A Three Day Trip to Kumana Natioanl Park, to experience the ultimate wilderness

Year and Month	February, 2014 (14th to 16th)
Number of Days	Three Day Trip
Crew	10 (between 25-32 years of age)
Accommodation	Camping: I was able to book Moya Kata campsite for 14th night and Eda Kumbuka 01 campsite for 15th night department of wildlife. However due to high water level in kumana villu it was impossible for jeeps to get to the Kata site. So we had to settle with Eda Kumbuka campsite for both nights.
Transport	Van from Giriulla (North western province) to Panama. Thereafter we used two jeeps from Panama to Kumana park
Activities	Camping, Wildlife, Photography
Weather	The weather was dry and Excellent for visiting
Route	Giriulla -> Urapola -> Ratnapura -> Pellmadulla -> Thanamalwila -> Wellawaya -> Buttala -> Monaragala -> Potuvil -> Panama -> Kumana On return we took: Kumana -> Panama -> Potuvil -> Monaragala -> Bibila -> Kandy via Rajamawatha -> Kurunegala -> Giriulla The return road was around 60km shorter
Tips, Notes and Special remark	Camp sites should be reserved in advance from the department of Wildlife, However, you can book all other campsites except Gal Amuna and Eda Kumbuka from the park office given that the phone number is working. Kumana means serious wilderness. So make lists of all provisions and be well prepared well in advance before you visit the park. Once you go inside you cannot just come back for provisions. Last acceptable level town from park office is Panama which is around 30km from the entrance Take lots of drinking water You need 4wheel drive vehicles to visit Kumana. we booked our jeeps in advance (Sorry I lost all my contact numbers). But one jeep was owned by Senaka Chandralal who’s name has been mentioned several times in this blog related to kumana NP. The other Guy was Chanaka from Lahugala area who was a very good and enthusiastic fellow. You may be able to get hold of him if you can talk to Lahugala Park office and asking from Mr. Disanayaka. Be aware of the guides when selecting. Because the park is newly opened the guides may not be the best experienced people. I must mention the one we got was a lazy fellow who didn’t do much and enjoyed sleeping as his hobby . There is a new bungalow being built in kumana facing a beautiful little lake. We noted that it’s already finished and waiting to be declared open ceremoniously. Hopefully enthusiasts will be able to stay there at least by the end of this year which would be great
Author	ibleedpixels
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This was our second visit to Kumana National Park. From the first visit back in 2012, I fell in love with the magnificent and unspoiled wilderness of Kumana. It truly deviates from overcrowded Yala NP and has an amazing calm and relaxing environment. We had to plan well in advance based on the experiences from our first visit (Will also upload that trip on a later day). All the bookings for camp sites and jeeps were made at least a month earlier.

We started our journey around 4.30am. It was a one long drive of around 300 km. However the drive was rather comfortable as great road conditions existed throughout the whole drive. At around 1.30 pm we reached Panama and met with Chanaka and Senaka. We left our Van at a place recommended by Senaka and got into the jeeps.

Getting ready with provisions

We had our lunch near Lahugala

Starting our Journey from Panama

Wildlife on the Way…!

We were lucky to see a herd of elephants on the way to our campsite

A usual customer

This one was very large and very serious

It was late in the evening when we reached eda kumbuka 01 campsite. The sight and setting of the site was stunningly beautiful. The Beautiful Kumbukkan oya was lazily flowing. I have stayed both at the Moya Kata and Gal Amuna in the previous occasion but I believe this site is the best camp site due to its serene location.

We set up our tents on the river bed and quickly collected firewood for cooking and the campfire. We had a cool dip in the river and had our dinner quickly.

First Night in the campsite..

By 11pm the moon was shining and it was truly a magnificent view. Sand on the river bed was gleaming in white in the moon light we could see at least a 500m along the river. We were mesmerized with the sight that sleep never came to us.

Day 2

We started our morning visit very early. We were able to see wild buffalos, coyotes, elephant and lots of bird life. But we weren’t able to see any leopards or bears.

Posing Nicely

Senaka’s Jeep visible from our Jeep

Just like an Ostrich

A relaxing Family

Majestic isn’t it?…

In for the Morning Feast

This one was special as I saw it for the first time in my life

Majestic…

Our Temporary Residences on the river bed

Relaxing

Time for our chefs to show their colours

Feels Heavenly

After the morning visit we returned to the campsite and started preparing meals for lunch. Then it was time for the grand bath. We spent nearly 3 hours in the river and it was so relaxing. No sounds of dreaded mechanical buses, cars, trains, planes. Or even sounds of those shrieking lottery huts. The only sounds were coming from birds and monkeys and occasionally from large animals. What comes into our mind is a true feel of relief which is ideal medicine to relieve ourselves.

We made an evening safari visit returned back to our campsite for spending the night. And it was time to be back in the water :-)

Tents and the Campfire in the night

This is a shot taken in the night in the moonlight. Do you see how bright the moonlight is..?

It dead in the night and you are seeing river was glowing in the Moonlight…

Morning Comes and still there is moon

Taken with my Tokina 11-16 f2.8 Wide angle lens

Doing the final Cleaning up

Finally it was time to say goodbye to Edakumbuka. We had our morning meals, packed all our belongings to the jeeps and started the long way back to the entrance.

Our Crew

Sights on the way back

On the way back we paid a visit to the Okanda Devalaya and Kudumbigala ancient Monastry and made our retrn journey via Monaragala, bibila, kandy and Kurunegala. This was one of the best journeys I made in our lives.