Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
its source close to Adam's Peak and runs 335km to Koddiyar Bay, the deep-sea harbour of
Trincomalee.
North-central Sri Lanka is home to high, rolling hills, including some fantastically dra-
matic landscapes like the area around the Knuckles Range. These hills give way to plains
that extend to the northern tip of the island. This region, portions of the southeast and most
of the east comprise the dry zone.
Sri Lanka's coastline consists of hundreds of mangrove-fringed lagoons and marshes -
some now protected wetlands - interspersed with fine white-sand beaches, the most pictur-
esque of which are on the southwest, south and east coasts. A group of low, flat islands lies
off the Jaffna peninsula in the north.
In terms of animals, it's not just elephants - although they are awesome; Sri Lanka has a
huge range of animals for such a small island. And where Africa has its famous 'Big Five'
(lion, leopard, elephant, rhino and Cape buffalo), Sri Lanka has a 'Big Four' plus one (leo-
pard, elephant, sloth bear and wild Asiatic water buffalo, plus the ginormous blue whale
found offshore).
BIOLOGICAL HOTSPOT
Sri Lanka's superlatives extend to its natural world. Conservation International has identi-
fied Sri Lanka as one of the planet's 25 biodiversity hotspots, which means the island is
characterised by a very high level of 'endemism' (species unique to the area). Sure
enough, Sri Lanka tops the charts, with endemism in 23% of the flowering plants and
16% of the mammals. On the other hand, hotspots are targeted as habitats seriously at
risk and that's very much the case with Sri Lanka.
What Tree Is That?
by Sriyanie Miththapala and PA Miththapala contains handy sketches
of common trees and shrubs in Sri Lanka, and includes English, Sinhala and botanical
names.
Plants
The southwestern wet zone is home to the country's surviving tropical rainforest, charac-
terised by dense undergrowth and a tall canopy of hardwood trees, including ebony, teak
