{"id":2151,"date":"2012-11-28T05:59:54","date_gmt":"2012-11-27T21:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/?p=2151"},"modified":"2021-02-12T18:26:56","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T10:26:56","slug":"udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/","title":{"rendered":"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After weeks of planning, sorting out travel arrangements via email, checking out the weather, it was finally 9th November 2012, the start of me and my wife\u2019s year-end holiday for 2012. We came to an agreement that we wanted to go somewhere a bit further from South East Asia that offers something beyond the normal tourist attractions and after multiple rounds of on-line research, Sri Lanka appeared top on our list.<\/p>\n<p>After a very unique 3 hours 50 minutes flight from KL to Colombo, we safely landed at Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka. If you missed out the earlier story about the awesome in-flight birthday surprise, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/21\/sri-lanka-trip-2012-directory\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">please click here<\/a> to view the full list of my Sri Lanka Trip 2012 stories.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Bandaranaike International Airport gave a good first impression to us with its modern terminal ambience despite the physical improvement works still going on. The arrival procedures were smooth and front liners personnel were friendly but what caught my attention the most was a row of duty free shops selling not chocolates, not liquor, not tobacco BUT washing machine, TV, refrigerator, etc! Interesting.<\/p>\n<p>Learning from my <a href=\"http:\/\/m.naim.my\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">travel sifu<\/a>, we decided to leave straight from the airport to our first destination, the Udawalawe National Park skipping the busy and hectic city life of Colombo until the very last day of our trip.<\/p>\n<p>On paper, the journey from the airport to Udawalawe National Park is a 187km journey. Google Maps estimated it to be a 3 hours journey.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/3.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In reality, it took us 6 hours to cover the 187km. The roads are small, traffic can be tricky at times and it was raining at certain stretch of the journey. Still it was nice to be able to see the scenery of many towns we passed by.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/4.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We eventually reached Grand Udawalawe Safari Resort just in time for dinner.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Day 2 \u2014 10th Nov 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Day 2 was all about Udawalawe National Park, our first ever safari experience!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/5.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The excitement to get up-close with wild elephants gave us the needed boost to wake up early in the morning to catch our safari jeep for a morning game drive to Udawalawe National Park.<\/p>\n<p>Udawalawe National Park is one of the best places in Sri Lanka to see elephants. Our guide told us that there are more than 500 wild elephants within the perimeter of this national park and it is quite easy to spot many herds of Elephants here all year long. True enough, the moment we entered the National Park, we spotted our first elephant!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/7.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/8.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As we moved in further inside the park, we came face to face with an elephant sharing the same road with us.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/9.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is when our guide told us to stay calm and just let the elephant pass through at the side of our jeep. Our driver immediately switched the engine off.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/10.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>All clear! This is what I call up-close and personal. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/11.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Udawalawe is not just about elephant. According to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lonelyplanet.com\/sri-lanka\/the-hill-country\/udawalawe-national-park#ixzz2DSXBKVK3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lonely Planet\u2019s website<\/a>, Udawalawe is also home to birds, sambar deer, wild buffaloes (their numbers boosted by domesticated buffaloes), mongooses, bandicoots, foxes, water monitor lizards, crocodiles and sloth bears.<\/p>\n<p>Hornbill. We saw lots of hornbills throughout the 4-hours Safari drive.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/12.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Wild buffaloes.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/13.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A lovely peacock enjoying the view of the park from top of a tree.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/14.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While another peacock crosses right in front of our jeep.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/15.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At one point our guide told us, \u201cSomeone is watching us\u201d. It was this Grey Langur monkey quietly stalking us from top of a tree.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/16.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Our assigned local guide is really good at spotting animals out of the moving safari jeep.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/17.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The moment he saw something, he would ask the driver to stop. Including this one time when he saw something and asked us to spot the animal. Can you see it?<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/18.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It was actually right in front of us. Sharp pair of eyes!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/19.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We went in deeper into the park to spot more elephants.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/20.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Only after a few minutes, we spotted this small herd of elephant. 6 elephants walking together and the moment they saw our truck, they got into \u2018protective mode\u2019 where the baby elephant was covered by the rest of the elephants.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/21.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/22.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>All secured. \u201cbaby elephant\u201d is safe from another group of tourist.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/23.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/24.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>An elephant with a special bracelet to monitor his rehabilitation progress.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/25.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We were also lucky to spot a baby elephant nursing. Beautiful.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/26.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A peacock tried to steal the spotlight from the elephants as we were ready to leave the park.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/27.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Udawalawe is a must visit to anyone that appreciates elephants and birds. It is true that we can see easily see elephants in the zoo but the excitement of being on a safari jeep spotting the animals is an experience by itself. It was a great way to start our Sri Lanka trip!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/28.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/img.photobucket.com\/albums\/v37\/azuan1880\/blogs\/2012\/Udawalawe\/29.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After weeks of planning, sorting out travel arrangements via email, checking out the weather, it was finally 9th November 2012, the start of me and my wife\u2019s year-end holiday for 2012. We came to an agreement that we wanted to go somewhere a bit further from South East Asia that offers something beyond the normal [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4,1469,11,3],"tags":[2134,2135,2137,2136,2130,2133,2138],"class_list":["post-2151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-world","category-adventure","category-blog-posts","category-featured-articles","category-travel","tag-elephant","tag-elephants","tag-jeep","tag-safari","tag-sri-lanka","tag-udawalawe","tag-udawalawe-national-park"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants - AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants - AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After weeks of planning, sorting out travel arrangements via email, checking out the weather, it was finally 9th November 2012, the start of me and my wife\u2019s year-end holiday for 2012. We came to an agreement that we wanted to go somewhere a bit further from South East Asia that offers something beyond the normal [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/azuanzahdi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/azuanzahdi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-27T21:59:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-12T10:26:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"954\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"538\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Azuan Zahdi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@azuanzahdi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@azuanzahdi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Azuan Zahdi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Azuan Zahdi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/65269e12457b5fc4a4c10907a1bbd0f0\"},\"headline\":\"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-27T21:59:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-12T10:26:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/\"},\"wordCount\":799,\"commentCount\":9,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/65269e12457b5fc4a4c10907a1bbd0f0\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"elephant\",\"elephants\",\"jeep\",\"safari\",\"sri lanka\",\"udawalawe\",\"udawalawe national park\"],\"articleSection\":[\":: All Posts ::\",\"Adventure\",\"Blog Posts\",\"Featured Articles\",\"TRAVEL\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/\",\"name\":\"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants - AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-27T21:59:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-12T10:26:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg\",\"width\":\"954\",\"height\":\"538\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/\",\"name\":\"AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger\",\"description\":\"Aviation &amp; Travel\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/65269e12457b5fc4a4c10907a1bbd0f0\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/65269e12457b5fc4a4c10907a1bbd0f0\",\"name\":\"Azuan Zahdi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/AzuanZahdi-02.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/AzuanZahdi-02.png\",\"width\":6250,\"height\":2567,\"caption\":\"Azuan Zahdi\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Malaysia's first aviation blogger. AzuanZahdi.com started in 2006 and has been my little online space where I document my travel and aviation stories. Opinions on AzuanZahdi.com are my own and not the views of any organizations I am attached or affiliated to.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/azuanzahdi\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/azuanzahdi\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCzTyB3xwRom5TtZv6YGAsPg\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants - AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants - AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger","og_description":"After weeks of planning, sorting out travel arrangements via email, checking out the weather, it was finally 9th November 2012, the start of me and my wife\u2019s year-end holiday for 2012. We came to an agreement that we wanted to go somewhere a bit further from South East Asia that offers something beyond the normal [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/","og_site_name":"AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/azuanzahdi","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/azuanzahdi","article_published_time":"2012-11-27T21:59:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-12T10:26:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":954,"height":538,"url":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Azuan Zahdi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@azuanzahdi","twitter_site":"@azuanzahdi","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Azuan Zahdi","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/"},"author":{"name":"Azuan Zahdi","@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/65269e12457b5fc4a4c10907a1bbd0f0"},"headline":"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants","datePublished":"2012-11-27T21:59:54+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-12T10:26:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/"},"wordCount":799,"commentCount":9,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/65269e12457b5fc4a4c10907a1bbd0f0"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg","keywords":["elephant","elephants","jeep","safari","sri lanka","udawalawe","udawalawe national park"],"articleSection":[":: All Posts ::","Adventure","Blog Posts","Featured Articles","TRAVEL"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/","url":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/","name":"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants - AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg","datePublished":"2012-11-27T21:59:54+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-12T10:26:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/CoverSriLanka1.jpg","width":"954","height":"538"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/2012\/11\/28\/udawalawe-national-park-up-close-with-the-sri-lankan-wild-elephants\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Udawalawe National Park \u2014 Up close with the Sri Lankan wild elephants"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/","name":"AzuanZahdi.com | Malaysia&#039;s First Aviation Blogger","description":"Aviation &amp; Travel","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/65269e12457b5fc4a4c10907a1bbd0f0"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/65269e12457b5fc4a4c10907a1bbd0f0","name":"Azuan Zahdi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/AzuanZahdi-02.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/wp-content\/\/AzuanZahdi-02.png","width":6250,"height":2567,"caption":"Azuan Zahdi"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Malaysia's first aviation blogger. AzuanZahdi.com started in 2006 and has been my little online space where I document my travel and aviation stories. Opinions on AzuanZahdi.com are my own and not the views of any organizations I am attached or affiliated to.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/azuanzahdi","https:\/\/x.com\/azuanzahdi","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCzTyB3xwRom5TtZv6YGAsPg"],"url":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2151"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24023,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2151\/revisions\/24023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.azuanzahdi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}