Minneriya National Park - Sri Lanka

In March 2019 we visited Sri Lanka, a country off the southeast coast of southern India. Early in our visit our guide learned that Judy loves elephants and he arranged for a last minute visit to Minneriya National Park, the best national park for elephants in Sri Lanka. It is located 12.5 miles northwest of Polonnaruwa. We had another guide and a four-wheel drive vehicle waiting for us when we arrived and we only had two hours, but we saw a lot in that short time-frame. 

The vehicle we traveled in. 

Our Sri Lanka guide, Sanjay, in the yellow shirt, and the guide and owner of the vehicle above him. 

Following are photos of Minneriya NP and some of the animals we saw while we were there:

The Sri Lankan jackal. It looks a lot like the American coyote. I actually saw this one before the guides.  

I love this and following photos that show the number of vehicles and the interest in elephants we were all viewing. 

We loved the elephants, but Judy was particularly loving them. 

Wild water buffalo with Asian open-billed storks in the foreground. 

A better photo of Asian open-billed storks. 

Painted stork.

Indian stone-curlew, also known as a thick-knee. 

Oriental garden lizard.

Bengal monitor lizard. 

On our way out, almost to the front gate, we encountered this monster elephant. We pulled over to the side of the road and let him pass.