The morning drive is the one we recommend if you have a single chance in the park. The air is cool, the tracks are quiet, and the herds that spent the night near water are still in the open. We enter at opening time and stay with whatever the morning gives us, rather than racing a checklist.
Pickup from Udawalawe hotels is included. If you are coming from Ella or the south coast, tell us the hotel and we will quote the transfer with the jeep.
This is a wild-park drive. Elephants are the reason most people come to Udawalawe, and they are still not a promise. Buffalo, deer, crocodile, and birds are part of an ordinary morning.
Itinerary
- Pickup from your hotel, or meet us at the park gate
- Tickets and entry
- Game drive on the reservoir and grassland tracks
- Leave the park
- Drop-off at your hotel or the gate
Included
- Private open jeep for your group only, up to 6 guests
- English-speaking driver-guide
- Udawalawe National Park entrance tickets
- Jeep charges and taxes
- Bottled water
- Pickup from hotels in Udawalawe and along Thanamalwila Road
Highlights
- Elephant herds on the reservoir grasslands
- Water buffalo, spotted deer, and peafowl
- Mugger crocodiles and waders along the tank
- An open jeep, so you are looking across the grass, not through a window
- A driver who will wait when a herd is moving
Price for your group
| Paying guests | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Per adult | $112 | $71 | $64 | $61 | $59 | $57 |
Children aged 5–11 add $24 each. Under-fives ride free and still use one of the six seats.
