Walk across the varied profiles of over a hundred rivers that flow out from the hills into the sea, as well as large natural irrigation lakes, and take your pick from the choice of exciting canoeing and kayaking opportunities. There are a range of attractive tours and packages for all canoeing enthusiasts, many including camping at attractive rural mooring sites. Rare close-up glimpses of river-bank vegetation fauna, lifestyles and occupations such as river-fishing, sand-mining, rush and cane gathering, and river-bed gemming are simply bonuses to set you in tune with the outdoors and discover afresh the secret intricacies of nature.
Popular choices for canoeing, the Kalu Ganga (Black River) and Kelani Ganga flow through picturesque hilly regions embellished with white water rapids and have wide, placid flows and scenic lagoons and estuaries in their downriver courses. David Lean’s seven Academy Award-winning film Bridge on the River Kwai, was shot in the mid-nineteen fifties at Kitulgala, a scenic upriver location on the Kelani Ganga, whose beauty never fails to captures all who set foot in its clear waters.
