About this experience
Board your private safari jeep in Dambulla and head into the Hurulu Biosphere Reserve, one of Sri Lanka's most significant elephant habitats. Your English-speaking driver and tracker scan the landscape as you move through the reserve, pointing out wild Sri Lankan elephants, native birds, and other wildlife along the route. The full outing runs four hours, and you can choose the morning or evening slot — the evening safari typically offers better wildlife sightings. Minimum age for this tour is five years.
Lakpura arranges hotel pick-up and drop-off by private jeep, so there's no need to organise separate transport. All taxes and service charges are covered. Food, drinks, and gratuities are not included, so bring water and any snacks you need for the drive.
Each safari spends about three hours in the park, in the morning (7.00 to 10.00 am) or the afternoon (2.00 to 5.00 pm); for the afternoon safari your jeep collects you from your Dambulla hotel at 1.30 pm and has you back by about 6.30 pm. Besides elephants, the 10,000-hectare evergreen dry-zone forest around the Hurulu Wewa reservoir shelters leopards, rusty-spotted cats, star tortoises, jungle fowl, parrots and hawks. Hurulu is part of a corridor with Minneriya and Kaudulla national parks, and the herds move between the three parks with the dry and wet seasons. One litre of bottled water per guest is included; park entrance tickets are included only when you choose tickets at booking.
