Udawalawe Elephant Safari – Private & Shared Jeep

We had an excellent safari experience with Lahiru! Our guide was very experienced, friendly and professional, and his knowledge really made the experience special. He was incredibly good at spotting animals, even from a distance, and we were lucky to see so many different species in Udawalawe. His English was very good, and he explained everything clearly while also making the safari enjoyable and relaxed. He was kind, patient and genuinely passionate about the wildlife and gave importance to ethical safari. We would definitely recommend this safari and our guide to anyone looking for a memorable and well-organised wildlife experience. Thank you for an unforgettable day!

+2

We had an amazing experience in Uduwalawe National Park, seeing a lot of animals, including elephants, crocodiles, water buffalos, hares and many types of birds. The experience was made even better thanks to our guide Lahiru Prasad (lahiru.jpdk@gmail.com), who was amazing and who is very knowledgable about the whole park and the animals in it. He explained everything we asked about the animals. He also made sure that he did not take us through the crowd and into the jeeps but instead he took different routes which we had an even more amazing experience as most of the time we had the animals al for us to watch and enjoy. He is also very good in english and a very nice person. We took the afternoon tour which was great and we saw many animals. Highly recommend to go here as it is an amazing experience that you will not forget.

+6

I took a morning tour with guide Lahiru and his excellent driver, who was also a great wildlife spotter! The tour was at a leisurely pace with time to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the national park in the cool of the morning. Lahiru gave information about all the many birds and animals as we went - saw mongoose, jackal, spotted deer, water buffalo, wild hare, monkeys galore, painted stork, crested eagle up very close, Indian roller, bee eaters and loads of peacocks. Then there were plenty of close encounters with elephants, male, female and babies. Was a rare opportunity to observe these majestic animals in their own environment. This tour was more about gentle observation than a race for the elephants - recommend!

Our morning safari was absolutely incredible and it far exceeded our expectations. Our guide Lahiru was outstanding and he couldn’t have made the experience better for us. All communication prior to the day was thorough, his knowledge about the park and the animals knew no bounds and his sense of humour and kindness made the morning really fun and interesting. What made our trip so good was he did not follow the crowds or other jeeps, we also saw lots of animals including a two month old elephant which was right next to us. It was my daughter’s 10th Birthday and it’s one she’ll never forget. A five star experience!

+2

We had a wonderful experience at the park. We booked an early morning private safari with lahiru Prasad (+94 76 272 6799), which also helped us to organise the transport and find the accomodation. Highly recommended. In the safari we saw two elephants families and several lone male, together with crocodiles, eagles, deers, mangusts, camaleons. We were probably lucky. It was very early morning but totally worth it. Probably also evening would be a good time.

+2

A vast and beautiful wildlife sanctuary with excellent flora and fauna. The entry through private operators owned safari vehicles is unregulated with private operators charging tourists as they like without any regulations on fees,which needs to be checked. The entry fee for foreign nationals is again very confusing with no clear signboard with details. The charges are vague with entry fee,vat,huge service charge and other charges which includes a local tourist fee of safari jeep driver being billed on tourists.This needs to be streamlined to attract more tourists. Rest rooms are in the main ticket reception area. Advised to use them before start of safari which takes around 3 + hours.Also advised to wear hats and carry sufficient water and basic snacks. Safari route is extremely scenic and traversed through open fields and lush dense forests , a beautiful lotus filled pond to a still water body. There are many elephants in the jungle who riam around in hordes. Wildlife sighting was great with family if elephants including baby elephants having bath and enjoying the water, running around, deers, eagles, mongoose, fox, wolves,crocodiles, wild buffaloes,etc; Many different colourful birds are also seen. All along elephant dungs are visible. The entire safari is scenic and beautiful with good sightings of wild animals ,reptiles and birds. Definitely a must visit destination for wildlife and nature lovers.

+6

We had afternoon safari, we were picked up by Lahiru and his driver just before 2.00. We saw Elephants (plenty, even with long tusks), dears, buffalo, chameleon, peacocks, a mangouste, birds (including rare ones). ! Lahiru is the spotter, not the driver. That makes an immense difference versus other companies. He has extremely good eyes (took us 2 min to spot a chameleon he saw while driving fast) and knows the national Park inside out. He does not stay with other jeeps or follows them, and brought us in places nobody else would go. Felt we had park for ourselves sometimes. Jeep was nice, all seatbelts were working, good condition. The driver was fantastic, very very careful, driving slow when needed, which was great for my little ones. Yes he was a bit more expensive than other quotes I got but if you want the best, you know where to go. Def worth the extra money, should not be compared to safari with just a driver that would miss all hidden animals. His WhatsApp: +94 76 272 6799

Being able to see a lot of elephants up close! Really a very nice safari, less diversity of animals compared to eg Yala, but definitely recommended!

We had such a great experience visiting Udawalawe on our safari with guide Lahiru Prasad. He has an amazing eye, spotting animals camouflaged amongst the trees, bushes, and waterholes that we never would have seen ourselves. We saw far more animals than we expected, even some baby elephants :’). He also took us to areas away from the rest of the jeeps where it felt like we had the whole park to ourselves and was always extremely respectful of the animals we did see. I can’t recommend him as a safari guide highly enough!! You can contact him using WhatsApp: ‪+94 76 272 6799‬

Amazing experience, the team did excellent in explaining each animal and there habitat throughout