Camping at Kumana

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. 

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Thotupola and Diyagama nature trails – Horton Plains

Thotupola Kanda (2359 m) is the third highest peak in Sri Lanka. The trail is also known as Rawana nature trail. According to the legends, king Rawana landed his Mythical plane (Dadu monara) on the peaks of "Thotupola Kanda" which means "Landing Site" in sinhala language.

Date : 6 November 2010
Crew : 4
Transport : Public Transport (Train)
Activities : Hiking, Photography
Weather : Rainy and Misty
Route : Colombo -> Pattipola -> Thotupola -> Diyagama -> Thalawakale -> Colombo

We started our journey from Colombo Fort at 8 pm on a Friday eve. The crew was four. We booked the tickets for Badulla night mail train in advance. Even though I tried to get some sleep on the train it was really difficult for me. After eight and a half hours, the train arrived to Pattipola station around 4.30 am. We had to wait 1.5 hours till the sun rises to start our journey. So we had an early breakfast and as soon as the first shop opened we bought some food (Rotti and Lunumiris  ) as lunch and started our journey.

From Pattipola we walked towards Hortain Plains. Although it is 5km to the Pattipola entrance from Pattipola station, we decided to do it on foot. At first the weather was fine and after walking few kilometers the mist started to invade the area. Within a few minutes the whole area was in thick mist. The visibility was no more than 5-10m.

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The Untamed Wilpattu

Wilpattu (Land of Lakes) National Park is a park located 26 km north of Puttalam (approximately 180 km north of Colombo). The unique feature of this park is the existence of "Willus" (Natural lakes) - Natural, sand-rimmed water basins or depressions that fill with rainwater. Nearly sixty lakes (Willu) and tanks are found spread throughout Wilpattu. Wilpattu is among the top national parks world renowned for its Leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) population. The Mahavansa records that in 543 BC Prince Vijaya landed at Kudrimalai Point (Horse Point), married Kuweni and founded the Sinhalese race.

Date : 16 October 2010
Crew : 8
Transport : Public Transport (Bus)
Activities : Safari
Weather : Excellent
Route : Colombo -> Puttalam -> Wilpattu


We started our journey from Colombo Fort on Friday midnight. We took a Vavniya bus which travels through Puttalam and it left Colombo at 12.30 am. After a four hour ride we reached Wilpattu junction and we were picked up by our previously arranged Safari jeep there. We rested till the sun rises and started our the safari very early. From the park entrance a guide joined us. You can take your own vehicle if you have 4WD but you should get a guide from the office before entering the park.

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Scenic hike from Ohiya to Bambarakanda

Bambarakanda Falls is the tallest waterfall in Sri Lanka. With a height of 263 m (863 ft), it ranks as the 299th highest waterfall in the world.Situated in Kalupahana in the Badulla District, this waterfall is directly visible from the A4 Highway. The waterfall was formed by Kuda Oya, which is a branch of the Walawe River.

Date : 18-19 September 2010
Crew : 6
Transport : Public Transport (Train and Bus)
Activities : Hiking, Photography, Waterfalls
Weather : Day1 – Rainy / Day2 – Excellent
Route : Colombo -> Pattipola -> Ohiya -> Kalupahana -> Colombo

We started our journey from Colombo Fort at 5 am and took the Podi Menike train to Pattipola. We reached Pattipola around 2 pm. After having our lunch and finding accommodation, we started hiking towards Thotupola kanda. But the bad weather was not so kind to us as it started to rain. Also we were running out of time. It’s not a wise idea to climb Thotupola in the evening because there are leopards in the area. So we abandon Thotupola hike and returned to Pattipola around 7 pm.

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