Horagolla National Park
Hi all, hope you are doing well. Today I’m going to take you to another national park of Sri Lanka. That is Horagolla National Park. But it is not a large park like Udawalawe National Park or Yala or Wilpattu. It is one of the smallest parks in Sri Lanka with an area of 28 acres. The park is situated in Horagolla.
According to Wikipedia, it is one of the latest national parks in Sri Lanka. The park has been previously declared as a wildlife sanctuary, in 2014 it has been escalated as a national park. Refer Wikipedia for more details on history of Horagolla National Park.
According to the records of the park, there are 10 species of Mammals, 64 species of Birds, 7 species of Fish and 28 species of Butterflies. (It is indicated in the signboard in the first image.) But sadly I couldn’t spot many. I couldn’t cover the whole park and also it seems to be off season for birds. But I definitely experienced the extensive ‘floral diversity’ of the park.
The mostly found tree is ‘Hora’ (Dipterocarpus zeylanicus). The generous presence of Hora trees might be the reason for the area to called as Horagolla.
(Have you ever seen a Hora (Dipterocarpus zeylanicus) seed falling down? It comes down, rotating like a helicopter blade.)
Footpaths have been created to walk around the park. Walking along them is a nice experience. The surround is really calm.
You might already be feeeling it. At some points of the park, benches are placed, so you can have a seat for a while.
Another common thing in here is the large vines. There are a number types of vines in Horagolla National Park, especially ‘Entada pursaetha’ (‘Pus Wel’ in Sinhalese).
The park has a high annual rain, it is 2000-2500mm. Therefore the surround is very cool and contains moisture always.
Due to that consistent moisture, lots of snails can be found there.
How to Reach…?
If you are interested in visiting Horagolla National Park, here is the exact location.
