Wilpattu Park

From Anuradhapura it is about 35 kilometers to Wilpattu National Park. We stayed at Mango Villa a few kilometers from the park entrance. We stayed in a glorified wall tent with a real tin roof over it and all other amenities. The staff were really nice and helpful.

You have to go on a guided tour into the park which is what we did the next morning. The forecast was not good and it was raining as we entered the park. We did see about thirty hornbills feeding in a fruit tree at the park entrance. 

During the morning the weather was not too bad and it was dry for large periods of time. Unfortunately it pretty much poured down all afternoon. We did see a lot of animals and birds. The closest we got to see a lepoard was seeing some bushes move as he disappeared into the forest. Later in the pouring rain and near darkness we saw a sloth bear and her cub. It was hopeless to get a picture. We also saw a brown fish owl fishing over a very muddy stream. Hard to believe but we almost froze to death on the ride home. It took several days to get our clothes and gear dried out.