The dawn drive is the reason most guests come to Udawalawe. Gates open at 6am and we want the first jeeps in — before the day-trippers arrive from Embilipitiya. The grassland is cool, the light is golden, and the herds are moving between the forest and the reservoir.

Our naturalists read the elephant tracks crossing the main road and the alarm calls of spotted deer. A typical drive crosses paths with 80+ elephants across multiple herds. Calves are present year-round. By 9am the heat begins to settle and the elephants move back into the scrub — and we head back to camp for breakfast.

The full day lets you follow a single herd across the grassland as the light changes. We break midday at a viewpoint above the reservoir for a packed lunch and a long siesta in the shade — the elephants do the same, withdrawing into the thorn scrub when the heat peaks.

The afternoon drive catches them returning to water before dark. This is when the calves come down to bathe, when the bulls challenge each other at the waterline, and when the light turns Udawalawe into something out of a National Geographic spread. Both golden hours. One long day.