Udawalawe with kids: safari, cooking class & flying foxes
After the tea plantations, we moved on to Udawalawe National Park – and this is where we had the absolute highlight of the trip: safari.
First, a quick intro:
Udawalawe National Park is one of the best places in Sri Lanka to see wildlife in a natural, open landscape – especially elephants. It’s known for having one of the highest densities of elephants in the country, and unlike some other parks, sightings here are very likely.
Organising a safari is honestly super easy. You just tell your hotel you’re interested, and they arrange everything for you. You can go either early morning (around 6am) or afternoon (around 3pm). A driver picks you up directly from your hotel in a jeep.
We paid around €35 for the jeep (for all of us) plus park entry, which is quite expensive – for 3 adults and 2 kids it was about €120.
Our driver was amazing. He had this little wildlife book with him and kept spotting things we would never notice ourselves – different birds, animals hidden in the distance… it really made the whole experience.
But the most important part:
we saw elephants.
And not just one. A whole family – parents with a tiny baby.
It was one of those moments where everything just stops and you realise how special this is. Seeing them in the wild, just doing their thing – unreal.
For me, this safari is a total must-do. If you do one thing in Sri Lanka – make it this.
We also spent something like 30 minutes just standing under a tree watching monkeys, completely fascinated by their behaviour. They were so expressive, so chaotic, so… human somehow 😄
And besides that:
we saw beautiful birds, a crocodile, and water buffalos – it was just such a rich, wild experience.
But that wasn’t all we did in Udawalawe.
Udawalawe with kids – cooking class
We also signed up for a cooking class, and I loved it.
We learned how to cook proper Sri Lankan curry from scratch, and it didn’t feel like a “class” at all. It felt like cooking with your aunt or a friend – warm and relaxed.
Our teacher was incredible – so kind and patient, explaining everything step by step.
👉 I’ll leave the link to her here
I honestly can’t wait to recreate this at home. We even bought a few tools (including a coconut scraper 😄), got the recipes, and I’m determined to try it all again.
And one more thing – something completely different, slightly scary… but fascinating:
Udawalawe with kids – flying foxes.
We went to see flying foxes.
Flying foxes are actually giant fruit bats – and they are BIG. Like… surprisingly big.
A few interesting things:
- they can have a wingspan of up to 1.5 meters
- they don’t use echolocation like other bats – they rely on vision and smell
- they mainly eat fruit and nectar, so they’re super important for pollination
- during the day, they hang in huge groups on trees, and at sunset they all take off at once
Seeing them was… wow.
A bit scary, not gonna lie 😄 but also completely fascinating.
👉 You can find them here
Udawalawe – accommodation
We stayed in The Jungle Pearl Hotel, and it was a really pleasant base for exploring the area.
The hotel has a nice pool, a big green garden, and a very relaxed, quiet atmosphere.
The manager was incredibly kind and helpful – you can really feel that personal touch here.
The standard is simple but absolutely comfortable, and we genuinely enjoyed our stay.
Also a big plus: it’s very close to the national park, which makes those early safari mornings much easier.
Nothing to complain about – we had a really good time there 😊
Mre from our trip you can find here.
