52. Udawalawe (Sri Lanka)

05/12/21-07/12/21

Since there is no train connection from Tangalle to Udawalawe, this time we will travel by car or our next landlord will pick us up! There are some minor traffic disruptions on the way - but they are not cows like in Georgia or camels like in Oman, but really large monitor lizards!

In Udawalawe we visit the national park and go on a jeep safari. We start at 5:30 in the morning!

The Udawalawe National Park was established in 1972, so the region was declared a national park to protect the native species such as elephants and birds.

The park mainly consists of grasslands and forests and is famous for its large elephant population (about 500 live here) and we easily see over 40 of them - the elephant babies are particularly cute!

The Sri Lankan elephant (also known as the Ceylon elephant) is one of the three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant and has been classified as critically endangered since 1986.

Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants, and the Sri Lankan elephant is the largest subspecies and only 2% of the total population have tusks.

And then we were able to observe a tree full of monkeys and some peacocks among various birds!

In the end, we can conclude that it is not so bad to get up at 5 in the morning - when instead of working, you are rewarded with a sunrise in the desert or several elephant families!