30/03/2016
Madu River or the Madu Ganga is one of the natures fascinating creations off South West coast in Balapitiya. Madu River is a lagoon with hundreds of islands providing an idyllic setting for a well spent holiday and loads of authentic traditional settings. It may be one of the last remaining tracts of pristine mangrove forests in Sri Lanka.
The Madu River Wetland was declared in 2003, in terms of the Ramsar Convention where Madu Ganga Wet Land spreads across 915 hectares, out of which 770 hectares is covered with water. Sail downstream for about a kilometer, the river opens its doors to 36 spectacular islands covering the rest 145 hectares.
The largest of these was called Maha Duwa which is currently Maduwa and enchanting isle of Kothduwa an island with a Buddhist monastery, where the friendly young monks will show you a 150-year-old book, fringed by coconut palms where according to legend, the Sacred Tooth Relic was once enshrined.
A boat trip is a wonderful way of seeing some of the hundreds of species of plants and animal’s monkeys eat fruit in the trees, a water monitor lizard glides slowly through the water, and cormorants, egrets and kingfishers wait patiently on the banks, eyeing the water for prey.
The main occupations of the local inhabitants are producing cinnamon and prawn fishing if you take the trip in the evening you will see the fishermen in their canoes lighting lanterns to attract the shellfish into their traps.
It is claimed that the main secret of the Madu River is the tide. On any given day during the low tide the sea water comes inland and mixes with fresh water and in the evening, vice versa creating the magic of nature. Local and foreign tourists can explore the beauty of Madu River through a boat ride that takes a couple of hours.
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