The only national park in Sri Lanka offering boat safaris, famous for elephants swimming between islands on the vast Senanayake Samudra reservoir.

Overview

Gal Oya National Park surrounds the Senanayake Samudra, Sri Lanka's largest inland reservoir, and is best known as the only park in the country where wildlife is watched from a boat. Gliding across the water, visitors can see herds of elephants and, in the dry season, the extraordinary sight of elephants swimming between the reservoir's islands. The park's forests, grasslands and wetlands also shelter leopards, deer, water buffalo, crocodiles and more than 150 bird species, while the surrounding hills are home to the indigenous Vedda community. Land safaris and guided treks add to the experience.

History

The park was established on 12 February 1954 to protect the catchment of the Senanayake Samudra, the great reservoir created by damming the Gal Oya river as the centrepiece of Sri Lanka's first major post-independence irrigation and resettlement scheme. It covers around 25,900 hectares across the Eastern and Uva provinces.