← All articles · 2026-07-26

Minneriya

An afternoon safari in Minneriya National Park in June 2014: wild elephant herds around the ancient tank, tiny calves, sparring young bulls and golden light.

After a morning on Sigiriya rock in June 2014 we spent the afternoon standing up in the back of a jeep in Minneriya National Park, which turned out to be the correct order of operations: climb first, then let the elephants do the walking.

Inga and Dileep standing in the back of an open safari jeep in golden light with wild elephants grazing on the grassland behind — Ten minutes in and the first families were already behind us. The grins lasted the whole drive.

Four travellers lined up in front of a dark green safari jeep with a row of spotlights above the windscreen at Minneriya — Team photo with the jeep before it earned its dust. Dileep's parents came along for this one too.

The gathering

Minneriya's centrepiece is its ancient reservoir. In the dry months the water pulls back, fresh grass comes up after it, and wild elephants walk in from the surrounding jungle to graze the shoreline in numbers you stop trying to count.

A family group of Asian elephants with a small calf grazing in tall grass, white egrets picking around their feet — Every family group came with its own escort of egrets, working the grass the elephants stirred up.

A long line of wild elephants with several calves walking across open grassland in front of the treeline at Minneriya — Herds merging into one slow procession across the plain. Calves in the middle, aunties on the flanks.

A herd of elephants with calves crossing the sandy jeep track beside the water at Minneriya — Right of way in Minneriya is not a negotiation. The track belongs to whoever weighs four tonnes.

A mother elephant walking along the water's edge with a very small calf keeping close to her front legs — The smallest calf of the day, keeping tight formation at the waterline.

Two young elephants facing each other with trunks entwined, sparring in scrubland at Minneriya — Two young bulls testing each other, trunks locked. Half fight, half handshake.

A close elephant grazing with a herd bathing in the Minneriya tank behind it — Front of frame: dinner. Back of frame: the rest of the herd taking a communal bath in the tank.

Golden hour

Inga and Dileep in the jeep with a herd of elephants and the Minneriya tank stretching out behind them — The tank behind us, a herd behind that. Minneriya fits a lot into one backdrop.

A long line of safari jeeps spread across the open grassland at Minneriya in evening light — We were not the only ones with this idea. The jeeps hold their line, and the elephants ignore them magnificently.

Four elephants crossing a wide golden plain in silhouette with forested hills behind at Minneriya — By late afternoon the light went gold and the plain thinned out into silhouettes.

Minneriya sits squarely between the triangle's big stops, so there is no excuse to skip it: Sigiriya is next door, and Polonnaruwa and Dambulla bracket it on either side. For the southern version of this show, see Yala.