Best tailor made holidays Sri Lanka and the Kandy Esala Perahera ?Sri Lank safaris and vacation tours … an amazing destination that we will focus in this article. Which has the most leopards? Yala National Park: has a higher density of Leopards compared to Udawalawe and is well known for being one of the best places in the world to spot leopards in the wild. The most popular area at Yala open to tourists is block 1, which has an estimated 25-30 leopards. However, leopard-spotting cannot be guaranteed at Yala and you should only go with the mindset that among all the amazing wildlife you will see, spotting the leopards is more like the icing on the cake. Alas, even if you see them, you will quickly be put off by the sheer number of jeeps queueing (almost climbing on top of each other) to get a good look at these elusive animals. Continue reading below about the crowds at Yala for more insight.

Wilpattu, Sri Lanka’s largest park, is situated in the dry lowlands of the island’s north-west and comprises a series of lakes – or villus – with varying degrees of freshness and salinity. The park reopened in 2003 after nearly 15 years of closure. Over time, the wildlife should recover to its former abundance and become more habituated to vehicles – at the moment the animals are wary of any human presence. Wilpattu was famous for its leopards, and big-cat enthusiasts are hoping this reputation will return. The park’s fauna is similar to Yala, but visitors also have a chance of seeing barking deer.

The procession starts after planting the Kap ceremony, Procession composed of five major entities, The Devale Perahera, The Kumbal Perahera, The Randoli Perahera, Diya Kepeema, and the Day Perahera. In the beginning, whip crackers walk who signify thundering and lightning next is ‘Pandampaliya’ the amazing dance that carrying fireball involves a lot of acrobatic movements. The purpose of these two items is to clear the path for the procession. Then the elephants and tuskers can be seen. The first tusker bears the paramount Rala with a white costume and triangle hat. He carries ‘Sannasa’ on his both hands containing the document regarding religious activities of the procession and the properties of the Dalada Maligawa. Read additional details Kandy Esala Perahera Seat booking.

Diyaluma Falls is the 2nd biggest waterfall in Sri Lanka and is the perfect spot for a full day adventure. There are multiple falls and natural pools throughout this hike in the Badulla region. I could’ve spent days here. The hike was almost entirely downhill and led us through the long grass but the trail was marked the whole way. It appeared that the trail wasn’t used too often as the trail was quite overgrown in many parts. After about 30 minutes we reached the top of Diyaluma Falls. Here you have a series of pools cascading towards the edge of the cliff. When the falls finally reach the edge they fall into one final pool before crashing 628 feet into the pool, far below. This is the 2nd highest waterfall in Sri Lanka and it is hard to get a good look from this vantage point but if you are game enough you can peer over the edge. After chilling on the edge for over an hour we headed back up the track passing the upper falls and arriving at the top of the upper falls. This was a 15-minute hike and we just followed the track alongside the upper falls. Here we found more pools. It looked quite average until we explored further towards the edge of the upper Diyaluma falls and found a spot where we could jump. We checked the depth and found an area with no rocks and spent the next hour flipping through the refreshing water.

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Sri Lanka, the Kataragama Festival takes place every year in July or August and is dedicated to one of the Hindu gods. It takes place over a two-week period and people from all over the world come to join in. The festival is jam-packed with parades of elephants and colorfully dressed performers. There are countless traditional dances that take place; with musicians, acrobats, and fire-breathers feeding into the festival’s contagious energy. There are few places in the world where elephant sightings are so frequent. However, elephants are not the only animals to see within Udawalawe National Park; peacocks, jackals, water buffalo, crocodiles, monkeys and deer also roam the area. Safaris are most popular in the early morning hours when animals are at their most active. The biodiversity of the park can be attributed to its varied landscape; it is flanked by mountain ranges to the north with wetlands and rivers hugging the grasslands and forests at the base of the mountains.