I like wildlife and jungles greater than something. Witnessing an animal within the wild takes my breath away each single time. So, I’m continually in search of new locations to see the animals.
When a fellow wildlife lover good friend instructed me she’d by no means skilled such density as in Sri Lanka, I felt able to ebook my flight straight away.
Sri Lanka is a considerably lesser-known vacation spot in Asia. When folks consider Asian wildlife, they normally consider Borneo. Effectively, I’ve seemed for wildlife in Borneo, too, and Sri Lanka wins doubtless.
Why Is Wildlife So Plentiful in Sri Lanka?
Geographically, Sri Lanka’s tropical local weather is right for wildlife. But it surely’s actually due to the native those that a lot wildlife stays.
The vast majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhists and vegetarians. As they don’t eat cows or pigs, there’s no must clear forests to lift livestock – and meals for livestock. This, I imagine, is the primary purpose animal density stays so excessive.
Furthermore, Sri Lankans additionally deeply respect animals. I by no means noticed roadkill (regardless of animals being all over the place), and as soon as, I noticed a resort proprietor gently rescue a chicken that flew inside and launched it with nice care. That tells you every part.
The place to Spot Wildlife in Sri Lanka
It depends upon what sort of wildlife you need to see. For the very best wildlife density, head south.
Southern Sri Lanka, near the equator, is scorching, humid, and excellent for wild animals. Not many know that Sri Lanka has a rainforest: the Sinharaja Forest Reserve. We visited it and noticed many animals throughout our hike.
For bigger animals, journey additional North. Within the grasslands and central areas, you’ll discover elephants, deers, and monkeys.
Why Renting a Tuk Tuk Was the Finest Selection
I normally like to rearrange every part myself after I journey, however throughout my first week in Sri Lanka, I used to be hesitant to lease my very own car.
Nonetheless, counting on drivers restricted our flexibility, particularly whenever you need to see wildlife, and you haven’t any vacation spot in thoughts to inform the driving force. After observing visitors for just a few days, we realized it does look wonderful to navigate in it. Ultimately, we felt assured to drive on our personal.
The native car of Sri Lankans is the Bajaj tuk tuk, so we determined to lease a tuk tuk and drive like native folks do.
Renting a tuk tuk in Sri Lanka turned out to be the very best resolution. It was straightforward to drive, saved us cash, however most of all, gave us the liberty to discover on our personal.
From our tuk tuk, we even noticed wild elephants whereas driving by way of grasslands close to Sigiriya.
Wildlife We Encountered Each day
Particularly within the south, as soon as we left the busy areas, we noticed a brand new species each few seconds: big squirrels, hornbills, snakes, kingfishers, monkeys, peacocks, turtles, frogs – something you may think about within the tropics.
Rekawa Seaside is a superb spot to see wildlife within the south.
As well as, round April-Could, many migratory birds arrive from India to feed as water ranges drop within the lakes, making fish straightforward to catch.
Recognizing the Huge Animals: Elephants, Leopards & Crocodiles
Most vacationers come for the large wildlife: elephants, leopards, crocodiles, even bears. This 10 Days in Sri Lanka Itinerary covers the very best locations for wildlife encounters.
We noticed many wild elephants. They are often noticed at many locations, together with the Yala Nationwide Park and the Sigiriya area. Round Sigiriya, even from our tuk tuk, we might see them from the roads. Sri Lanka additionally has the world’s highest elephant density.
Leopards are tougher to see, as they have a tendency to cover. Enjoyable truth: Sri Lankan leopards are the biggest on this planet and are sometimes seen stress-free on rocks, as they haven’t any predators and there’s loads of prey round.
Crocodiles stay in freshwater, however are generally seen within the sea (amongst surfers) or salty lagoons.
Additionally, Sri Lanka is without doubt one of the few locations the place you would possibly spot blue whales, the biggest mammals on Earth. Boats exit each day from the south. We weren’t fortunate sufficient to see them, nevertheless it’s doable.
Is It Secure to Journey Amongst So Many Wild Animals?
Is it scary to be surrounded by wildlife? In no way. We simply took easy precautions.
Within the elephant counties, we didn’t exit after darkish, particularly not on foot. We additionally averted carrying meals with us to forestall attracting animals like monkeys. (With so many native eateries, you actually don’t must deliver meals with you.)
Crocodile zones have clear indicators, and locals assured us these shy creatures normally keep hidden. Imagine me, we have been in search of them, however didn’t see any.
What I Discovered from a Month Amongst Sri Lanka’s Wildlife
Throughout our one month in Sri Lanka and actively in search of wildlife, we by no means had any points.
It’s a excellent instance the place folks stay in concord with nature – as soon as we noticed an enormous snake crossing the road, and the locals didn’t even blink. The animals will not be the enemy to them, and so they respect all creatures.
Throughout this month, I fell in love with Sri Lanka: seeing how Sri Lanka protects its forests just by not elevating meat animals was eye-opening. For as soon as, it turned clear to me how a lot of an influence it has if a nation as a complete decides to be vegetarian. There are such a lot of scrumptious meals to switch meat with, so it taught me an excellent lesson. And I imagine the world might study from Sri Lankans, too.
Wildlife in Sri Lanka
I’m already planning my subsequent go to to Sri Lanka because it has turn into certainly one of my favourite journey locations.
Apart from the animals, after I consider Sri Lanka, I consider the native folks. Sri Lankans are the kindest folks, and I’m grateful for all of the connections I had with them.
They’re such welcoming, warm-hearted folks – many occasions we acquired invited to locals` houses who have been merely that pleasant. Within the developed nations, this type of hospitality is uncommon.
Sophia, a traveller from Europe who’s all the time visiting locations off the conventional vacationer path. She nonetheless visits the favored nations like Italy or Thailand, nevertheless she all the time travels to the much less visited locations. Why? To see wildlife, uncover genuine journey locations, join with the locals, and to spend time outside.