Flood Plain National Park

Flood Plain National Park

A majestic river, beautiful swamps, wild elephants and big crocodiles, these are only few attractions of the scenic flood plain national park in Sri Lanka.

Location – Polonnaruwa District close to Manampitiya, North Central Province.


Getting there;
Colombo->Kurunegala->Dambulla->Habarana->Minneriya->Polonnaruwa->Mananpitiya (233km)

By Train;
Trincomalee Train - Should get down from Mananpitiya or Gallalla stations as the park is situated between these two.

Facilities:
There are no facilities yet within the park since this has been considered a threatened area due to terrorist activities in the past. But it is easy to find accommodations and other facilities in the surrounding towns like Polonnaruwa.

Flood Plain National Park (FPN) is the 9th national park in Sri Lanka, declared on 7th august 1984. This covers an area of 17,350 hectares and it connects to the “Somawathiya” national park from the north, and “Wasgomuwa” national park from the south.
FPN has one of the most important ecological systems in the country known as “Mahaweli swamps” within its borders. These hold the overflowing water of river “Mahaweli” specially during monsoon season giving the park its name.
FPN is based centering the river “Mahaweli” the longest river in Sri Lanka. In this area the average width of the river is about 200-300 meters and there are also several small islands made out of river sand. Dense riverbank forests can be seen in these islands and alone the riverbanks. During the monsoon, the whole park becomes a massive lake and later on a big swamp with the lowering water level.
“Thunmodara” the place where “Amban ganga” a small river meets Mahaweli is a very attractive place in the park.

Close by “Dimbulagala” rock temple is also a famous tourist attraction.

Biodiversity of the park:

Large mammals – Elephant, Sri Lankan axis deer, Samba deer, leopard, Sloth Bear, wild buffalo,

Small mammals - Chevrotain, wild boar, Porcupine, Mongoose , Civet, Golden Jackal, wild Hare, Indian Pangolin

Reptiles – Crocodile, Pythons, Cobras, Vipers

Birds - Brahminy Kite, Little Cormorant , Indian Cormorant, Purple Heron, Grey Heron, White-breasted Waterhen, Red-wattled Lapwing, Yellow-wattled Lapwing, Purple Swamphen


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Whale watching in Sri Lanka

Vast Indian Ocean around the island of Sri Lanka flourishes with all kinds of marine mammals. Until recent times, only fishermen, navy and may be wealthy yaught owners were able to see these beauties with their own eyes. Things are changing for good in recent times.

As a part of these new developments, Fisheries Department under the ministry of fisheries and Aquatic Resources introduces an ocean safari service for both foreign and local tourists.
Initially this will be operated from the “Mirissa” fisheries harbor, in Matara district. Safari will be into the southern ocean (North Indian Ocean) towards the international shipping lane which is about 13 nautical miles from the cost. The area around this shipping lane is known to inhabit large schools of whales belongs to various different species. And alone the way to the area, it is not rare to site large pods of dolphins too.

Blue whales, Sperm Whales and humpback whales are sited in large numbers in the area ,where the ocean is about 3500 meters deep. It is truly a majestic seen to watch how humpbacks jumping into the air and falling back to the water creating long running waves. On a lucky day, few Orcas will also add verity to the journey.

This whole safari takes about 6 hours to complete. Boats leave the harbor at about 6.30 in the morning since it’s very hard to ride towards the land during high noon with strong winds towards sea. Every traveler will be provided with a life jacket and every boat carries two experience lifeguards and a specialist guide too. A single boat can carry up to 12 people and for larger groups they provide special boats on request.

The service is open for both foreign and local tourists.
This is a good opportunity for most people since this whole idea of whale watching is relatively new to the local travelers.

More information is available from the manager of the Mirissa fisheries harbor (041-2251660).

Reference:
(“Enna yanna thalmasunge natum balanna” – Divaina(2009-06-16) – Ranjan Gamini Jayawardena)

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Morning Side

Image via Wikipedia

It dawns to Sinharaja from the south of “Sooriyakanda” mountain which belongs to the “Rakwana” mountain range. This area of the Sinharajas Ratnapura District border (to the Beverly estate) is called the “Morning Side”. During the colonial times, morning side was an estate governed by the English and even today there is an estate named morning side in the area.

Sinharaja is the only world heritage rain forest in Sri Lanka which borders to Rathnapura, Galle and Matara districts with an area of 11187 hectares. Generally Sinharaja stretches from North West to South East like a belt of forest. Morning Side is the only small area of this forest which stretches towards east.

Sun bathed Sinharaja canopy is a heavenly picture to a waking eye in the morning. Air is filled with the songs of early birds like the Ashy-Headed Laughing-Thrush (Garrulax cinereifrons), Purple Sunbirds (Nectarinia Asiatica) and many more.
Morning side is known to be one of the favored place for the only remaining three elephants (Elephas maximus maximus) in the Sinharaja. Apart from that there are signs of the presence of leopards (Panthera pardus kotiya) and samba deer (Cervus unicolor unicolor) in the area.

Morning side is situated in a high mountain face, in the middle of a mountain range. Thus fog is common during good part of the year, making the climate chilly. Regular drizzling reminds the climate of “Horton planes” in the central highlands.

Since morning side is an entrance to the Sinharaja rain forest, there is a forest lodge maintained by the Department of forest conservation. It can house ten people easily and bookings should be done from the head office at Battaramulla.

Forest lodge and the morning side estate are situated about 7 KM into the forest from the main road. Condition of this road demands a four wheel drive (off-road) vehicle to get there.

From the morning side forest lodge, there is a trail crossing the morning side estate into the forest which stretches about 7 kilometers. This trail ends with a waterfall called “Doowili Ella” (dust fall). The only other trail leads to a natural pool filled with icy cold water.

Morning side is a magnificent part of this majestic forest which carries such beauty and charm to one’s eyes. There is no doubt that we should put our full effort to protect this land for generations to come together with the Sinharaja. So if you are a responsible nature lover, consider morning side for your next intimate escape and experience the nature at its best.

Remember to take back only pics and good memories with you and leave behind only footsteps.

And don’t forget to Share your experience with us too :)

References:
("Sinharajaye Himidiri Pedesa (Divaina 2009/05/17) - Jagath Kanaharaarachchi)

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