleasing place to bath.

Site B – Is located on the way between T junction and bungalow. Not very pleasant place.

Site C – This little waterfall is located left of the road to Morningside estate. Not much water available, but seems to be ok under the circumstances.

Waterfall at Site C

In the afternoon bungalow keepers switched. Second one named Thilakasiri seems to be nice person and he had more than 15 years of experience according to himself. He had good knowledge about this area.

Afternoon we spent time by reading books, discussing with bungalow keeper and just relaxing.

Day3 – March 20

Morning time is relatively misty. Kavinda took nice photos.

We left the bungalow at about 9am. We decided to alternate route to the main road. So we hiked through Morningside estate. This is motorable road. But there are 2 issues with this.

1. Bad road condition
2. Road is normally closed, prior permission from tea estate is required to open the gate.

But you could hike through it without issue. Also motorbikes are also using this road (They use the gap between gate and column)

We reached the road at about 11 am. After 2 hours we arrived to Ratnapura.

Note

#Bungalow – Located in nice place. Built in 1987, if my memory is correct. They got solar power 12V supply, but it is not possible to charge your batteries. Toilets are just ok. There are 2 rooms consisting bunk beds (6 beds and 4 beds). Beds aren’t in very good shape. They look ancient and curved mattresses.

Bungalow

Lobby

#Bungalow keepers.

Two bungalow keepers. First one lacked knowledge about area. The second one, Thilakasiri, was friendly knowledgeable

Thilakasiri. Typical friendly knowledgeable bungalow keeper

# Leech socks – Must wear these with some sort of ankle boots. Specially after a rain or wet conditions leeches is a real problem. If you plan to pay a visit to Duwil fall or to rain forest you must wear these.

Myself wearing leech socks with boots – no problems with leeches

#Rain Cover – Smart accessory when you are in rainy season or rain forest. This will keep your pack dry.

Kavinda’s pack with its rain cover – custom made one

# Bus time table – Provided by Ratnapura depot

Ratnapura – Deniyaya

7.45am, 8.40am (Private), 9.30am, 12pm, 1.30pm, 2.45pm, 4.05pm

Telephone of Rathnapura depot – 0452222281

Seven waterfalls (ඇලි හත) is a collection of seven waterfalls at the upstream of Seethawaka ganga (tributary is called Naya ganga). Even though the access route is from Deraniyagala, seven falls belongs to Nuwaraeliya district and also all seven falls are inside the peak wilderness sanctuary. This exciting adventure will take you out of busy homosapiens to calm and cool virgin green forest with pure water streams.

This story begins by year 1992, when I was around 10 years old I could barely remember one of my uncles told a story about hiking “Eli hatha” which was an epic adventurous tour with full of fear, courage and excitement.

The idea of hiking Eli Hatha was deep inside my mind for years and years which came out to real in 2006 with the help of my friends.

We (the crew) came to Deraniyagala by the day before the hike. The first bus from Deraniyagala to udamaliboda starts at 6.15 a.m. It was 8 people and backpacks filled with food. We came to Udamaliboda around 7.30 a.m. It was a bright sunny morning with no sign of rain clouds. But rains can be expected at any time since it (April) was the starting period of showers.

Bus is Ready for departure at Udamaliboda final bus stop (samupakara Handiya)

From Udamaliboda we headed to the first fall. Directions were found with the help of local residents. In first 15 – 30 minutes of walking you will find the intersection for Adams peak trail (Uda Maliboda). After one to one and half hours walking the first glimpse of the first fall can be observed. Crew members were got excited with the beauty of first fall.

Starting

Water

Before starting the hike let’s look at the 1:50000 map for the seven falls.

1:50000 map for the seven falls (Click map to enlarge)

First glimpse of the fall one

A mini hydro project is undergoing around first and the second falls. You can take the trail made by those workers up to the 2nd waterfall.

After the second fall you have to find your way. We always tried to hike along the stream. Sometimes we had to go through the forest, but didn’t go away far from the stream.

Fall number 1

Fall number 2

Fall number 3 was hard to access; therefore we decided to proceed to number 4

Fall number 3	Fall number 4
Rocks are rocking	Green
Line of thirst	Cascades

Fall number 5 - Hiking all the way up to fall number 5 is not difficult

Falling (Fall number 6 and 7)

The most tricky and difficult part was climbing from 6 to top. And it’s very hard to access fall number 7. We climbed these two falls at once from the left side of the stream.

At the top, the stream becomes calm and quit. We decided to camp at the top
Warning: it’s too too risky to camp on the stream in any season.

Morning

Cascades at the top of the seventh fall

Hiking down

In the second day we started coming back. We took the same route used for climbing up for all the way back. Coming back from seven to five is bit difficult. It just took four to five hours to reach the fall 1(starting point). According to the previous report on eli hatha there is an another footpath. You can decide which way you could take depending on the crew and the time factor.

We did not know anything about the trail which has mentioned in his report. And also there were no guides with us.

Bambaragala will be on your left at the top of the seventh fall

Silence

All the way back

Return back:
The bus service from Udamaliboda to Deraniyagala in the late afternoon could not be guaranteed. If you are seeking public transportation, there will be tea transporters and minivans which could help you reach Deraniyagala. A minivan would be the best option from Udamaliboda to Deraniyagala. The last CTB bus leaves from Deraniyagala to Awissawella at 8.00 pm. If you miss the 8.00 O’clock bus you need to hire a van up to Avissawella.

The map of waterfall locations of Kalu ganga (Knuckles). Map is in approximate scale (Click Image to enlarge).

A night at Doovili falls,Kalupahana, one of my greatest dreams comes true

We started our journey from Katubedda at about 11.00pm in the night. The crew was seven. We reached Colombo Fort at 12.00 am by bus. Then we took the Kandy bus and reached Kandy by 4.40am. By 7.30am we were at Bambarella village. On the way we passed a lot of beautiful waterfalls and nice sceneries. Rahas ella, Hulu ganga falls, A fall near Hathale tea estate and Two falls near Hagalla estate are some of them. Unfortunately bus was moving fast and I couldn’t able get least one clear photograph of them. I think Hulu ganga create more than hundred waterfalls in Bambarella, Panwila, Wattegama area.

The bus we came at Tawalamthanne bus halt. We met the forest ranger there. He gave some instructions for our hike.	At the start of the hike we had a nice scenic view of "Jodu ella" which is created by a tributary of Hulu ganga.
Another nice stream we met at the start.	Entrance to the Tea estate. There is an access route along Lebanon estate vehicle track. This is a short cut at the begining.
Early in the Morning………..	Jodu ella cascades………….
Entrance to the Rathanagiriya estate.	Entrance to the Rathanagiriya estate.
Little rest for the Breakfast….	Life is not easy………………………..
The last "Dalu maduwa". Vehicle track ends here.	The mist…We were invited in to the jungle.

Stay closer to each other…………..

On the way we couldn’t see anything around us. We were totally covered by the mist. But leeches and rain meant that we were not alone. After one hour we entered the jungle.

Only a moment……………

Another moment…………….

එනසාල් (Cardamom) occupies significant space in lower layer of the jungle. There were lots of foot paths through cardamom bushes. Main path was also through cardamom bushes. Keep your eyes wide open. If you not do anything wrong “Kande Bandara Deviyo” will protect you.

Our gut feel said that we were in Kalupahana area. That is since we knew that Bambarella to Kalupahana distance is 10kms according to Forest department. Suddenly we came out of the jungle and the climate changed to be more dry. The foot path became slightly wider than what it was. Still there was no sign of a human being. After 15 more minutes, we arrived at a sign of an එනසාල් වාඩිය (Cardamom Processing Hut in the middle of the thick forest).

Time was 12.40pm. We were at “KMP” wadiya. After a speedy hike, we got a 30 minutes rest there. Fortunately we had come to the right place. Mr: Wickramasinghe who is a relation of the Principal of Rambukoluwa school gave us hot plain tea. He was the caretaker of that cardamom estate. He was of help to us and gave us good guidance. According to him, finding the road from there to Doovili Ali is not easy.

We started to find the road to falls. There were number of roads through enasal wathu. We had to mark our path from breaking the branches of bushes.

“KMP” වාඩිය (KMP Cardamom processing hut)	Path through the cardamom bushes
Thunhisgala with clouds.	After a long time we came to a clearing to see the world around us.

After an hour we came to an abandoned “wadiya”. According to instructions we should try to find a water stream and a foot path beside it. We came across two streams and went along them. We couldn’t find the foot path. So we return to to the abandon wadi. Time was 4.00pm. We had to make a decision before night fall. We decided to look for the path until 5.00pm. Then we went along the other stream. But no success. We had to return. We decided to return KMP wadiya quickly because that abandoned wadi was not enough for 7 people.

At 5.30pm we were back at KMP Wadiya. We found space to spend the night. There were three people in the wadiya. We share our meals with them. That Night was so cold……………..

Next day morning we decided to visit Doovili Eli and spend the night there. Two people from the wadiya joined us because they were also heading to an estate situated on the way Doovili Eli.

We shared our meals with them	Cardamom flower with Cardamom …….
Racks where cardamom is dried and baked	Man's Best Friend

At 8.30am we started our hike. It was a very speedy one. The first path we tried yesterday was correct. We missed the path which was located just before two streams join. With the guidance of our new friends, finding the path was very easy. By 10.00am we could see our destination point.

The place that two streams join	Doovili falls with cave. We got some rest and started to look for other waterfalls.
The dream…………………………………….	Walpolamulla area was covered in mist.

No 1 waterfall is a small one which ia visible to Ginikeliyawa pathana. Unfortunately we did not have a better zoom lense and therefore was unable to get clear picture of that fall.

Waterfall No 2- the cave is located here	Water fall no 3 – Down steam of the above one. Bathing is not safe here.
Water fall no 4- this one is best for my eyes. Bathing is safe here.	Water fall no 5 – Nice one with steps.
Then two streams meet and fall into great depth. Accessing the base there is not easy.	Water fall no 6 – This was a medium size one with 20m height.
Base of the fall is also accessible. There is a path from Ranamure track.	This is the access path from the Ranamure track.
Waterfall no 8 – this is from our previous visit.	Upper part of water fall no 9 – this is also from our previous visit.
Water fall no 10 – Dumbara falls (also from our previous visit)	We enjoyed the evening there with a natural bath and spent the night in the cave. It was enough for 10 people.

Early in the morning we prepared our meals and started the next part of the journey. We decided to return through Ranamure. The directions were given by people in KMP wadiya. We had only few landmarks and we have to find path ourselves. At 7.15am we departed from the cave. We crossed the river just after two streams joined and proceed through the jungle.

The Dawn

The Dawn

Early in the morning we prepared our meals and start the next part of the journey. We decided to return through Ranamure. The directions were given by people in KMP wadiya. We had only few landmarks and we had to find the way ourselves. By 7.15am we departed from the cave. We crossed the river just after the place where two streams joined and proceeded through the jungle.

We always walked parallel to this rock because our first land mark was the Pathana area on this rock.	Iluk pathana which we me met on Rambukoluwa track.
First Land mark	End of the pathana was a steep slope and we entered the jungle again

This pathana was just before Ginikeliyawa pathana. Only few cattle were there. A line of very small trees was separating the Ginikeliyawa pathana and this pathana. We got a short rest there and started hiking through pathana. It was a large bare land only covered in grass. Because of that, villagers release their cattle here when the harvesting period is over.

Next land mark is also reached. See how intelligent those villagers are………..the only path through which the cattle can return is closed. The cattle were fully safe in the pathana

Next landmark…….. Aswadduma Pathana…

The waterfall no 11 and 12 can only be seen from here. Still those are only two white lines for the naked eye.

Water fall no – 12

We entered jungle again after that pathana

Time was 11.00am. We went down further rapidly through the jungle. Now the tracks got complicated. We only followed the path that had cattle dung.

Another land mark was passed. The road goes beside the Halmini oya.

After 1.5 hrs we saw the first human sign of the Ranamure village. But still there was more than 2kms to the main road.

Lakegala- The land mark of Meemure village seen from Ramamure.

At 1.15pm we arrived to Main Street of Ranamure village. We washed our things from Halmini oya and got a small rest until the bus arrived. Then we got Pallegama > Reversten > Matale bus and came to Matale. At 1.00am we reached katubedda with lots of stories to tell!

We started form Hikkaduwa at about 5.30 in the morning. The crew was two in my motor bike (I & my girl)
We turned into Udugama Road from Galle and Stopped at Nakiyadeniya to have the breakfast. The weather was quite nice and cool after a huge rain last night.

On the way to Kanneliya - the scenic beauty of Galle-Udugama main road

On the way to Kanneliya

After traveling about 30km we were able to reach Udugama Town. Then we traveled about 2km along Neluwa road we reached to the entrance of Kanneliya reserve.

Entrance	Click image to enlarge
Forest Dept Facility	Tarred Road

The beauty of the forest……. Don’t worry about the tarred road through the forest. It was built about 30yrs ago when the forest is given to the timber cooperation. No vehicle is driven along this way now except of an urgent matter.

The Soil

More about soil composition

The soil of the forest is little bit different. It is made of special rocks called Condolite and Charkenite. See the board.

The endemic and beautiful Fauna………..

Sri lanka Kangaroo lizard (Otocriptis wiegmanni) - female	Sri lanka Kangaroo lizard (Otocriptis wiegmanni) - Male
Hump-nosed lizard - (lyriocephalus scutatus)	Phoenix snail
Gara katussa.... (Calotes versicolor)	Beddomea species
Green vine snake (Ahaetulla nasutus)	Kellarti's pygmy frog (Bufo kelartii)

The beauty of the forest……………

beauty of the forest	beauty of the forest
beauty of the forest	beauty of the forest
We explored a natural cave in the forest	natural habitat of bats

We explored a natural cave in the forest also. It was a natural habitat of bats. Most of the bats were endemic species. A small waterfall inside the cave……..it was quite noisy inside the cave….

After coming out of the cave we started our journey to the waterfall called Anagimala ella…….

Directions	Anagimala ella
The beauty of Anagimala ella...	The root of Yodha Puswela
Yodha Puswela	You must follow the instructions provided by the guide and follow the boards also

Mr. Chithrasekara is the best guide to travel in Kanneliya as he has got a fair knowledge of flora and fauna….

Chithra Mama & I

My girl & I

A four day trip covering waterfalls of southern parts of Sinharaja forest that involved some off-road driving. Later on, relaxing in Morningside.

Just to get away from our hectic work pattern, me and a few of my colleagues try to utilize every opportunity that comes by, by going out of the city. Every time, we try to select a place that fulfills our passion of being close to nature, which not only gives us plenty of fresh breath but also goes easy on the wallet. So it was Sinharaja this time.

Even though reaching Deniyaya through Galle would have been much nicer for the body, it wouldn’t be so for the mind. So we decided to travel off the beaten path and it was fully worth it.

Sceneries were quite a few on the A17; but continuous rain ruined a lot of photo opportunities.

A water stream falling down from a surrounding mountain - seen from Rakwana.

As altitude increased, rain reduced, but got surrounded by more and more fog.

Having left Colombo early morning, we managed to reach Deniyaya before noon, where we shopped for cooking ingredients for two days and had lunch. Next stop is PCC.

Since the moment I went through this trip report, I was so keen on trying out the 10km jeep track described there. However, almost at the Pallegama bridge, we were told that the jeep track is currently being upgraded to a concrete road. Good for the village, but I was hart broken as I missed the opportunity to have some fun with a serious off-road.

So we decided to take the alternative path – i.e. through Mediripitiya. However, as we reached the town, few meters before the bridge, I just through of asking for an alternative route – of cause I was so desperate, but lucky this time. The road to your left leads to the original jeep track that we were going to take. Needless to say, I was over the moon .

Unfortunately, I couldn’t measure the exact distance, but my gut feeling is that we traveled about 4km before reaching the original track.

This alternative path is worse than the original track as most of it had no rocks at all but just soft soil. After some rain it was really sticky and slippery.

Once, one side of the rear axle got stuck deeply in mud and we had to lift the vehicle to get it out as we couldn’t winch. Then we decided to reduce air pressure considerably, increasing tire footprints.

There were two grooves of varying depths, depending on how soft the soil was, caved because of tractor tires.

Just before reaching the original track, we found a brief stone paved stretch, which had a steep hill to climb at the end.

After falling on to the original track, we met quite a few tractors during the journey and they were really corporative and encouraging too saying ‘road ahead is not as difficult as passed’…

...even though we didn't really see much of an improvement.

And the pattern continued.

As we had time on our side, we spent time taking to quite a few people we met on the road and they were very nice to us and pleased seeing visitors. One chap told us that it’s been four years since any vehicle other than a tractor has driven on that road.

As you move along, you’ll find a by road towards right hand side which his more than 90 degrees – that leads to PCC. If you follow the path without taking the turn, you’ll reach Neluwa through Lankagama (18km from this point).

Crossing a water stream

We reached PCC in the evening; first task was to plan out meals for rest of our stay. Having a badly needed dip in a water stream near by, rest of the day was spent relaxed.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a tracker for exploring the jungle next day. One of the cooks offered to show us the way around. Understandably, his knowledge on flora and fauna wasn’t as good as we would have liked to be.

Mal Mora Ella

However, we managed to see a bit of living...

Pathan Oya Ella

Not having seen any endemic birds, I wasn’t thrilled end of the day, but we managed to visit all three waterfalls nearby. We were lucky not to catch up with any rain.

The dog who joined us for trekking even crossed water streams to be with us all the way

By the way, a raft isn’t required anymore for crossing “Gin Ganga” as the bridge construction has been completed.

We had reserved Forest Dept. bungalow at Morningside for the final night. Officer at the PCC told us that we should reach there before 5pm as there were a few elephants hanging around in that area during the past few days. However, we got a fairly late start to the day to begin with.

Rather than going back, we continued on the jeep track towards Neluwa. The roughness of the track ended even before reaching a kilometer. After that, the road could be traveled by a non-off-road capable vehicle. You’ll find a small ‘kade’ here, from which, we bought some rations the day before.

On the way to Neluwa

We stopped at Lankagama for exploring more waterfalls – this time, not much of trekking as all of them are located pretty close to each other.

Side-on view of Brahmana Ella

Thattu Ella

Duwili Ella - Lankagama

From Neluwa, we reached Deniyaya through Morawaka, where we bought enough ingredients for the next few meals. It was early evening and we just had some snacks because we wanted to get moving quickly.

However, sun was setting as we approached Morningside.

After few hundred meters passing the 111th km post, we took a left turn to the road that goes to Morningside bungalow. Initial part of this road goes through a tea plantation and then through the jungle – 7km altogether. You would need a vehicle with very high clearance for this. Going along this road, you’ll find it branches off at several places. No sign boards at all, except for the one that’s there on A17.

We skipped the first couple of by-roads as we were under the impression that this road goes directly to our destination. However, then we came to kind of a ‘Y’ junction. We had no clue where to go. It was almost impossible to decide which direction we should take as it was pitch black. Guys were running around with torches to figure out whether we could find some kind of tire marks but failed. There were two small buildings just around the corner, but nobody seamed to be there. The only person we met on this road so far was just after turning in.

Anyhow, I just decided to take the left path, which lead us to a fairly well built building and we were really happy. But there was nobody either. We figured that this is not the correct path and turned back.

Even through we tried to get the phone number of the bungalow both from Colombo office and PCC, they said they don’t have. Somebody came up with the idea that we should go back to Suriyakanda and ask for proper directions. Having heard about the elephants, guys were a bit shaky too. The road was so narrow, there’s no way to give way even if you come across an elephant. Now we hear people scolding each other for not getting up early enough (just for the fun of it).

We contacted a friend of ours who’s been there before and the reply was that the path we have to take is obvious. Thank you very much, goodnight!

We drove back and took the other path, reluctantly, but had no other option. After some distance, we were in the same dilemma. After few minutes of observation and wondering, a lady appeared out of nowhere and gave us directions for the rest of the journey. Wow – she was like an angel.

When you are about to complete 7km from A17 turnoff, you’d get to an area where the road has very little obstacles. Look for a by-road towards your right hand side. And this is the road that ends up at the bungalow!

Caretaker here is a very nice guy, and his food is even better! Can’t say the same about the cook at PCC tho.

As we expected, the next morning was full of fog. Nobody wanted to do anything but relax and enjoy the climate. This is just an ideal place to get away from busy life and spend a day or two. Unfortunately, we had to head back home after lunch.