Sri Lanka is an incredibly diverse destination, but one of the biggest drawcards for tourists is viewing wildlife on safari. A huge range of animals call Sri Lanka home, the most famous of which is the Asian Elephant. Many visitors to the country hope to see one of these incredible animals, and head to places like Yala National Park in the South, or Minneriya National Park in the centre of the country. Minneriya and its surrounding parks in the Habarana region are particularly famous for their Elephant sightings. However, it’s also important to consider the various wet seasons experienced throughout the country. In this post, I share what you need to know before booking your safari in Sri Lanka.
Which National Park should I visit?
When you think of safari in Sri Lanka, odds are you think of either Minneriya or Yala National Parks. Maybe it’s just me, but I didn’t realise these national parks are in completely different parts of the country! Yala National Park is located in the far south of the island near Mattala Rajapaska International Airport. Meanwhile, Minneriya National Park is located in the country’s north central province.
The main benefit of visiting Minneriya National Park, or one of the surrounding parks, is its proximity to other famous attractions. These include Sigiriya Rock and the ancient city of Polonnaruwa. Many tourists and organised tours choose to stay in the small town of Habarana and travel out each day to a new attraction. In this region, there are three national or eco parks that offer jeep safaris targeting Asian Elephant sightings. These are Minneriya National Park, Kaudulla National Park, and Hurulu Eco Park.
Whilst both parks are famous for their elephant sightings, overall there is a greater diversity of bird and mammal species in Yala National park. It is home to 44 species of mammal and 215 species of bird. Yala National Park also boasts the worlds largest concentration of leopards. Therefore, if you are looking to see a variety of species (or leopards in particular), Yala National Park is the place for you. The best time of year to visit Yala National Park according to their website is between February and July.
I visited Sri Lanka in November 2023 with my family on Intrepid’s Premium Sri Lanka tour. This trip did not travel far south enough to visit Yala National Park; we only visited the Habarana region for safari. For further information about going on safari in this region, read on below!
When is the best time to see Elephants in Habarana?
Elephants can be seen all year round in the Habarana region. No matter what, you should be able to see one of these majestic animals! But where you go will depend on the time of year. The best time of year to visit Minneriya National Park is August and September. This is the dry season for this region of Sri Lanka.
Any online research will suggest that Minneriya National Park is open and accessible to visitors all year round. However, this does not appear to be true based on our personal experience and information from our local tour guide. During the rainy season from October to December, neither Minneriya nor Kaudulla National Parks are accessible to safari jeeps due to flooding. During this time, the only place that is accessible for jeep safaris is Hurulu Eco Park.
During the wet season when all safari jeeps run their tours in Hurulu Eco Park, things can get very busy. In our afternoon tour, there was at least 20 jeeps going around at the same time! It very much reminded me of my experience at Kruger National Park in Africa: unbelievably crowded! However, unlike at Kruger, in Hurulu Eco park all of the jeeps take the exact same route. This means you’re stuck with everyone for the duration of your safari. It also means if one jeep breaks down, you’re all stuck until the problem is fixed. This happened to us and was extremely frustrating!
Does it matter if I can only visit Hurulu Eco Park?
If your only goal is to see Elephants in the wild, Hurulu Eco Park will hit the mark. We saw a herd of females only a short drive into the park mere meters from our safari truck! I have participated in a number of safaris in Southern Africa, and this was the closest I have ever gotten to wildlife on safari. To give you an idea, I could take great pictures with my phone (which is not one of those super-zoom ones) and definitely didn’t need my binoculars! My sister and mother, neither of whom had ever been on safari, loved the whole experience.
Overall, however, I found Hurulu Eco Park to be a little disappointing. I was taken aback by the amount of weeds, especially Lantana, in the park. Being surrounded by weeds didn’t make for a very scenic drive through the park searching for Elephants. Between the weeds and the tall grass, it was often difficult to spot Elephants that weren’t right next to the jeep. I never realised how easily such large animals could disappear into the landscape!
If you are interested in seeing more than just Elephants, Hurulu Eco Park doesn’t seem to be the place for it. On our entire safari, we only saw one other animal, the Changeable Hawk Eagle. It was also our Intrepid guide who spotted this bird, not one of the safari drivers. Ajith was a bird wiz, and knew every species in Sri Lanka. Without him, we may not have spotted this bird at all. However, it is possible that this may also have been due to the time of year (wet season).
Is it worth visiting Hurulu Eco Park as an optional extra?
Our tour with Intrepid listed Hurulu Eco Park as an optional extra that we could participate in on a free afternoon. Given my family’s interest in wildlife, this is something that we considered. In the end, of course, the eco park was the safari included in our tour given that we couldn’t access either of the National Parks.
If you DO happen to visit Minneriya National Park as part of your tour, I would not recommend visiting Hurulu Eco Park as well. You should have enough success seeing Elephants in the National Park without having to go on another safari. Additionally, it is likely that you will see Elephants on your normal commutes around the area! On two separate occasions, we saw male elephants foraging by the side of the road. Once was on our way into Habarana from Negombo, and the second time was travelling to the Polonnaruwa Ancient City. There is so much else to do in this region that I feel you could better use your time exploring another attraction. Or, if you’re on a jam-packed tour like us, spend that time relaxing at the hotel!
In summary, no matter what national park you visit in Sri Lanka for your safari, you should get to see Asian Elephants! However, it is important you do your research and choose the national park that is right for you. Plus understand that depending on the wet season, you might have to visit a smaller eco park. I hope this article helped you in your research, and that you have a successful Sri Lankan safari!