You will be starting the Elephant Explorer Tour at 7:30 am when you will be picked up from your hotel in Kandy. You will then be making the hour and a half drive to Pinnawala where the Elephant Orphanage is. The orphanage was opened in 1975 in order to take care of elephants that had been orphaned due to various reasons. The Elephant Orphanage is also used to give medical assistance to injured elephants, before releasing them back to the wild. The place currently has a herd of approximately 90 elephants.

You will be spending some time in Pinnawala feeding the elephants and watching them bathe. You will also be able to get more information on elephants. You will be leaving for Minneriya at approximately 10:30 am. It will take a travel time of 3 hours to reach the Minneriya National Park. You can also spend an hour or so having lunch on the way at a place of your choice. You will be reaching the park and starting on your safari at 2:30 pm

Minneriya National Park is famous for its annual Great Elephant Gathering that happens between August and October. The event sees a congregation of over 150 elephants from the areas all around Minneriya, including other nature reserves and parks, gathering on the shores of the Minneriya Reservoir. However, even during the other months you can still see some elephants, resident in Minneriya Park itself, visiting the Minneriya reservoir in the evening. In addition to the elephants, the national park also has other wildlife such as deer, languors, sloth bears, crocodiles, snakes and many kinds of birds.

You will be having a three hour safari in the park. You will probably be able to catch sight of at least a few elephants as the sun sinks. If you were lucky enough to visit during the Elephant Gathering months you may also be to see of the world’s biggest herd of Asian elephants gathered together in one place. Your safari will also enable you to see some of the other fauna of the park.

You will be finishing your safari at 5:30 pm and will be returning to your hotel. You will get back to your hotel in Kandy by 8:30 pm, completing your tour.

12 hours

Kandy, Sri Lanka