Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) is an island nation south of India in the Indian Ocean. Its diverse landscapes range from rainforest and arid plains to highlands and sandy beaches. It’s famed for its ancient Buddhist ruins, including the 5th-century citadel Sigiriya, with its palace and frescoes. The city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka’s ancient capital, has many ruins dating back more than 2,000 years.
When it comes to wildlife tours, Sri Lanka is most famous for majestic Asian elephant and leopards, (one of the five “big cats”). Sri Lanka holds the world record for highest leopard density in the world, here leopard are super large since they are the highest ranking formidable predators in Sri Lanka, they have evolved more like a jaguar with more muscular, more powerful may be even more powerful than a jaguar, they roam National parks proudly with no idea of fear whatsoever. Not to mention Sri Lanka has the highest density of elephants in Asia. Also World largest elephant gathering happens here in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lank attractions include :
Head towards the golden beaches of the south coast of the island to witness yet another UNESCO World Heritage site: the Galle Dutch Fort, built by the Portuguese and fortified by the Dutch. Today, with charming villas, ancient churches and cobblestoned streets, the fort still retains much of its quaint colonial aura and enchants anyone who walks upon its ramparts overlooking a deep blue sea.
Located in Kandy, Sri Lanka’s ancient hill capital, the Temple of the Tooth is considered to be the very heart of the nation. Wars had been fought for the possession of the Sacred Tooth Relic as it’s believed that whoever holds the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha holds the power and the right to rule the country. Being a predominantly Buddhist country, the Temple of the Tooth is the most sacred place of worship for Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Visit between July and August to witness the spectacular Festival of the Tooth (Kandy Perahera), a vibrant religious procession complete with beautifully adorned elephants, drummers, fire eaters, energetic dancers and stilt walkers.
The main attraction is Wilpattu National Park, i visited it with help from go4safari.com, a travel experts agency specialized in Sri Lanka tours,
Wilpattu National Park is a park located on the island of Sri Lanka. The unique feature of this park is the existence of “Willus” – Natural, sand-rimmed water basins or depressions that fill with rainwater. Located in the Northwest coast lowland dry zone of Sri Lanka.
WILPATTU NATIONAL PARK is located 26 km north of Puttalam (approximately 180 km north of Colombo) spanning from the northwest coast inland towards the ancient capital of Anuradhapura (50 km to the east of the park). Covering an impressive 425 sq miles, the park is Sri Lanka ‘s largest, and having reopened in March, 2010 it is just a matter of time before it becomes a popular eco-tourism destination. Wilpattu is a fairly thick dry zone jungle interspersed with a number of flood plain lakes banked with delicate white sands. It boasts an impressive variety of flora in huge expanses of forest, and varied wildlife, including deer, elephants, wild boar, sloth bears and leopards.