Minneriya

Minneriya National Park is built around an ancient reservoir, and in the dry months — roughly July to September — its shrinking waterline draws elephants from the surrounding forests in genuinely large numbers, known as the Minneriya Gathering. Outside those months it's still a reliable safari park for elephants, deer, buffalo and birdlife, usually visited as an afternoon safari paired with Sigiriya or Polonnaruwa on the same day.