safari in sri lanka - which park should you choose?(part 1- gal oya)
- SL Hidden Treasures
- Jun 30, 2018
- 5 min read
Deciding which is “The best Sri Lankan Safari” isn't easy - there are so many parks to choose from (and hundred of places to stay). in this 4 part series I'll cover those I've experienced; yala, wilpattu, udawalawe and gal oya.
The success (or not) of any Safari really depends on the animals and on your expectations.
Now as far as the animals are concerned, they will either show up on the day or they wont. You can certainly choose to go on safari at a time of day where the odds of a sighting are better (early morning or dusk are best) but that’s about all that is in your control. An element of luck has to be on your side.
So what are the some of the other criteria that will make your Safari adventure memourable? How about feeling like you are a pioneer; that you have the park to yourself? What about having an amazing lodge to relax in when you return from safari? And of course it would be great to have a range of activities to choose from.
If you answered 'yes' to all of the above; then look no further than Gal Oya National Park.
Gal Oya National Park is still somewhat 'off the beaten track" and relatively untouched by tourists as was off limits for the duration of the War. Therefore it was really only "rediscovered" 7-8 years ago. With relatively few places for tourists to stay, (in fact there is one lodge and 3 circuit bungalows), it is the perfect location to enjoy the feeling of being at one with nature.
The park is home to elephant, deer, water buffalo, leopards, monkeys, wild boar, crocodiles and star tortoise to name a few. It has some amazing bird life including pelicans, herons, whistling duck, and eagles and boasts a fabulous array of butterflies.
With the impressive man made lake, the Senanayake Samudraya at its heart, you can safari by jeep or boat.
I stumbled upon Gal Oya when planning our itinerary for the east coast. I didn’t start out to include a safari as part of the trip; in fact all I was looking for was somewhere to break our journey between Trincomalee and Pottivul Point (Arugam Bay). It so happens that Gal Oya is the perfect distance (2.5 hours) between them.
As we have done a number of safaris over the years (both here and overseas) just the distance ‘fit’ wasn’t going to be enough. I needed to find a property that offered something different. Not a tent or a tree house, something with a little luxury and activities that went beyond the usual jeep safari.
The are three Wildlife Circuit Bungalow in the park (check out www.dwc.gov.lk) didn't really meet my desire for a "little luxury". In my experience circuit bungalows only offer the basic necessities and they are self-catering, so they didn’t really fit the brief.
To digress for a moment: Wildlife Circuit Bungalows are great value for money; good fun if you have a group of friends who want to experience staying in the park and are happy to ‘rough it out’ to use a local expression. You need to take supplies; sheets, towels, food, drinks and so on. Circuit bungalows can be found at most of the Wildlife parks and the best part about staying inside the park is that you get a jump start on the other tourists as you can start out on your safari adventure BEFORE the gates open.
To digress a little more . . . if you are interested in finding out more; then you can see all the circuit bungalows available at the various wildlife parks here: www.dwc.gov.lk/Aoldsite/library/Bungalows.html
and the Department of Wildlife has a beta on-line booking option https://dwc.lankagate.gov.lk/homeAction.action
If you do book a bungalow at any of the parks then you’ll need to find a supermarket to stock up. There are three chains here: Arpico, Keels and Cargills. Cargills has the widest island coverage (Arpco and Keels don’t have any presence in the east). Arpico stocks sheets and towels. More details about shopping in Sri Lanka in a future post.
Gal Oya Lodge
I chose to book at Gal Oya Lodge. With only 9 individual villas or bungalows as they call them, it certainly looked impressive. I booked direct (you'll always get a better rate going direct) and they were very responsive and helpful.
I should mention that the lodge and the park has no Internet or mobile phone coverage – so it is a great place to relax and let the world go by. Because it is out of range we were asked to call about ½ hour prior to our expected arrival for directions and to announce our ETA. We were met at the entrance by their jeep, which guided us into the park and to the lodge.
Wow! It was certainly impressive and designed to blend into its surrounds (its won awards for environmental design). The lodge manager Brent was there to greet us; and sat down with us to give us the run down on the lodge, the park and the activities. After a refreshing fresh lime juice and a chat, we were escorted to our bungalow by Brent and their resident pooch, Arrack.
The bungalow was equally impressive. I loved the indoor/outdoor bathroom and the quaint touches (even the bathroom sink taps were little elephants!).
For those of you who have followed my other blogs; you will be familiar with my 24 point rating system. I am happy to say that Gal Oya Lodge rated 15 out of 24; and in all honesty there are 3 points they simply couldn’t have scored; satellite TV can’t be possible (nor necessary) given they are out of range of, well anything really,and Brent the manager told me they deliberately don’t offer any kind of food or drinks service in the bungalows as they don’t want to attract the animals. (Still, coffee would have been nice!)
Here is the score in detail: (a quick note: when travelling I do not disclose my plan to blog about a place or property. I pay the going rate for room, F&B etc. and accept no complimentary 'hand outs' in return for coverage. This leave me free to rate as I see it without obligation.)
Activities
There is a lot to do in the park. Included in the price of your stay is the opportunity to join the resident naturalist for a walk (or you can take a bicycle) around the lodge and enjoy the wonderful flora and bird life.
If hiking/climbing is your thing then the lodge will arrange an early morning trek to the top of Monkey Mountain; or you can partake in their monitoring project and learn what the lodge is doing to help conservation of the area and the animals, both are also included as part of your stay.
You can, of course, do a traditional jeep safari, (add on a picnic lunch for a small fee) or go out at night to catch the nocturnal animals at play. There is the chance to visit a neighbouring Veddha village, guided by the Chief, or if cooking is more to your liking then you can take a Sri Lankan Cooking course.
The piece de resistance is the boat safari. The lake is just 40 mins from the lodge and there is something so much more enticing about watching the wildlife from the water; especially if the elephants have come down to the lake for a bath.
Details of all these activities can be found on their website. You don’t have to decide what you’d like to do until you get there. Do plan on staying a few days so you can fit it all in.
All in all I would rate Gal Oya Park and Lodge as a 'must do'; even if the east coast is not on your itinerary; do try and fit it in. You'll be glad you did.
Please drop me a note if you'd like to know more: srilankahiddentreasures@gmail.com.
Better still, let me help you plan your itinerary. I'm not yet set up to offer the service via my website (www.srilankahiddentreasures.com) however I'd be only too happy to help via email.
All feedback and comments are welcome. Love to hear your thoughts.
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