Awesome Elephant Encounter on Safari in Sri Lanka

Awesome Elephant Encounter on Safari in Sri Lanka

Posted on by Seth Koss


You’re watching Vagabrothers, and this is Sri Lanka. I’m Alex. I’m Marko, and we’re the Vagabrothers, brothers, vagabonds and your go-to guides for travel tips, inspiration, and vlogs on YouTube. In this series, we’re discovering the best of Sri Lanka: ancient cities, stunning nature, rich culture, and delicious food. In episode two we’re heading to one of Sri Lanka’s many national parks to get up close to the country’s most treasured animals: wild elephants. What’s going on everybody? Welcome back to the channel. Right now we are in rural Sri Lanka. We are in the cultural triangle, and we have a pretty awesome day lined up. It’s day two. We have left the city, and we’re about to go on a safari to meet some of Sri Lanka’s most magical, mythical animals, the elephant. But before we do that, we’re going to check out what life is like here in rural Sri Lanka. We’re going to do a little village tour and and get some food, and then it’s safari time. Driving here in Sri Lanka is pretty insane, but it all seems to work out. Okay, I think we’re here. Just hopped in a bunch of tuk tuks and forded a river to get to this village, and now we’re going to sample some local Sri Lankan cuisine with a local family. Traditionally, people would live in situations like this where they would have the family room and the cooking area right here in the kitchen where you would spend most of your time, but at night people would stay up in these treehouses. The reason they would stay in these elevated treehouses is Sri Lanka is home to thousands and thousands of wild elephants, and in the past there were even more elephants than there are now. So they would live in the house during the day , and then at night they’d spend their evenings up here out of the elephants’ reach, which would be safer than getting trampled because no one wants to get trampled by an elephant. Taking a little post-lunch nap. This jet lag is really kicking in… in a tree house? Now it’s time for a nap. This is not our tree house. She’s just finished splitting a coconut on essentially a spike that they placed in the ground. She’s using a manu, which is like a little miniature local version of a machete. We have a nice coconut full of meat, which will be used to make sambal, which is kind of like a sprinkle it on top of food, add peppers and spices and stuff, and it becomes this really delicious addition to any meal. But here we go. Bottoms up. It’s good. Earlier on the way here, we had a king coconut, which they use for drinking water. It’s almost purely water and the meat if there is any, is almost more like a gel, but this is very, very meaty and delicious. This is actually a replica of how people used to live kind of in earlier times. It’s a clay house. It’s got a thatched roof made of coconut palm fronds. There’s cooking going on here. I love the table. It’s really cool. It’s super simple. They just literally just took the clay and kind of grafted it onto the house. Got some rice here. Putting it onto a coconut leaf. Leaf…coconut? Banana leaf. Well, that was an excellent meal, but now it’s time for the main course of the day. We’re going on an elephant safari, but first we’ve got to get there. To the boat. I love it. It’s amazing. I love it, too. I actually do. It’s really hot, but luckily we have these amazing hats. They’re definitely saving us from the majority of the heat and the sun burns. We’ve seen some egrets. We’ve seen some monkeys. We’ve definitely seen a bunch of clowns, aka, all of us. It’s the latest rage, Milan. Oh you guys… elephants crossing the road. After many hours driving we have arrived at Kaudulla National Park. We’re in Central Sri Lanka. We’re here to see the Gathering, which is one of Asia’s largest wildlife spectacles. We’re going to pile into this big old Mahindra Jeep, and we are going to go on safari. I’m super stoked. This is one of the first times that we’ve been on safari in a very long time, and I can’t wait. I have heard that going on safari in Sri Lanka is in many ways superior to doing it in East Africa. The elephants here are super accessible. They go around the water, which makes it really easy for us to know where they’re going to be, when they’re going to be, so you can be very efficient. I’m pretty stoked. I love elephants. I’ve never been up close to an Asian elephant, actually. I’ve never been up close to an Asian elephant in the wild. Ding. It’s going to be good. I’m really stoked on this. Should be really cool. Words don’t even describe how excited I am to see elephants right now. Alright ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived. We’re at this lake in the middle of the park, and we are surrounded by hundreds of elephants. It’s incredible. This is the Gathering. This is the largest convergence of Asian elephants in the world. It’s one of Asia’s largest wildlife convergences, especially of mammals of this size but it’s just so cool to be surrounded by so many beautiful elephants, and they’re actually really close to you, as well. It’s super cool. I mean we are incredibly close to these elephants, and there are just hundreds of them. I think this is a lot closer than you can get in a lot of parts of the world like notably Africa where the elephants are actually a lot larger. Elephants have been super important in Sri Lankan culture. I think during the time of the Sinhalese kings, it was prohibited for any citizen to hurt or kill or enslave these animals. They were used by the government for transportation and even for executing prisoners, but then during the British time the British saw them as a pest, and so they put a bounty on the head of elephants, and there was one guy who killed thousands of elephants himself. Unfortunately, these days because the population has expanded and cities have grown, humans and elephants are coming increasingly into conflict. A hundred and fifty elephants die every single year when they accidentally wander into a human’s farm and trample their crops. So there’s been a number of efforts try to rehabilitate the animals that have been suffering as a result. But right now it’s just beautiful to see this many elephants wandering through the wild. I feel like my heart is full right now because I’ve never seen elephants out in the wild like this grazing, a herd of them this large. It’s really cool and watching them interact with each other is really fascinating, and there’re babies everywhere, which is so adorable. Sri Lanka has 12 national parks; this is one of them. It’s got 52 protected areas that account for over 12% of the island’s landmass. So this is just one of many places that you can see wild elephants and other wildlife here in Sri Lanka. This is just really, really spectacular just to be chilling here, and we’re starting get some colour in the sky. There’re baby elephants everywhere and all you can hear is just chewing masticating. Well, that was a great day. I think one of the reasons we came to Sri Lanka, why we were interested, because we heard this rumor the country had thousands of elephants walking through the wild, and today we actually got to see that, and it was just as incredible as it sounded when we first heard about it. I think there’re many reasons we wanted to come here, but one of them was the fact that it’s just such a wild diverse and extremely beautiful country and so getting out there, doing the safari, out on the boat before that, checking out village life… It’s just been a really enjoyable day in rural Sri Lanka and this is how I want to travel moving forward. You mean wearing a Lotus hat? Yes, I want to wear hats made out of leaves. I want to travel on boats. I want to go on safari. I want to see elephants and I want to do that on repeat. Today was one of the best days of travel I’ve had in a long time. It was great, and I’m stoked that we got to do it. But stay tuned because tomorrow we’re going off to explore some of the ancient history of Sri Lanka, including some incredible places, mysterious ruins, abandoned cities, Unesco World Heritage Sites, two of them. So stay tuned for that. In the meantime, remember if you enjoyed this video, please give it a thumbs- up, subscribe and turn on notifications if you haven’t already, and stay curious, keep exploring, and we’ll see you out on the road. Peace. We’re going to go to sleep. We’re tired. We’re exhausted. Got to go to bed.

100 thoughts on “Awesome Elephant Encounter on Safari in Sri Lanka”

  1. There's nothing quite like going on Safari – but a Safari in Sri Lanka is even more unique! Hope you enjoy the vlog and make sure you watch the full series here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W8Wc_u78VU&list=PLggmdyD6iyOYAZJcw3fRdUlj1c9G_JNYe

    Reply

  5. Great to see you guys enjoying the time with the elephants. I think you two captured a great experience in this video seeing nature in the wild.

    Reply

  7. I hope you guys will do a vlog on difference between india and sri lanka

    Because some guys thinks sri lanka is also belongs to India. 😁❤️ SL is a indipendent country..

    Love your vlogs. Amazing! Good presentation, REALLY COOL.

    Reply

  8. Wow, so cool! I only recently came across vagabrothers channel, safe to say there is a video watching spree ahead of me. Greetings from Australia.

    Reply

  16. What's the name of the village you went to and is the clay house open to serve food for tourists? I would also like to know the name of the boat ride service as we're thinking of going there next summer.

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  17. Beautiful! This is how elephants should be experienced! Not from their back with a guy below "steering" them around with a metal hook!

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  23. it's an incredible destination! Still working up blog posts from my trip, but it was definitely one of my favorite destinations so far and I would go back in a heartbeat. I need some more of that coconut sambal!

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  24. I loved the video, it's great that those elephants have a wild place to develop, even if it's not a giant place, I think it's beautiful!
    You, Marko, Alex and Carrie are amazing!, I think one of my next destinations will be Sri Lanka ✌🏻

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  28. After going to China and Japan over Christmas, I think my next trip will NEED to be a safari, I just love the animals so much!!! I can't believe how close you got!!

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  33. Good to see you guys experiencing actual Sri Lankan heritage.. not some cheap arse imported cultures around Colombo… 😉

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  36. Hi, we love your videos, we have been watching your vlogs for a long time. We are currently in Sri Lanka and are very exciting that you are here also, can’t wait for your next vlog. Check out the B035 road that goes through Yala as you have to pay the elephant toll with fruit to continue your journey, was a great experience.

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  37. OMG!! Great guys, watching your vlogs from the beginning and seeing you guys in my country is awesome 😀 Great video as always.

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  38. this is one side story, they are only talking about Buddhist and sinhalese culture. There is another group called Tamils who are predominantly Hindus. They facing discrimination and genocide in the north-east of the country. Similar to Buddhist bation Myanmar, sri Lanka sinhalese government is committing crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing of the minority.

    Tamils are still suffering alit under military occupation of their private lands. There are in the ratio of 1 army for every 4 Tamils in the north. The media and tourist guides never travel to north and east as its banned and dangerous for travellers. So the country is hiding a genocide taking place in the island by keeping the tourists down south and keeping the tourists area well. Its a dirty Buddhist country.

    mahinda Rajapakse and family committed crimes against humanity and genocide, its a known fact. The whole world knows this. Dont fool the world. Everyone know the truth behind sri lanka's 30 yrs old arm war and 60yrs non violent struggle of thr tamils since the independence of 1948 after British left. Please review the latest news about how sunhalese had used unternationally banned chemical bombs.
    https://www.icj.org/sri-lanka-government-must-respect-constitutional-procedures-and-uphold-commitments-to-human-rights-accountability/
    https://countercurrents.org/2018/11/18/usage-of-cluster-munitions-in-sri-lanka/

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  46. Love your videos! You guys should definitely come to BOTSWANA and explore the country's wildlife. It is ranked number one destination for wildlife safaris. You guys would love it here!!

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  54. Bros your Videos are soooo Cool 😎 . As a Sri lankan 🇱🇰 i am vary happy to see vlogs of our Country . You guy's got my subscription… and a like so hope to see your next Episodes . You guys are always Welcome to Our Country . Thank You

    Reply

  57. hey guys great content. been following you for a while. quick question, when you are shooting selfies with ur dslr camera are u using any stabilized for just holding camera with ur hands? thanks)))

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  58. British didn't see them as pest, they saw them as treasures because of the tusk and they killed thousands of them and got the tusk and exported it.

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  63. ඔබට ගෙවීම් කරන්නේ ෆුටුරෝ(FTO) කොයින් වලින්, එය ඩොලර් වලින් $9.155 වේ. ඔබගේ වොලට් එක සතියකට වරක් විශ්ලේෂණය වේ.
    FND යනු කිප්ටෝ කරන්සි සිස්ටම් එකක්.

    FND 1ක් FTO 0.20586667 වේ.
    ඩොලර්ස් 1.88 වේ.

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    ඔබට ලබාගත හැකි අවමය 20FND වේ.
    එය ඩොලර් 20 සමාන වේ.
    http://bit.ly/2QA7LvT

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  64. A little correction about the idea of the 'tree house'. It's not where villagers used to spend the night in order to stay safe from wild elephants. A tree house is usually built in a tall huge tree within a farmer's farming land. The farmers spend most of their nights at the tree houses within the days from cultivation to harvesting crops. (In fact, these farmers spend only a half the year for farming and they spend the rest of the year for religious work, and the harvested farm is left for wild life. This was a very sustainable co-existence with nature).The tree house is to chase away the wild elephants and other wild animals which come at night from their budding crops. They used to use many traditional methods accompanied with the nights of tree-houses. There are 'tree-house poems' farmers recite out aloud that it could be heard by other farmers spending their nights at tree houses, so they could stay awake till early morning. One farmer recites after another, and sometimes their conversation/communication was made in the form of these tree house ballads, before the advances of communication methods. Some farmers still spend nights at tree houses, yet with the exception of those poems. Anyway, your mention about tree-houses is not so significant here(so it wouldn't matter much), with every other so significant positive vibes about the country throughout the vlog. Thanks!

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  65. Hi 🙂 Would be great if you highlighted the place names. Safari , elephants? And village :/ and how you reached here from Colombo.

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  71. When I see the video series I’m amazed by the knowledge and research you guys done about Sri Lanka. Keep up the good work… Cheers!

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  76. Thank you so much guys for visiting our country, Love your vlogs.With love from Sri Lanka. ආයුබෝවන්

    Reply

  81. Thank you for visiting Sri Lanka and we wish to see you all agin and agin visiting us !💐💐💐

    & bit advise for all your protection…
    To maximize your enjoyment most of the wildlife visiting ruels are not that strict in LK.
    But when you close to wild elephants and other animals pls pls be careful and dont walk too close to them. Without a guide or local person to support.
    Coz, there are some aggressive animals that can attack you.
    So we love you all and we dont wants to see or hear any harm happens to you when visiting LK.
    So enjoy safely 😘

    There are more place to visit in Sri Lanka… so visit us and enjoy !
    With lots of Love from Sri Lanka !!! 🇱🇰 ❤💐🎉️🎁🎆❤❤❤❤

    Reply

  82. I have seen many travel channels in you tube, you guys are so intelligent. Whenever I watch tour videos of Sri Lanka, I feel like " oh you have not capture the best, real sri lanka, just scraping. or oh you got it wrong" . But in your video series, NOTHING that i feel to correct, Just nothing, it is Sri Lanka, as I see it as a native. Well done. I am going to see all the other videos of yours around the world. Your channel is something I can trust. I just feel it. I have never comment this much in a single channel!! Which city you are originally from that made you to be such good people? I want to raise my kids there! 🙂

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  85. Proud to be a srilankan ❤❤❤💪💪💪👍👍👍
    Thank you (vagabrothers) you guys are rocking 😘😘😘

    Reply

  93. hey there!!amazing video, loved it! however i have a question…..you guys went to Kaudulla National Park instead of Minneriya National park, was there a reason for that? also, what time during the day do you guys suggest for a safari trip to these national parks? early in the morning or afternoon ish? Hope you can advise. thank you 🙂

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  95. @vagabrothers – Hi guys! Great videos! How did you guys find these cool places to eat? Some of locals recommended it to you or did you find it by accident? Tnx

    Reply

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