The Galgamuwa tusker whom many now call Parakrama, was the largest wild tusker in Sri Lanka.I first heard about this tusker in 2009 when my friend Namal said that he had a friend who went on foot and photographed this guy, and that he we like no elephant he has ever seen before. My heart started to race, and I immediately started looking around, trying to find contacts in that region. Tuskers have always been my obsession and to see and photograph such a majestic animal will be my life’s ultimate goal. During this period I was searching for another big tusker who visits Kaudulla once a year. But sadly I am yet to come across him.

We started our journey from Matara at 3.00pm in the evening and arrived at Wellawaya by 7.00pm. We spent the night at Wellawaya and planned to visit Diyaluma falls the next day. At 8.00am we caught a Wellawaya- Haputhale bus (Through Beragala) and got down near ice peella (අයිස් පීල්ල)- Nikapitiya road

During the leisure time I’ve spent @ my parent’s place, I’ve planned to visit the 126Km long Colombo Matara Southern Highway (HW), which is still under constructions and almost 99% completed in Galle Akmeemena area. This (HW) allows Sri Lankans to travel between the two towns in less than 1,1/2 hours journey. That is half the present travel time along the age-old narrow coastal road. Same day in the evening around 17:00hrs had a 2 hours visit to the Gall Dutch Fort/ Rampart to enjoy some play time with my 2+ years daughter & photography

This was something we wanted to do properly. Because every time we pass Ramboda area we never stop and enjoy these beauties properly so I and my friend decided to do the walk from Pussellawa to Palagolla. In-between we used public transport at some occasions.

Ella has always been a fascinating place for me and it is no wonder that we decided to go there again for the third time in 18 months to have a nice and quiet getaway with the family. We booked the Grand Ella Motel (GEM) which is operated by the Ceylon Hotel Corporation well in advance as Ella becomes a popular spot for tourists during the winter season.

This was a planned trip since 2009. Just didn’t have time to do it . took a bus from Rathnapura and asked the conducter of the Wewellwatte bus to drop me near Dehena Falls. So Dehena falls was my first stop. I also found another road side waterfall just before Dehena falls called Hal Ella

We started after dinner, from Maharagama around 10.00 pm and reached Udawalawa Dam by 2.00 am. The barrier was closed. However after checking our credentials, they allowed us to pass through with a warning about the bad road condition. Closing the Dam at 10.00 pm seems to be a formality now.The road condition from Udawalawa to Thanamalwila was really bad. It was under construction and it took nearly 2 hours to pass that stretch. Our 5th member was to join us at Okkampitiya. We reached Buttala by early morning and reached his home for breakfast.

We left for Kaudulla national park for a Elephant watching safari and reached the park around 3.00. The park entrance was well maintained and there were some peddle boats which the visitors can hire and have a ride in the lake. But unfortunately we had no time. Then we started our safari. The driver took us straight to a place where he was informed that there was a number of elephants on that day. That was a herd of elephants with about 100-120 elephants. That was a stunning view. We enjoyed those 2 hours of our lives to the max

e were planning to do this trail for some time but we had to postpone it several times because of the continuous rain. Finally we thought of doing this on 1st of January as it’s a nice way to start the New Year. We took the Podi Menike night mail train from Colombo Fort on 31st night and reached Ohiya on the following morning. We started our hike from Ohiya at 6.30 am. And soon we witnessed some breathtaking views when the sun light came though the forests as beams. It’s really difficult to describe the beauty of these wonderful scenes.

Started our journey from kaduwela at around 6.30am only stopping for breakfast at kuruwita. It was time to get our cameras out for the first time at the first attraction for the day being surathalie ella. After having lunch at Welimada we proceeded towards Bomburu ella. The condition of the road from Welimada to Bomburu ella was not in a good state.. It took us about 1 hour to travel the approx. distance of 15km from welimada but it was definitely worthwhile since one of the most beautiful waterfalls that I have seen was awaiting us in its’ magnificent splendor…

Belilena Cave, which is about 8 km from Kitulgala high up in the Inoya Estate, is one of the larger prehistoric caves on the island, where the 12,000-year-old skeletal remains of ’Balangoda Man’ (Homo Sapiens Balangodensis) were found. The prehistoric settlements of the area date back to a very early period, as shown by recent cave excavations as well as those carried out at other sites. The earliest settlement dates back to around 32,000 years ago. Skeletal remains, microliths, bone implements, cherts and food remnants have been found in local caves.

We had planned to visit Mannar via Pomparippu, Wilpattu and Silavaturai as we were passionate to pass through the jungle, though we were not convinced about the road condition. We wished advice from the police station, army base and the bus stand at Puttalam, if the road is in good condition. We were discouraged from their answers as we had a 2WD van and which also a hired vehicle. Hence we decided to visit Mannar via Medawachchiya. On the way we visited Madhu Church.