Wilpattu National Park, the largest in Sri Lanka, is located in the north-western lowlands. We first went there almost 20 years ago, when the country was still in the midst of a long civil war. The experience was very disappointing: we were told that most of the animals we were expecting to see had fled the area because of the fighting.
Last year we decided to give it another try, and this time we saw a lot more of the wildlife. The bird at the top is a Crested Serpent Eagle (I believe). Below are some more photos of birds from our safari.
The brightly coloured one in the shot just above is Sri Lanka’s national bird, the Jungle Fowl.
Not all the tracks through the park are as good as this one, but on the whole they are easily negotiable in a vehicle with fairly high ground clearance (ideally a 4×4).
We spent a whole day driving through various parts of the park and never tired of watching the scenery and the wildlife.
Below is a group of wild pigs and the one thereafter is a photo of a startled-looking mongoose.
This being Sri Lanka, we also saw several elephants—although they were nearly always on the other side of some body of water. One of the highlights was a leopard, but unfortunately I did not have time to focus my camera properly and ended up with only a couple of rather blurred photos. Nevertheless, it was a memorable encounter.
