Horton Plains National Park

We took a bus, an overcrowded train, and another bus on a day-and-a-half long journey from home to Nuwara Eliya last week. Leaving temperatures in the low-90s in Anuradhapura, we arrived on a misty and cool 58-degree evening in the mountains. 

A view from the bus as we passed through the mountains and tea plantations

We showered and layered on the clothing we brought and settled into our hotel room for the night. In the morning we would be leaving at 4:45AM to head to Horton Plains National Park… another hour away by tuk-tuk. The morning was misty and rainy, windy, and downright cold as we made our way to the park. Upon arrival, and seemingly on cue, the rain let up, and the wind settled. Making our way to the trail head, we met Lillie, a fellow birder from the United States.

Birding Horton Plains! - Photo by NS Dissanayaka

Horton Plains is a vast and unique park with open grasslands flanked by rainforest, high in the mountains. It’s the home to Leopards, the regionally endemic Bear Leaf-monkey, a subspecies or the Purple-faced Leaf-monkey, Sambar Deer, many regionally endemic birds, and several endemic lizards, including my favorite Rhino-horned Lizard. The climate, montane habitat, and wildlife are unlike anywhere else in Sri Lanka.

We started our nearly 6-mile trek through the grasslands to the famous Baker’s Falls, through the jungle, and on to the End of the World overlook. It didn’t take very long until Saranga pointed out a Blyth’s Pipit… a life bird! It’s #916 for the world, and #222 for Sri Lanka! Here’s a short photo-tour of Horton Plains National Park…

Sambar Deer - Photo by NS Dissanayaka

Tricolored Munia (Lonchura malacca)

Baker's Falls

Yellow-eared Bulbul (Pycnonotus penicillatus)
a Sri Lanka endemic - Photo by NS Dissanayaka

Cinereous Tit (Parus cinereus) - Photo by NS Dissanayaka

Saranga and me at the World's End overlook - Photo by L. Kline

World's End

Dark-fronted Babbler (Rhopocichla atriceps) - Photo by NS Dissanayaka

Photo by NS Dissanayaka

If you like what you see, join Saranga and I at Horton Plains as part of our Ultimate Island Safari trip in March 2020! 

Saranga and me at Baker's Falls - Photo by K. Wijesinghe

All photos in this post are mine unless noted otherwise :) Thanks for reading! 

-Anna