One of my friends is gonna get married in September so he wanted to go on a relaxing journey before his arms and legs are tied. As I’d not been to Udawalawe before, this turned out to be the perfect opportunity. Apparently the scary things bring along good and happy returns with them. So we planned the journey during the Vesak as we all could get away without an issue. However, this time there wasn’t any of my Lakdasun buddies to accompany me. It was just the four of us, my close friends outside Lakdasun. So we all got ready to spend a night at one of national park known to harbor more than 300 jumbos. Our biggest concern, if we’d get a better bungalow.

There are four known bungalows at Udawalawe. They are Seenuggala, Thimbiriya Mankada, Gonawiddagala and Weheragolla. When I visited the Wildlife Department website to make the booking online (this is a great thing introduced by them. It saves so much trouble and painstaking process many undergo until not so long ago), none of those bungalows was available. Gonawiddagala and Thimbiriya Mankada were highly recommended but I had no luck. There was however a fifth option, Pokunuthenna, and it’s not listed in the information page for the bungalows which has photos and accommodation details. I was in two minds whether to cancel our jumbo watching and do something else coz every wildlife bungalow at all the national parks was booked.