Another exited day dawn with a clouded sky. I was all set to spend a long day in Hiyare! We had a couple of plans for the day.
Hiyare is a village in the Galle district, near Akmeemana in Sri Lanka. Hiyare is famous for the Hiyare rainforest, the Hiyare reservoir, and hiyare Biodiversity Research Center. This area is abundant with natural beauty.
Since this was a one day trip, we selected a place within the same district we live. Before we visit we watched multiple youtube videos and had knowledge about the place.
You can use Google Maps to find the way to Hiyare without getting lost. It is 15 min travel from the Pinnaduwa Southern Expressway interchange. This place is open on weekends and weekdays except for poya days.
You can bring vehicles near to the reservoir, but to reach the reservoir you have to drive through a jaggy road for about 250m. You have free parking near the reservoir office. Hiyare reservoir used to supply water to Galle in old days. Later in 2002, this reservoir project is closed due to difficulties of continuing maintenance.
This place is not for chilling, but good for photography, spending time with nature or for any educational purposes. There are some rules you must know before planning your visit.
It wasn't crowded as a national park or a garden. We didn't ask to take tickets to enter. You can walk along the dam, and you can visit close to the reservoir. The public is not permitted to enter the forest nearby. There are benches if you willing to sit and look at the water.
You can spend around 1-1.30h to walk through C shaped dam and take photos.
We had to wait for 15min inside the reservoir off due to unfortunate rain. But it didn't take a long time to vanish all the wet from sun rays. We started from the left side corner of the dam because there were some pre-shoots in the other side.
This greeny land gave me the right feeling that I expected.
The water surface looked lovely. But believe this reservoir is extremely deep. It is about 40-45m deep. It is dangerous to attempt to play with the water.
You can observe fish, and birds like kingfishers near the bank.
The place is prepared with some elements that help you to create beautiful photographs. First I tried out a swing, it was pretty much taller than my knee height, so it was a little uncomfortable for me. My boyfriend took this which is look okay.
You won't feel un comfort due to the sun because the constant wind will cool down yourself. If you want to sit down, there are some benches under the trees. You can still sit on fresh grass but be careful on Mimosa on the ground. Happily, there were no leeches.
When moving right, we found a boat which is stopped in the bank. I am not sure whether it is in use or not, but it made a more artistic nature to the scene.
I walked slightly closer to the water and was more careful not to step on the edges. A few steps away, there was a sunk boat close to the reservoir bank.
It was home to various fish. I was afraid to go so close but could enjoy the beauty from far.
The third boat found another few steps away. A couple used to take some photos around this boat. So I also tried to pose well but I am really not good at posing for photos like other girls. My boyfriend helped me with multiple photos so that I can select a better one.
Then we walked along the dam towards sorowwa. The bridge to tanks is made of concretes blocks. It was strong enough to walk forward. I was scared to walk through this bridge. So I hold the railings beside tiedly. When I stepped to the main stage faces to the reservoir I realized how deep it is. There is a steal net you can look down and understand how deep is the reservoir.
This made me further scared. So I didn't want to spend a long time there.
There was a dog sleeping on the bridge and we had to step across him. He is not afraid of this.. If you are a brave person you can have a great view from this bridge. As I was afraid I didn't even feel the wind coming through the water's surface.
I had a plan to take photos of birds, but I didn't saw any new birds except birds I know early. Hiyare forest is around the dam and I guess there are plenty of birds inside the forest.
Generally, I am so happy and thrilled of this visit. The main reason, we came out after a long time, that I was attracted to the greeny beauty of this place. The place was extremely clean and if you are willing to visit, don't drop a single drop of garbage in this beautiful place.
We spent nearly 1h year walking and taking photos. Around 12.30 p.m. we said good-by to this gorgeous by remaining only our footprints on greeny land. If you are planning to visit, also visit Kottawa forest reservoir and Kottawa Aranya which is 13.5km away from this place.