It was Independence Day so we decided to get in to the wilderness and enjoy our day. We started our journey form Colombo at around 8.30am(planned time was 6.30am 🙂 and when we came to Kitulgala it was already 12 noon. After buying lunch we came to the famous bathing spot behind the rest house to cross over the Kelani river, the sight was unbelievable their were like million Homo sapiens. Anyhow we crossed over to the peaceful opposite bank and the charge was 20/= per person. All of us applied “Nil Saban” at this point and started our journey by climbing up few steps to find that the path was dividing in to three, we took the one to the left and after traveling few hundred meters trough the Parawalatenna village we came to the next junction where we took the right turn and came to a pink boutique. From here onwards the journey was through the village for about 1Km until we came to the wildlife office bordering the reserve. From here it was a cool and calm walk through the “Kurulu Kele”(paradise for bird watches) until we got to a junction where the path divided in to two, we took the one towards right and continued few hundred meters until we ended up at the bridge which crosses the stream. We have missed the path to Makulu falls but never the less we knew we were some where above the falls so we continued down stream with out much of a difficulty because the water flow was less (Dry season in Kitulgala). We ended up right on top of Makulu Falls, we found out a way to get down from the right bank and came to the Waterfall which was one of those fascinating sights! The waterfall was the ideal place for us to have SHOWER, it had less water but yet we enjoyed the shower a lot in middle of the jungle. There were some water filled pools which we had a quite dip too!

Through the Makandawa forest after crossing Kelani River	Red arrow towards Makulu Ella & Blue Arrow towards Lenkiri Ella
The path to Makulu Ella summer hut which we missed	Traveling down stream

The Bridge

wow! Top of Makulu ella	Makulu Ella
A natural pool near the waterfall	The Summer hut

Quote: Makulu Ella
The name of the fall refers to the bewildering varieties of spiders, which once upon a time webbed here. The milieu of the fall, which is the Makandawa Conservation, is rich in bio- diversity. The animal species consists amongst others: Jungle fowl, Giant Squirrel, Deer Wild boar. There is a bridge with wooden planks here. Slow water flow for about 120m steps over a 30m wide rocky formation ending with a 4m drop and creating the 8m Water Falls. Tourist, who comes to Kitulgala Rest House for bird watching, invariably is drawn to this picturesque waterfall located amidst a water hole dotted terrain, much to the delight of tourists, who take a dip.
The fall is in Makandawa Conservation, Yatiyantota PS, Kegalle District. From Deraniyagala go to Pallebage Village a trek of about 3km takes you to the fall. Another route is to go to boat from Kitulgala Rest House Jetty, to Egodavla Parawala Tenne Village and peregrinate along the Kurukukelle (Birds Jungle) to reach the fall. Another way to reach the fall is to come to Makulu Falls Bridge spanning 35m & a meter wide. The bridge could be reached either from the direction of Pallebage or Kitulgala.

After enjoying the refreshing shower we had our lunch and returned back to the original path, which starts from the near by summer hut. We were bit confused about the path to Lenkiri Ella so we called up a local guide and asked for assistance. Kumara (Guide) came and took us back to the initial junction where this time we took the road towards the left and it was a 2Km journey along this foot path. On the way we came cross a “Divi Makuluwa & a Ahaetulla” also. We crossed two/three main water streams on the way, after crossing the last one we came across another junction. The right path adjoining the hidden Paddy fields was the path to Pallebage (Noori-Deraniyagala), we took the left path which took us uphill. After a 600m walk we came to an unnoticeable junction where we took the downhill path to the top of Lenkiri Ella.

Ahaetulla nasuta – Green Vine Snake(Ahaetulla) –  More Info:  Srilankareptile.com

Poecilotheria fasciata – Lemon-legged Tiger Spider (Thada kaha iri padethi Divimakuluwa/ Yaksha Divimakuluwa) –  More Info: pdn.ac.lk

Blue=uphill towards Lenkiri ella & Orange towards Pallebage	Downhill path to the top of the Lankakiri Ella fall
Traveling to the top of the fall	First glimpse of Lenkiri falls

Quote: Lenkiri Ella
This 20m high fall cascades in three stages, with the final drop measuring 20m and presenting a spectacular scenario. The journey it self is a unique experience, with the sounds of animals and the chirps of adventive birds. Due to the dense canopy formed by the closed forest, sunlight is barred and coldness prevails. The route winds through mountainous country. Ironically, the relics of a road constructed by wild life officers in the 1965 1967 period to transport 1095 still remains to be seen.
The Lenkiri Falls is in Yatiyaktota PS, Kegalle District at Kitugala Makandawa Conservation area. To reach the Falls get a bus from the Awisawela – Ginigathhena Road come to Kitulgalaq Town, and from behind the Ceylon Tourists Board Rest House, jetty, cross the Keleni River and come to Paravalalatenne Village which is abutted by the jungle conservation on one side and the Kelani River on the other. From here another km ahead is the 180 hectares Makandewa Conservation. It is 909m above MSL, a jungle belt. Extends to the south. Trekking through the Jungle the point at where the route bisects is met. Take the left route, which is narrow and precipitous to view the lower part of the fall; it cascades from a sloping rock formation extending to about 150 feet

View from the top of Lenkiri falls	Lenkiri Falls
Lenkiri Falls	Lenkiri Falls

This waterfall was a beautiful one and unique in its self. The major issue was it was not possible to get to the base of the fall because of the huge rocky slopes on both sides and we did not have time but nevertheless I got down half away to get few front view photographs. After having a bath for the second time we left Lenekiri Ella to return back. As the guide said there are few more small waterfalls upstream and there is a nice natural pool 100m upstream, that needs to be reached from the main foot path. At about 5pm we returned back to Kitulgala and took off happily to Colombo & we did not forget to have a “Kahata Koppe with Kitul Hakuru”.

Bit of Adventure!

Crossing over the Kelani River

The crew

Red=Makulu Ella & Blue=Lenkiri Ella (locations marked may be wrong, please correct me if so)