Situated on the Western Coast of the island is Negombo, a beach town popular amongst tourists and locals alike for its quirks, night life and welcoming nature. The variety of things to do and sights to see are aplenty ranging from old Churches, tropical huts to catamaran racing and power-kiting. Its Dutch-built canals played a great role in Sri Lankan history, providing entry to the island. Along the stretch of the numerous beachside Negombo Hotels lies one of the many Heritance Hotels across the island, perfect for relaxing and lounging around in the sun.
If you can manage to resist the luxury of your sunbed for a few hours, consider taking a short trip down to the Muthurajawela Wetlands. Having originated approximately around 5000BC, the Marshes are home to several types of birds, butterflies, fish as well as crocodiles, monitor lizards and Sri Lanka’s largest snake, the Python. The high tide creates an influx of seawater into the wetlands, resulting in a briny yet biologically diverse coastal ecosystem. The Marshes together with the Negombo Lagoon covers an area of over 6,000 hectares.
In terms of flora, the wetlands carry over 194 species of flora from over seven different types of vegetation including marsh, swamp, grasslands, mangrove forest and more. However, due to the high level of human activity, this composition of greens within the wetlands seems to be changing quite rapidly.
Muthurajawela is located just off the Negombo Lagoon towards the southern part of the town. Its entrance is the Muthurajawela Visitor Centre, which can be accessed from the Munnakare Bridge passing the old Negombo Rest House through Pitipana all the way to Pamunugama. Whilst there is no such “best time of the year” to visit, during the months of September to April those interested in bird watching can enjoy the numerous migrant birds to be observed.
Roland Lefevre is a travel writer who specializes in creating features on leisure as well as business travel destinations across the globe. Google+