The enormous Gal Oya National Park lies some 50km inland from the coast, in a little-visited corner of the island west of the regional capital of Ampara.. The Park was established in 1954 . Inside the limits of Gal Oya National Park are 3 mountains, the most highest top of which achieves 900 meters.
The centrepiece of the park is the vast Senanayake Samudra, one of the largest lakes in Sri Lanka, and the tours of the park are usually made – uniquely in Sri Lanka – by boat.
Three main types of vegetation thrive in the Park, namely evergreen forest, shrub and grasslands. Approximately 45% of the Park is taken over by lush evergreen forest, and the Park is now recognized as being a major eco-tourism venue due to it’s richness and diversity of it’s flora and faunal species.
Covering an expanse of approximately 26,000 hectares, Gal Oya National Park is home to 32 species of terrestrial mammals including herds of Asian elephants, Sri Lankan leopards, water buffalo and sambar deer. .
Sri Lanka’s largest bird, the very recognizable Lesser Adjutant is a resident of the Gal Oya National Park, as are several raptor varieties including White-bellied Eagles and Grey-headed Eagles. One of the small islands in the Park is appropriately called ‘Bird Island’ due to the sheer numbers of birds nesting both on the rock formations and in the forest.
The Digavapi Stupa, which is found closeby to Gal Oya Park, was built in the 2nd Century BC, and is said to have been where Lord Buddha meditated on his third visit to Sri Lanka
As usual, elephants are the main draw, with herds of up to 150 visiting during their annual peregrinations. Elephant-spotting is best from March to July. The park entrance is at INGINIYAGALA, 20km west from Ampara, where you can hire a boat for a trip around the Senanayake Samudra.
