වනගත කොල්ලෝ - Wanagatha Kollo - Boys in Wild

16/10/2020

07/02/2020

https://youtu.be/hQyzcYLHQjM

02/01/2019

We wish you a Happy New Year !!!!!!!!

05/10/2018

Somebody wanted to test our navigation skills, so that we decided to do this hike without a guide. It ultimately turned out to be a game between life and death with lost tracks both on the way and return, 7 ft high maana bushes blocking the vision, sudden drops and the ever looming threat of wild elephants.

We somehow managed to complete the journey after more than 12 hours of hiking and an amazing moonlit night on the top of Yahangala. Spent hours on top of the bare rock, gazing at the moon - an experience which was surreal.

Like most of the toughest yet alluring attractions in Sri Lanka, Yahangala is also related to the Ravana legend. It is believed that Yahangala (bedrock) is the the place where Ravana's body was kept for the last respect of his countrymen. Ashan ayya adds following to his report on Yahangala, which should be useful for the prospective hikers:

"This rock is not a place to mock around and it’s not an easy hike at all, it’s also believed to be a holy place protected by the local god (ගලේ බණ්ඩාර දෙවියන්ගේ ගබඩාව). There have been many incidents where the god have punished travelers & locals who were wondering about with a bad intent (stung by wasp, elephant attacks, lost in the jungle, etc)"

05/10/2018

Knuckles range is a montane rain forest consisting of 34 distinct peaks higher than 900m. Out of those, Gombaniya (1906m) is the highest. Due to extreme remoteness and difficulty to access, it has not even been on the Sri Lankan maps until a couple of decades ago.

Recently we have seen a large influx of 'package tourists' to remote attractions like Meemure village, which has destroyed the local lifestyle and livelihoods. Even worse, these tourists show scant regard to the mother nature. Therefore it seems that it is better these marvels are kept away from the access of humans than popularizing among the larger public.

Hence we decided not to share any vital information that could be useful in getting to this pristine location, mainly with the view of protecting it from 'package tourists' and some irresponsible university students.

05/10/2018

Extracting from Ashan ayya's trip report on the same destination, "According to Folklore, during the war between Ravana and Rama, both Rama and Lakshman were hit by powerful arrows to fall unconscious. To bring them back to life, Hanuman was instructed to fetch lifesaving herbs from Himalayas. Hanuman went to the Himalayas, rooted part of the hill and brought it as he was not able to identify the lifesaving herbs. Parts from the hill fell on five places in Sri Lanka, Rumasala, Dolukanda in Hiripitiya, Ritigala, Thalladi in Mannar and Kachchativu in the north. Archaeologically the (Dolukanda) mountain range has received importance because of the well-known Arankele monastery been located at the base of it."

14/09/2018

Yakdessagala is the second highest peak in Kurunegala district. According to the legend, Kuweni cursed prince Vijaya and leapt to death from top of this peak.

Though the path was a continuous ascend, managed to do it within 1 1/2 hrs. Since there was enough time remaining, we visited the Nathagane monastery and Ethugala peak as well.

14/09/2018

Today's destination > Ura-Ketu-Gala - the 6th and the highest peak of Hanthana range. It was a marathon hike to beat the inter-monsoon showers of the evening. View from the top was spectacular with the lush greenery all around us...

14/09/2018

A strenuous 33km hike with one-night camping, here our destinations were Balathuduwa (2012m) and Gommolliya (2034m), which are the 14th and 13th highest peaks of Sri Lanka respectively. We had breaks at scenic Wangedigala and Wangedikanda on the way.

13/09/2018

Arangala is a three-peak mountain range at Naula,. It is the center-most mountain in Sri Lanka, which is located at a close proximity to Nalanda Gedige. Arangala also has a past history related to Weera Keppetipola and Gongalegoda Banda, who formed troops at this mountain. This was on our bucketlist for a long time, but couldn't accomplish up to now due to various reasons.

Arangala is not as easier as it seems, and we experienced some for the strongest winds in our memory, on top of this peak. You need real patience to do the final rock climbing part on the top of the 2nd peak. After a quite exhausting hike, we had a pleasing bath at Bowatenna Reservoir, enjoying the picturesque sunset.

13/09/2018

Each year, throughout the long and harsh dry season, which extends from May through to October, elephants congregate in large numbers around the grassy plains exposed by the receding water of the tanks of Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks. As the dry season intensifies from around August, anywhere up to 250 elephants may be observed on the open plains, as different herds join up with each other forming large, loose-knit associations. This phenomenon has been dubbed as ‘the Gathering’, which is the largest annual seasonal congregation of elephants in the world and was ranked by Lonely Planet sixth amongst the world’s top wildlife spectacles.

13/09/2018

Twin isolated giants in the Horton Plains, Agra Bopath (2320m) are clearly visible on the sides of the famous Kirigalpoththa trail. It is the 4th highest peak of Sri Lanka, though not documented in official publications. The territory is strictly off limits for the casual tourists. This was a two man hike through the virgin forests and the unwelcoming tussock grass. The path was virtually non-existent and the undergrowth was quite thick. It seemed that the area was untouched by the humans in quite some time. As one of the few remaining landscapes of this nature, it is better to leave it that way !!!