Wild peacocks wander around in plenty across the open scrublands, agricultural fields, and along quiet rural road edges, everywhere from Hambantota down towards the Tangalle coast. Because natural predators are scarce and deep cultural reverence keeps hunting away, the Indian peafowl numbers have really ballooned through the southern dry zone. A straightforward ride through the…
The one place that really feels dependable for seeing wild elephants swimming between islands in Sri Lanka is the Senanayake Samudraya reservoir, inside Gal Oya National Park. If you take a boat safari here, visitors can watch elephants using their trunks like snorkels, while they glide across deep water to reach fresh grazing ground. This…
Macaques are everywhere all across Sri Lanka’s cultural triangle, moving freely by the thousands around the ancient spots of Polonnaruwa, Sigiriya, and the Dambulla Cave Temple, like they own the whole area. They are instantly recognisable by the clear swirl of hair on their heads, which sits like a small hat. These very smart monkeys…
The striking Jami Ul-Alfar Mosque, also called the Red Mosque, is set in the busy Pettah area on Second Cross Street, Colombo 11. Rising above the loud market lanes, this Indo-Saracenic architectural masterpiece is well known for its disorienting red and white candy-striped brickwork. Visitors are usually let in outside of prayer times, as long…
The endemic Purple-faced langur is often seen up in the dense leaf-canopies of the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Horton Plains National Park, and sometimes in the timbered residential areas around Colombo. Unlike the bold toque macaques, these extremely arboreal and wary primates hardly ever come down to the ground. You can recognise them by their deep…
The best waterfalls around Nuwara Eliya include those majestic Ramboda Falls on the Kandy-Nuwara Eliya highway and the picturesque Lover’s Leap waterfall, which sits just outside the main town. Ramboda Falls gives you a massive twin cascade that can be seen right from the road, and nearby hotels have built accessible viewpoints so you do…
Massive herds of Sri Lankan axis deer (spotted deer) are easily seen roaming the open plains of Wilpattu National Park and also Yala National Park. These deer are the most common large mammal within Sri Lanka’s dry zone reserves. In Wilpattu, they often come together in big numbers around the naturally sand-rimmed water basins, and…
You can see authentic stilt fishermen out and about along the shallow coastal reefs near Koggala, Ahangama, and Weligama, mainly in the early morning or late afternoon, when the fish become more active. Visitors should know that this traditional practice has, in most places, moved into a tourist thing. Right now, many of the people…
The best and most reliable co-working spaces in southern Sri Lanka tend to cluster around Weligama, Hiriketiya, and Ahangama, while serving this growing digital nomad crowd quite heavily. Places like Outpost in Weligama and Dots Bay House in Hiriketiya offer fast fibre internet, backup generators for power cuts, and comfortable ergonomic layouts. These shoreline hubs…
Euros can be exchanged quite safely into Sri Lankan Rupees at the 24-hour bank counters in the arrivals hall of Bandaranaike International Airport, or at authorised money changers in major tourist centres. At the airport, the bank staff surprisingly give very competitive official rates, with no hidden commissions. For swaps later in your trip, registered…
