Kaudulla National Park
Kaudulla National Park is located 197km away from Colombo, close to the Minneriya National Park with which it shares a sizeable elephant population. Kaudulla was designated a national park in 2002, becoming the 15th national park of Sri Lanka. Along with Minneriya and the neighbouring Girithale sanctuary, Kaudulla has been designated one of the Important Bird Areas (IBAs) of Sri Lanka.
Kaudulla is host to a significant irrigation tank which supports plenty of plant and animal life including large mammals, fish, reptiles etc. Elephants are largely found here in the wet season, and during the dry season you would see them moving to the neighboring Minneriya tank, a much larger water reservoir in the dry zone of Sri Lanka.
However the wet season can still be a great time to visit Kaudulla as the less crowds mean that the the fewer elephants there are, you will have all to yourself. Despite the escalating human-elephant conflict brought about by the invasion of humans into jungle land for farming, the elephant population in Kaudulla national park has actually increased to 211 in recent years an encouraging sign indeed for Sri Lankan wildlife enthusiasts and tourists.
Kaudulla can be a park teeming with Sri Lankan wildlife. On good days you will see roaming herds of Sri Lankan sambar deer, Sri Lankan axis deer (including the very rare albino variety), wild boar, Sri Lankan leopard, and sloth bears though some of these animals are admittedly very rare finds.
There is a reason though, that many tourists have Kaudulla national park on their bucket list as a must visit destination in Sri Lanka. The park is host to a wildlife spectacle that wildlife enthusiasts going to Sri Lanka simply cannot say ‘no’ to!
Kaudulla can be reached easily from many surrounding towns including Ahuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Dambulla. There are plenty of fantastic lodging opportunities for the discerning traveler here such as Thidas Arana (11 miles away), Aliya Resort and Spa, Sun Green Resort and Spa, EKKHO Lake House, Kaveeri Ayurvedic Resort, Amaara Forest Hotel, Cinnamon Lodge Habarana (12 miles away) and Habrana Village By Cinnamon (14 miles away).