Minneriya National Park Safari

Vijith is an excellent and experienced driver. He is knowledgeable about elephants and other animals too. He predicts where the elephants will pass and chooses the best view point. A kind and thrustwordy person. We combined the safari with Pidurangala rock, which provides beautiful view to the Sigirya rock. If you are into gem stones he could show you a good certified shop.

We booked Vijith the day before for a day trip with our family to Polonnaruwa and an afternoon elephant safari. We had a great day. Vijith was always very helpful, taking detours to show us local wildlife (peacocks, monkeys, squirrels etc). He was very accommodating to our needs, including the children's. He drove carefully, arranged a guide for Polonnaruwa en route and was excellent at finding animals and elephants on safari so we were always in the prime location. He was able to let us know which safari park had more elephants and had knowledge about the animals. Even on the drive home he stopped several times to show us more elephants and deer in the wild. He also recommended a great place for lunch but offered us a choice of going elsewhere had we wanted to. Highly recommended!

Mathisha took great care of us on our safari. Rearranging the time and location with us to maximise the number of elephants we would see and it was amazing. We were picked up and dropped off to our hotel in Sigiriya. Our transfer and park entry was included in the price and the safari was just our family of 4.
In Kaudulla park we saw 60+ elephants gathered by the lake and we later stopped on the roadside to see more elephants up close as the sun set.

Was a really nice safari with 2 super friendly guys. Saw a lot of elephants even on the way to the park!
I liked the safari very much and they picked me up from the hostel.

It was a very beautiful and eventful trip! Our drive was great as he stopped at the perfect areas and let us take pictures and really take in the view. I would definitely recommend going on one of the rides they offer!

One of the highlights of Sri Lanka, the guide really listened to how we wanted to experience the safari. He was very respectful of the elephants space and made sure not to chase or encroach on them. He was also very knowledgeable about the Elephants and other wildlife. Thank you very much!

We enjoyed our safari with Vijith. He took us to Hururu park where we spotted many elephants, and always felt safe. He's a good driver and very friendly. He also stopped with us along the road to drink a coconut, very nice! Thank you, regards from Belgium!

Safari!
We had a great time with Mathisha Jeep Safari.
This company was determined to show us a good time and they did.
Superb opportunity to see some elephants and birdlife in the tranquility of the National park.
We would do it again and pick this company happily.
Cat & Jay

Great experience. Took a while before seeing any elephants, but that's just part of the experience :). later in the afternoon we finally got to get some close up views. The drivers kept going well into the night, making sure we were all satisfied. Thanks!

The driver was very nice and came to our accommodation on time. The driving style was great, proactive and still fun. We were able to see the animals very well because the car was parked well. Communication in English worked great. Highly recommended at any time :)

What a beautiful ride and what a guide. We were picked up at our hotel on time and our guide offered to stop at a bakery (our hotel didn't have breakfast at 6am). As it happened, we got to know a wonderful local bakery, ate roti and then saw the first elephants on the road on the way to the national park. Magical. We let our guide decide which park to visit. Because it is what it is... Nature. You can't influence it. You can only increase the chances of experiencing something. At our time of year (early March) the elephants have enough to eat and so they spread out a lot. However, we were then in the Hurulu Eco National Part. After the bakery, the next big plus: our guide is well connected with other drivers. They let us know if they have already seen elephants and that's how it was. A peacock on the right-hand side and shortly afterwards the first 4 elephants. It was great that our guide was also able to explain a lot about the elephants. We saw lots of elephants for 2 hours. The largest group was 7. Around 10am it got too warm and the elephants sought out the cool thicket. We cancelled the tour at our request and had a coffee with our guide. It was super nice. Thank you and an absolute recommendation for Dambulla.

Great safari experience!! Guide was amazing and knew all the back tracks for the best elephant encounters. Saw about 5 or 6 different herds and about 60 elephants in total including mamas and babies. Would 100% recommend a safari with them!!!

We did two days of tours: 1/ Polonnaruwa + Minneriya and 2/ Pidurangala + Sigiriya

The first day, Vijith was our guide and he came to our hotel to pick us up with his jeep at 7 am. The roadtrip to Polonnaruwa (entrance is 25$) was really nice because he stopped to take some pictures of the lake and a Budha statue. We didn't expect it and we were pleasant. During our visit through the ruins, we was riding from one stop to another and waiting for us to visit (without rush).
On our way to Minneriya (entrance is 30$), we stopped to eat something in a really cool place, with views of rice fields. We really enjoyed the safari because Vijith get too close to elephants and we could take the best pictures ever. You feel that you almost can touch them!

Next day, Vijist came at 4.30 am to ride from Dambulla to Pidurangala (entrance is 2.000 LKR) and allow us to see the sunrise. The experience was stunning and I totally recommend it. He left us in the ticket office and told us to follow the lighted path. We start trekking and we were able to reach the summit before the sunrise. Unforgetable views!
After that, we went to Sigiriya (entrance is 30$) and he guided us to ticket office. After buying them, he indicated us how to climb to the top and where he is going to be in the parking (waiting for us). At the time we go, 8 am, there were few tourists so we could go up in a relaxed way and take many pictures eithour being interrupted. Although you have climbed to Pidurangala, we also recommend to have the views from here.

Vijith was always available and up to ehat we prefer. He complies eith our desires and give us the best experiences, tricks and views. Glad to have them in our stay in Dambulla 😊 so, if you want to fully enjoy your trip, do it with Mathisha Jeep Safari!

We booked 5 Jeeps for our Company Safari, Arrived on time to Hotel to Pick up and Drop at Hotel with Safe ride. Friendly Riders, Awesome Experience in Kaudulla. Recommended Service. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We went on a lovely safari in the evening. The organisers told us in which national park there’s the best chance to see elephants so we went to Hurulu Eco Park.
The driver was really nice and knew what he was doing, the tour met all of our expectations and I recommend going there, we saw a lot of elephants.
We also saw an elephant on the way to the safari

Very good experience with mathisha!
We really enjoyed the safari, we saw many elephants adults and babies just next to us.
He is really nice guy!! All the time was trying to find more elephants and carefully getting closer.
Plus, he gave us some mangos and coconut, they were delicious!!
Safari definitely recommend!

Brilliant day!!! We were collected from our hotel in Kandalama and headed to Sigiriya Rock, then onto the best local restaurant for lunch, before heading into Kaudulla National Park as Minneriya park is closed at this time due to high waters. We had a few hours on safari and saw at least 40 elephants, bathing, eating, resting and even chasing our jeep, but our guide Hasinth was brilliant and got us away quickly and safely! Hasinth was a brilliant guide and couldn’t do enough to help us. He took us to a tea house on the way home, sapphire shop, and a very interesting herb and spice garden! I have been on lots of excursions all over the world but this was easily up there with the best, the views and the guidance from Hasinth was outstanding.

Habarana is most Famous for wild elephants. We had great safari experience with Minneriya Wild Tours guided by Mr. Mathisha. Thank you very much Mr. Mathisha. We enjoyed well.

We are fully satisfied coz we have saw a lot of elephants, the were so close to us. 2 nice guides have Bben changing places to let us make good pictures and we did. :) After Safari they offered to bring us form our hotel to Dambulla for free despite it was a long way back and during the way back they stopped few Times to let us see other Sri Lankans wild Aanimals. Do not hesitate to go to Safari with those kind guys! Take care and thank you! Greetings from Poland. :)

Amazing safari, we were able to see several elephants groups up close and other monkeys, birds and even a komodoro dragon! Very convenient too as we were picked up and dropped off at our hotel. Thank you for the great experience 🙏