THE COMPLETE DESTINATION GUIDE
Discover Udawalawe National Park
Udawalawe National Park is built around the Udawalawe reservoir, and the open grassland and scrubland surrounding the water give it a noticeably different, more savanna-like landscape than the denser forest found in some of Sri Lanka's other parks. This open terrain, combined with a genuinely large resident elephant population, makes Udawalawe one of the more consistent parks on the island for seeing elephants, often in sizeable herds moving across open ground or bathing near the reservoir.
Beyond elephants, the park supports water buffalo, sambar and spotted deer, crocodiles, and a good range of birdlife, including birds of prey that are a particular draw for keener birdwatchers. As with Yala, safari drives here are conducted by open jeep with a licensed guide, typically in the cooler hours of early morning or late afternoon, and the park's more open landscape generally makes for easier animal spotting than more densely forested reserves, even if the overall variety of species is narrower than at Yala.
A notable feature near the park is the Elephant Transit Home, run to rehabilitate orphaned or injured elephant calves before their eventual release back into the wild — visitors can watch scheduled feeding sessions from a viewing area, offering a different, closer perspective on young elephants than a safari drive typically allows, alongside genuine insight into the conservation work involved.
Udawalawe's relative proximity to the south coast makes it a practical safari option for travellers based around Tangalle or Mirissa who want a wildlife excursion without traveling as far as Yala, and its more open terrain can make for a comfortable introduction to safari travel for first-time visitors.