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Udawalawe National Park is where Sri Lanka shows you its elephants without making you wait for them. The park sits on the boundary of the Uva and Sabaragamuwa provinces, built around the reservoir of the Walawe River, and the open grassland and scrub that replaced the old chena farmland now gives wild elephants nowhere much to hide. This safari puts you in a 4x4 jeep with an experienced driver who doubles as your tracker, out on the park's dirt tracks for three hours, looking for a population of elephants that researchers studying individually-identified animals have put at anywhere from roughly eight hundred to well over a thousand.
The drive takes in savanna grassland first, then works towards the banks of the Udawalawe Reservoir, where the backdrop opens up to hills and water. Elephants come down to the reservoir to drink and bathe, often in family groups with calves close by, and the same open ground brings sightings of spotted deer moving in herds through the tree line and peacocks displaying in the grass. The jeep's raised bench seating and open sides mean there is nothing between you and the view, which matters when a herd crosses the track ahead or a bird of prey drops low over the water.
Your driver meets you at the park gate, handles the entrance formalities, and takes the lead on reading the terrain and the animals once you are inside. Pickup and drop-off are included for any address within five kilometres of the park gate; beyond that radius you will need to arrange your own transfer to the start point. The jeep seats up to six passengers, and the booking is for a private vehicle rather than a shared seat, so the pace and stops are set by your group alone.
Park entrance tickets, food, drinks and gratuities are not part of this booking and are settled separately, with entrance fees payable in cash where applicable. Water is provided during the drive, and all taxes and service charges on the jeep itself are already built in. The minimum age for participants is five years, which is worth noting if you are travelling with very young children.
