Wetland Parks Around Colombo City
Hi guys, hope you are doing well. Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo is very crowded, busy and rushed city of course. But, there are places around the city which let you to escape from that rush and noise. It is kind of hard to believe that there are number of beautiful wetland parks situated around Colombo city. They are not situated inside Colombo city boundary, but very closely.
All the wetland parks I’m going to mention here, are wetlands of Diyawanna Oya. These wetland parks are ideal for being relaxed, spend some time and have a walk. And if you are a bird lover or a bird photographer, these wetland parks are best places for you to be around Colombo.
I have written about these wetland parks already. I’m going to compile them here for you. OK, let’s take one by one.
Diyatha Uyana
Diyatha Uyana is a developed wetland park situated in Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. It is situated on bank of Diyawanna Oya. The area is developed to contain large number of people, without disturbing the wetland much. The main focus of the this park is, its walking tracks going around water bodies. Thousands of people visit the park daily to walk and jog.
It is an ideal place to have a seat and to be relaxed on the bank of Diyawanna Oya, feeling its breeze, in the morning or in the evening. Avoid day time as much as possible, since there is not much shade. Lot of aquatic birds also can be seen there, since it is originally a wetland.
Further the park is equipped with a children’s play area, food court, number of various types of shops, aquarium and a boat service.
How to Reach…?
For more information and images, read the article on Diyatha Uyana.
Beddagana Wetland Park
This park is also a wetland of Diyawanna Oya. Unlike Diyatha Uyana, this is ideally a wetland. Natural surrounding of this beautiful wetland is left as it is with minimal disturbance. The real experience of a wetland can be taken in Beddagana Wetland Park.
Elevated timber footpaths and gravel footpaths are situated around the park. Vast number of aquatic plants and birds can be seen here. Not only local birds, number of types of migratory birds also can seen in Beddagana Wetland Park. For a bird lover or a bird photographer, this park is a perfect place.
How to Reach…?
This park is situated in Beddagana, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. Below is the exact location of the park.
Beddagana Wetland Park is highly recommended to visit if you are a nature lover. For more information and images, click here.
Diyasaru Park
Diyasaru Park is another wetland of Diyawanna Oya, situated on the opposite side of Beddagana Wetland Park. Here also you can observe a beautiful wetland as it is. You find number of aquatic plants, birds and animals here. The park is spread on a large area, where only a part of it is accessible to visitors. It is said that there are Fishing cats, Otters and Alligators even.
Diyasaru Park mainly focuses on providing knowledge on bio-diversity and wetland management. They have various facilities to facilitate such kind of educational programmes.
This is an ideal place for bird watching and bird photography. There is a ‘bird watching tower’ and a ‘bird hide’ especially built for bird watchers and photographers. Further, hundreds or thousands of Butterflies and Dragon Flies can be seen there.
How to Reach…?
For more information and images, please read the full article on Diyasaru Park.
Urban Wetland Park – Nugegoda
Urban Wetland Park is situated in the middle of a highly urbanized city, Nugegoda. But once you enter in to the park, you will never remember where you are. This park is relatively small compared to other parks I mentioned above. But still it is a beautiful wetland park. This wetland park is not directly connected to Diyawanna Oya, but still it is connected. This park is a wetland of Kirulapana Canal which is again connected to Diyawanna Oya.
Urban Wetland Park consist of a wide sandy walking track, which runs around the park. Compared to Beddagana Wetland Park and Diyasaru Park, bio-diversity of this park is somewhat low. But still it has a calm, quiet and beautiful surrounding. And a considerable amount of birds can be seen there.
The park consist of a children’s play area also. For more information please read the article on Urban Wetland Park.
How to Reach…?
To wrap up the things, these wetland parks are highly recommended to get close to nature and to have a quiet and relaxing time. See you in the next article. And if you are looking for an accommodation around Colombo city, click here.
