Eco Tourism in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka,  blessed with an abundance of flora and fauna has a long tradition of conservation. This goes back to its ancient Buddhist tradition which teachers respect and compassion to all living things. The world’s first wild life sanctuary was set up by Royal edict in the 3^rd c. B.C. in Mihintale (where the Buddhist doctrine was first preached) and is still a sanctuary.

In Sri Lanka there are more than 70 sanctuaries, National parks & a number of wetlands and mountain ranges.  Therefore the bio-diversity in Sri Lanka is regarded to be greater per sq. meter of surface than any other country in the Asian region. When Sri Lanka’s ecosystem is compared to other Asian countries, Sri Lanka has many tropical rain forests, mountains, lowlands and virgin forests and wetlands. There are also many ecosystems with mangroves, sand dunes, beaches and coral reefs. Numbering over 220, Sri Lanka for its size has perhaps the largest number of waterfalls of any country in the world.

Sri Lanka is a global bio diversity hot spot. About half of its species are endemic including all fresh water crabs, 90% amphibians, 25-75% reptiles and vertebrates, around 50% fresh water fish, 26% flowering plants, and 145 mammals.

The richness in species is extreme and there are known to be over 3368 species of flowering plants, 314 ferns, 575 mosses, 190 liverworts, 896 algae, 1920 fungi, 400 orchids, 242 butterflies, 117 dragonflies, 139 mosquitoes, 525 beetles, 266 land snails, 78 fresh water fish, 250 amphibians, 92 snakes, 35 fresh water crabs, 21 geckos, 322 non migrant birds. The island also provides critical habitats for international mobile species, including 5 species of endangered marine turtles, about 100 species of waterfowl, and many other migratory birds.

Behold! The Gathering at Minneriya

Every year during the months of August and September, one of the most awesome wildlife spectacles in the world takes place in Sri Lanka. Over three hundred wild elephants converge for the famous ‘gathering’. Nowhere else in the world will one find such a high concentration of wilds Asian elephants within few square kilometers. 

It occurs in around the ancient reservoir Minneriya, picturesque when it is brimful all 6300 acres. When standing on the bund and looking across the vast sheet of water one sees the distant mountains and the jungle below in true verdant splendor. However soon after the south west monsoon and water given for irrigation, Minneriya is left with less than one fourth its surface area of water. Then the exposed tank bed becomes grassland. This is when Minneriya offers its most spectacular sight. This is when The Gathering takes place.

During the morning hours the herds lie hidden in the deep forest that lie on the edge of the plains and go right up into the nearby hills. Then about three o’ clock in the afternoon they emerge in to the open plains and once again the drama of the ‘Gathering’ takes place in all its glory. The ‘Gathering’ takes place every year for about two and a half months to three. Then as the first drops of rain of the north east monsoon falls the ‘Gathering’ gets agitated. As the rain increases the members of the individual herds gather together and then slowly make their way back to their home ranges. The bulls, the loners make their separate ways. Very soon, except for a few stranglers the plains of Minneriya lie deserted. As the monsoon increases slowly and Minneriya returns to its rippling glory.

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Trip to the First Tea Plantation in Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

  

Loolecondera Tea Estate

 

 

Sri Lanka is World famous for its high quality Tea (Ceylon Tea), and if you haven’t heard the name “Sri Lanka” there is a fair chance that you might have heard the name “Ceylon Tea”.

The story of tea in Sri Lanka began in 1852, when a Scotsman, James Taylor planted the first tea plantation  in what is now known as the No.7 field of “Loolecondera” Estate  close to Kandy. He lived in Sri Lanka more than half of his lifetime (57 years) until his death. He worked with Thomas Lipton, a millionaire in United Kingdom who visited Sri Lanka (Ceylon) in 1890's, and together they were largely responsible for the rapid growth of the Sri Lankan tea industry which became the best Tea in the world.

The “Loolecondera” Estate is one of the most beautiful tea estates in the world. The View from the top of the estate is simply breathtaking. Other than the beauty of the estate, the location is of historic importance as it is the first tea plantation in Sri Lanka. Even today the ruins of what is left of James Taylor’s Cabin, His Well, as well as a Seat made out of Rock at the top of the estate mountain can be seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ancient City of Polonnaruwa

The second most ancient of Sri Lanka's kingdoms, Pollonnaruwa was first declared the capital city by King Vijayabahu I, who defeated the Chola invaders in 1070 AD to reunite the country once more under a local leader. Today the ancient city of Pollonnaruwa remains one of the best planned archeological relic sites in the country, standing testimony to the discipline and greatness of the Kingdom's first rulers. The Ancient City of Pollonnaruwa has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
 

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Ancient City of Anuradhapura

Anuradhapura, the first capital of Sri Lanka was founded in 380 B.C. by King Pandukahabaya, famous for its well-preserved ruins of ancient Lankan civilization. The city lies 205 km north of the current capital Colombo in Sri Lanka's North Central Province; it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and one of the eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka. The ancient city is also considered sacred to the Buddhist world, as it is surrounded by monasteries and temples covering an area of over sixteen square miles.

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Sigiriya Rock Fortress

Sigiriya, considered by some as the eighth wonder of the world, consists of an ancient castle used by King Kasyapa of the 4th century AD. The Sigiriya site has the remains of an upper palace sited on the flat top of the rock, a mid-level terrace that includes the Lion Gate and the mirror wall with its frescoes, the lower palace that clings to the slopes below the rock, and the moats, walls and gardens that extend for some hundreds of meters out from the base of the rock. The site is both a palace and fortress and provides the visitor with a stunning insight into the ingenuity and creativity of its builders. The upper palace on the top of the rock includes cisterns cut into the rock that still retain water. The moats and walls that surround the lower palace are still exquisitely beautiful. The Sigiriya Rock Castle is one of the eight UNESCO .

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Sacred City of Kandy

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy. It was built within the royal palace complex which houses the only surviving relic of Buddha, a tooth, which is venerated by Buddhists all over the world. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the Capital of the Last Kingdom of Sri Lanka from 1592 to 1815, fortified by the terrain of the mountains and the difficult approach. The city is a world heritage site declared by UNESCO, in part due to the temple.

Image Courtesy of - Wikipedia Commons