Tangalle

Situated 20km from the Tangalle town, perched on top of a boulder 200m high from the ground is the Mulkirigala Rock temple. The carvings of the inscriptions of the rock suggests that this temple dates back more than 2000 years and it consists of seven cave temples situated in 5 different terraced areas in different altitudes. One of the most significant findings of this temple is the library inside one of the cave temples, which had a number of olas that became a key finding to translate the Mahawamsa “Great Chronical of Sri Lanka” and was founded in this library in 1826 by British administrator George Turnour. Thanks to this findings the Mahawamsa was translated from Pali to English and then to Sinhala which helped the scholars to study the history of our island.

A famous wintering spot of many migratory birds, Bundala houses almost 200 species of birds including the Greater Flamingo which is considered as the highlight of the park, waterfowls, many different kinds of water birds and wades as they enjoy the many lagoons available in the park. The open habitat of the park makes it easier for visitors to spot the birds and the mammals such as sambar, spotted deer, barking deer and even a small herd of elephants as well as reptiles and monitor lizards are seen in this wetland like national park.

The turtle conservation project protects turtles in their natural habitats helping to maintain the turtle population in Sri Lanka. Though the adult turtle have very little natural enemies, the young turtles while hatching face many enemies such as birds, fish, crabs and unfortunately quite embarrassingly their main enemy has always been humans. Therefore taking responsibility for our past actions of disturbing and threatening the survival of these magnificent creatures, projects such as Rekawa helps the best way they could, to erase the human marks left on the lifelines of the turtles.