We visited the Muthurajawela Visitor Center at about 8.30 AM. It is a small setup managed by the Muthurajawela & Negombo Lagoon Development Foundation. Presently its main attractions are limited to a guided boat tour.

Total distance of the boat tour was around 14 Km and it took 2 hrs. We started from Hamilton canal and the canal was full of water monitors. We were fortunate to see a young crocodile. We reached to Negombo lagoon within 20 minutes. Then we entered to Dandugam oya through boarder of the Muthurajawela marsh. There we saw lot of fishing boats (canoes) with fishing nets.

Hamilton Canal – It is as straight as the Base line road

Under the bridge – Elen-edoda / Pamunugama bridge

Negombo Lagoon

Sailing along Dandugam oya was a different experience. This stretch is around 3 km with virgin land strip. We saw few monkeys (Toque Macaque), lot of Brahminy kites fishing on the river. There were some few dead fish (batta?) only spotted in this stretch.

Dandugam oya

Boat stopped for 15 minutes under the Mangrove canopy with a full view of Negombo lagoon. We saw 3 planes take off and getting ready for landing from a distance. This location is close to the Katunayaka Air Port.

After having a break the boat returned to the MVC through Negombo lagoon and Hamilton canal.

Canopy of Mangroves – Where boat parked for 15 minutes in the middle of the tour

Flora & fauna of Muthurajawela

Muthurajawela harbours over 194 species of Flora distributed over seven major vegetation types which includes marsh, lactic flora, shrub land, reed, swamp, grasslands, stream bank and mangrove forest. A total of 194 species of vegetation belonging to 66 families have been recorded which include one endemic species (Phoenix zelanica). Among the different types of vegetation, the shrub land consists of 115 species with the mangrove forest and stream bank consisting of just 23 species each. Due to the high level of human activity within the sanctuary, the flora composition at Muthurajawela seems to be changing rapidly.

The vertebrate fauna includes 40 species of fish, 14 species of reptiles, 102 species of birds and 22 species of mammals. Among the total vertebrate species documented 17 are endemic while 26 are nationally endangered. Among the invertebrates documented 48 species are butterflies and 22 species are dragonflies.

Birds we saw,
Cormorants (10-15)
Indian Pond Heron (3)
Cattle Egret (1)
Egrets (5-10)
Purple Heron (4)
Lesser Whistling Duct (about 10)
Brahminy Kite (15-20)
White-breasted Waterhen (5)
Purple Swamphen (3)
Red-wattled Lapwing (1)
Terns (10-15)

Other animals we saw,
Water Monitors (more than 20)
Toque Macaque (5-10)
Crocodile (young one)
Various kinds of butterflies
Various kinds of dragonflies
Various kinds of fishes

Boat operator and the guide gave their maximum support to show, to take pictures and to identify the birds and other animals.

Purple Heron	Cormorant take off
Indian Pond Heron	Purple Swamphen
Little Cormorant	Red-wattled Lapwing
Water Monitor	Toque Macaque

This was an enjoyable, family, nature half day trip!