21 May 2010

Uda Walawe


Uda Walawe National Park is situated about 160 kilometers from Colombo and it belongs to both Sabaragamuwa and Uva provinces. The park is situated in a plain area but you can see mountains from North and West. The western perimeter is in fact made of Rakwana Mountains.

The reservoir is man made, but it has seamlessly merged with the natural eco system. River Walawe is the main water resource.

It is one of the best parks in Sri Lanka to see wild elephants. You can see more details here.

26 comments:

Amaris in Wonderland said...

Gorgeous view! Wish i could check it out in person. Thanks for giving us a glimpse. :D

You know, without the mountain range in the background, it could pass for a lake here in Brazil called Serra da Mesa... :) I'll try to scrounge up some proof. ;)

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh----I'd love to see the wild elephants, K....

I'm so used to seeing your mountain pictures that this one sorta surprised me...
Betsy

Jim said...

That's a wonderful scene.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

Mahasen said...

Amazing landscape!

Uda Wlalawa is one of my favorite National Parks..

Me-shak said...

Wow K :D
Love the sky. I'm dying to go there but still haven't got a chance :(
Looking forward for more.
Cheers!

Loshini said...

A seamless merging with the natural ecosystem is a good thing, it's a bit difficult to achieve from what i hear...

I love the clouds and the light blue sky. Thanks for sharing!

Naquillity said...

oh, the walks one could take along the water's edge. beautiful landscape. i certainly wouldn't mind seeing those wild elephants either. hope all is well. have a great weekend.

Harshi said...

Wow.. perfect perspective, beautiful cloud patterns and amazing color combo. Splendid Photo K!

rainfield61 said...

I went for the wild elephants along the East-West Highway in Malaysia, but I failed to see anyone.

Emma said...

what a beautiful view!

Anjana Gunawardena said...

Beautiful landscape shot K. Love it.

Have you taken this shot inside the park or while you are traveling on the road?

I can remember the same scenery while I was traveling on the Udawalawa Dam. Anyway I haven’t visited the park yet. One more place added to my list. :D

Penny Says said...

nice as always...:)

Rick (Ratty) said...

I very rarely get to see this much open space where I live. Most large areas are covered with buildings. This is a refreshing sight.

betchai said...

gosh, the cloud scattering in the blue sky above the green field and water looks so heavenly, love it.

Linnea said...

It looks like what I'd imagine parts of Africa to look like! Amazing view.

Amila Salgado said...

You've capture a beautiful shot there K. Udawalawe is such a pretty park that one cannot get it too wrong anyway.

cat said...

I love how you can just spot the mountains way back in the background. Great photo.

Sankara Subramanian said...

Brilliant color tones in this photo! If this photo is any indication of the place, then this national park is sure beautiful. Keep sharing!

Unknown said...

I m waiting to make a trip to Yala Wildlife Sanctuary to see your Leopards and Elephants. I hope I can do it sometime this year...Thomas

Kirigalpoththa said...

Amaris,
Really, Yes I’d like to see some glimpse of Serra da Mesa :)

Betsy,
This area is quite different! In fact there are lot more areas in Sri Lanka which I have to cover and some areas are totally different to what I’ve already shown. :)

J Bar,
Thanks mate!

Mahasen,
Yep, it is such a splendid area!

Me-shak,
Reaching Udawalawe is not that difficult now. You can reach there within 3.5 hours from outskirts of Colombo.

Loshini,
Agree. The tank is actually built by building a dam across River Walawe. There are no massive constructions in this area.
Hence this man made tank has not really messed up the natural beauty in this area, in fact added an extra allure to it.
It is one of the few places I rate as a perfect blend with nature.

Naquillity,
I’ll show them in one of my future posts :)

Harumi,
This was taken from the road that leads to Udawalawe dam. On any day you can take similar perfect perspectives full of different colors.

Rainfield,
In Sri Lanka there are wild parks where you won’t see elephants on a normal day, although there are roaming elephants in that area. But this park, you are sure to see wild elephants any time of the year.

Emma,
Thanks a lot :)

Anjana,
Yes, it was taken while traveling on the road, which is leading to the dam. For some reason this park reminds me of Minneriya too. You see similar sceneries in both places.

Penny,
Many thanks!

Ratty,
I see only buildings where I live too (Colombo suburbs)! This refreshing site is about 160km away from where I live, Yes it is such a refreshing sight :)

Betchai,
Yes, it is heavenly sight! I’m glad you like it :)

Linnea,
Really, yes the forest looks a bit like an African savannah. Isn’t it?

Gallicissa,
Absolutely correct, It is such a scenic place, where any picture taken from here would look nice :)

Cat,
Yes, Mountains in the background really add more beauty to the setting.

Sankara,
Yes it was actually taken from outside the park looking towards it. There are better places inside.. :)

T and S,
That is great to hear! Let me know when you are coming.. You can even visit this park too - Udawalawe - On the way to Yala,

Thanks all for your wonderful comments. Sorry for the delayed response.

George said...

This reservoir may be man-made, but it certainly does look as if it belongs in that setting. It would be very exciting to see wild elephants.

Kirigalpoththa said...

George,
Thanks a lot for your comments as always.

Janith said...

The clouds, the mountains and the bright blue sky! Perfect shot K... Just beautiful! :)

Anjana Gunawardena said...

Cool. I remembered this scenery very well cos I tried to snap it as well. But I failed :D

Ahh! Then my must have seen these fellas too ha? :)

Anonymous said...

woah. love the composure of green and blue beauty, K.

Kirigalpoththa said...

Chavie,
Thanks. Hope your PC is back in action :)

Anjana,
Yes I saw them! Perhaps, I must have seen the exact elephant a few weeks ago. I agree on the saying 'no one will get enough while looking at the Elephants'. They are magnificent animals.
But, people should stop feeding them. what we eat may not be very healthy for them!

Gadgetgirl,
Glad you like it :)