Herds of Elephants grazing on the plains, leopards lazing by the roadside, crocodiles slithering into waterholes, bears meandering across pathways, eagles soaring up in the sky.
No, this is not the stuff of adventure stories or sun crazed dreams, this is just what you could encounter on safari in any of the national parks in Sri Lanka. Wildlife tours offer many options whether you are seriously into nature or just mildly interested, and you will find (a bit like Darwin did) a land of new discoveries. Being amongst the top five biodiversity hotspots in the world with one of the highest levels of endemism, there is a great deal of amazing fauna and flora to see, with over 22 National Parks and nature reserves to catch them at their best. Dotted around the island, each one has its own unique habitat from dry scrub jungles, wetlands, and virgin rain forests to marine parks. The dry zone parks such as Yala, Wilpattu, Uda Walawe, Wasgamuwa, Bundala, Minneriya and Kaudulla are ideal to spot the ‘big five’ – Elephant, Leopard, Sloth Bear, Wild Buffalo and Crocodile. In complete contrast Horton Plains, Knuckles Reserve, Sinharaja Rainforest and others in the wet zone will plunge you to thick jungles and mist covered highland plateaus to see a multitude of different creatures who call it home.
