Uda Walawe National Park

Uda Walawe is one of Sri Lanka’s four most popular national parks. Uda Walawe and Yala are situated to the south and Minneriya and Wilpattu are to the north of the central highlands. Yala and Wilpattu cover larger areas and they are famous for leopards, whereas the main attraction of the smaller parks Minneriya and Uda Walawe is observing wild elephants. Thus, for holiday makers in southern Sri Lanka who want to take part in an elephant safari, Uda Walawe is the first choice. In contrast, Minneriya is in the Cultural Triangle can be reached from east coast beaches such als Pasikudah and Nilaweli.

However, there is another diffence between the elephant parks of Minneriya in the north and Udawalawe in the south. The elephant gathering in Minneriya is more spectacular, but it only takes place during the northern hemisphere summer months. In contrast. Uda Walawe is not attracting migratory elephants. It has a permant and constant population of will elephants. The density of the elephant population is high and you can see the gorgeous beasts in large quatities throughout the year. You will not see one big herd at the reservoir like in Minneriya, but smaller groups of up to a dozen individuals and more than one such herd during your safari.

Attached to the Uda Walawe National Park is the baby elephant camp called „Elephant Transit home“. Elephant babies that lost their mothers are nourished here and prepared to return to the wild as adolescents.

Learn more about Uda Walawe in our comprehensive article here...

elephant at Uda Walawe reservoir

Painted Storks in Uda Walawe National Park