Safari in Maduru Oya

home to the Vedda tribe of hunter-gatherers

Maduru Oya National Park is located in the east of Sri Lanka, around 70 km to the northeast of Kandy.

At just 223 sq km (86 sq mi) this is a very modestly-sized conservation area, although there are proposals to create wildlife corridors with the nearby Wasgamuwa and Gal Oya reserves to create a much larger and more sustainable environment for wildlife.

The landscapes are mainly composed of undulating plains of rich red alluvial soils, with a prominent ridge of rocky mountains to the southwest.
The reserve serves as an important water catchment area, with five lakes and reservoirs taking up 15% of the land area.

Maduru Oya is primarily renowned for its cultural significance.

The reserve contains some considerable evidence of human occupation, including water management sluices as old as 600BC, Early Brahmi inscriptions 200 AD at Kandegamakanda and the ruins of Buddhist temples and shrines in various locations.

Most importantly, this area is the spiritual home of the Vedda people, a tribe of hunter-gatherers who inhabited Sri Lanka for thousands of years before the arrival of the now dominant Sinhalese people. At Mahiyangana there is a temple of great importance to the Vedda people.

Although most of the tribe now live an agricultural lifestyle, in the village of Dambana the traditional lifestyle remains rather more intact. However the village does attract a steady flow of visitors, so we usually prefer to interact with a smaller group of these wonderful people in a more remote location.

Another highlight is a visit to a remote fishing village within the reserve, where a fleet of small sailing vessels heads out onto the main reservoir each morning.

Although not particularly renowned as a strong location for conventional wildlife safari, Maduru Oya is home to a decent range of animals, including elephants (around 200 individuals), leopards, sloth bears, buffalos, toque monkeys, common langurs, jackals, fishing cats, wild boars, Indian muntjac deers, spotted deers, sambar deers and Indian pangolins.

The best time of year to visit the Maduru Oya area is generally considered to be during the Jun-Sep northeast dry season and, to a lesser extent, the Jan-Mar southwest dry season.

Temperatures are more or less constant year round, with daytime temperatures around 28C/82F, whilst the nighttime low temperatures up at a potentially uncomfortable 20C/68F.

The main issue is rainfall, which is highest Oct-Dec and has another smaller peak Apr-May. These periods are therefore usually best avoided.

Getting there

The Maduru Oya area is usually reached by road. For our guests, this means combining it with various other locations on the island in a private guided overland safari, travelling in the company of an expert driver-guide. Popular connections include …

Kandy : 2-3 hours
Nuwara Eliya : 4-5 hours
Sigiriya : 2-3 hours
Trincomalee : 3-4 hours
Wasgamuwa : 1-2 hours
Yara : 4-5 hours

The Maduru Oya area cannot be accessed by train.

Where to stay

We presently only offer one property in this area, namely Mahoora Maduru Oya Camp, which is an authentic tented mobile operation which can be set out for private groups of up to six guests.

option to set out a mobile tented camp