Kumana National Park is renowned for its birds, particularly its large flocks of migratory waterfowl and wading birds. The park is 391 kilometres (243 mi) southeast of Colombo on Sri Lanka's southeastern coast. Kumana is contiguous with Yala National Park. It was formerly known as Yala East National Park, but changed to its present name in 5th September 2006. The park was closed from 1985 to March 2003 because of the Civil War.
Date : 20/21 November 2010
Crew : 7
Transport : Public Transport (Bus)
Activities : Bird watching, Photography, Camping
Weather : Sunny / Drizzly
Route : Colombo -> Rathnapura-> Wellawaya-> Pottuvil-> Panama-> Kumana
This was a special trip for me as its my first camping experience in the wild. We started our journey on a Friday night from fort. We booked seats in advance for a bus which leaves to Akkareipattu. The bus left at 8.30pm from Colombo. After a long uncomfortable ride we reached Pottuvil around 5am in the following morning. The safari jeep came there to pick us in a few minutes.
We entered the park after getting tickets from the park office at Okanda. Our first destination was the ruins in Bambaragasthalawa. The statue of Lord Buddha was destroyed by the heartless treasure hunters. I was shocked to see the damage done to the statue. To reach these ruins we have to walk some distance on foot through the jungle. According to our guide this area is home to bears so we were asked to be careful. Bambaragasthalawa is the highest area in Kumana. During the war, a senior LTTE leader was hiding in this area. He was hunt down by the security forces later.
