Perched underneath the shadow of the Hakgala or Jaw Tooth rock, at an elevation of 1,670m, the beautifully landscaped Hakgala Botanical Gardens spread over nearly 3 sq kms. With magnificent views of the surrounding hills and the jungles of the Hakgala Nature Reserve, the gardens are filled with roses and orchids, eucalyptus, pine and camphor, fruit and scented herbs and rare ferns – an array of flowers and foliage from Sri Lanka and different parts of the world. An eminent British Botanist founded the Hakgala Botanical Gardens in 1860.
The magnificent Sinharaja rainforest and the village of Kitulgala, which is popular for white water rafting, are situated in the western foothills, sandwiched between the west coast and the central highlands. This is an area of rolling hills, tropical rain forests and winding rivers. The Sinharaja tropical rainforest is renowned as a hotspot for birdlife. […]
Located south of Trinco, Pasikudah and Kalkudah are fishing villages that were at one time, popular beach destinations similar to Hikkaduwa in the south. Up until the early 1980s, small beach shack cafes and guesthouses lined the shores of Kalkudah. Now several boutique hotels line the bay and offer a range of watersports from jet […]
Sitting in well-irrigated valleys between Adam’s Peak and Sinharaja Forest Reserve, busy Ratnapura (‘City of Gems’ in Sanskrit) is a famous trading centre for the area’s ancient wealth of gem stones. The region’s wet and humid climate encourages the formation of riverbeds, which are the perfect environment for gem stones to develop.
With herds of elephants, wild buffalo, sambar deer and leopards, Uda Walawe National Park is the Sri Lankan national park that best rivals the savannah reserves of Africa. In fact, for elephant-watching, Uda Walawe often surpasses many of the most famous East African national parks. The park, which centres on the 308.2-sq-km Uda Walawe Reservoir, […]
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