Minneriya National Park [Download Powerpoint Presentation]
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Minneriya National Park is situated in the north-central plains of Sri Lanka, 20 kilometers from Polonnaruwa. Even though it is one of the smallest national parks in the country, covering just 8,889 hectares, it's a paradise with many natural wonders.

The park encompasses the beautiful Minneriya tank, built by King Mahasena (in 3rd century AD). This tank is an incredible place to observe the elephants that come to bathe and graze on the grasses as well as the huge flocks of birds (cormorants, painted storks, open-bills, Pelicans and many other species of waders) that come to fish in the shallow waters.

Most importantly, a spectacular event happens here every year during the dry months of June to September. Hundreds of elephants from the surrounding area are attracted to the drying Minneriya lake bed, which turns in to a lush green grass land, for food and water. Generally you can observe around five to ten herds of elephants, each with anything from twenty to fifty individuals of all age groups. it's a fantastic place to observe this fascinating animal.

You can witness how dominant females guide and protect the family, the way they protect young calves, young calves playing and exploring the surrounding under the close supervision of adults, young males fighting for dominance and, if you are lucky, you may even be able to see one or more majestic tuskers.

Best time to visit Minneriya National Park is the dry months from June to September.

Main entrance of Minneriya National park is located facing Habarana - Polonnaruwa road (A11). From Colombo reach Habarana junction via Kurunegala, Dambulla (A1, A6), and take the right turn from Habarana towards Polonnaruwa. Drive 10 km towards Polonnaruwa to reach Minneriya National Park. Distance from Colombo is around 182km and total driving time will be around 4-5 hours.

Plan to spend at least 2-3 hours in the park. it's better if you get a four-wheel drive to drive around. In dry season, a van will also be able to take you there. You can also hire a safari jeep from Habarana without much of a problem.

it's best to start your safari around 3.30 p.m. Plan to be at the park entrance around 3.00 p.m. since it will take some time to buy tickets and get a tracker to guide your vehicle in side the park. You have to drive few kilometers from the park entrance to reach the lake bed where you can drive around to observe elephants and birds.

Open bills in flight. Open bills can be seen in flocks of hundreds, searching for oysters in shallow waters of Minneriya lake.

Two bulls fighting for dominance. This fairly slow motion wrestling session can go for many minutes before one of the fighter's give-up.

During the dry season, safari jeeps surrounded by elephants is a common sight at Minneriya.

Even though elephants generally do not mind the safari action going around them, they sometimes can get a little angry and may chase vehicles away from them. In this occasion, two females and their calves chased me for about a minute before I could drive enough distance from them to convince that my jeep posed no threat to the family, and one of my friends managed to capture the chase from his jeep.

As sun goes down, herds head towards water for a cool evening bath.

Breath-taking view of the Minneriya Lake, green lake bed and the blue sky

A family of elephants peacefully grazing. Calf here is about a year old and will always stay close to its mother

A colorful bird commonly found in the dry zone. Indian Rollers are a common sight at Minneriya

A flock of open bills flying from the lake to the nesting trees as sun goes down over Minneriya Lake

The young ones are playful and always want to explore the surrounding, but adults will make sure that they are kept in the centre of the herd as much as possible.

Tuskers are quite rare among Asian Elephants. Even though you can easily count hundreds of elephants in Minneriya, you will be very lucky if you can see a tusker.

A land monitor looking for dung beetles under elephant dropping.

A mixed flock of painted strokes and spoon bills

A flock of painted strokes in flight while a flock of egrets taking off from a water hole.