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 Tamil
Gurallias still control the areas
around the town, though there have
no reports of clashes The area sorrounding
the town is still controlled second
largest town on the east coast, Batticaloa
stands on a long, sandy spit of land
pointing northward and separated from
the mainland by a large brackish lagoon
which extends southward for many kilometers.
This location made it easy for the
LTTE, which seized control of the
town in the 1980s, to defend it against
government forces, and the guerrillas
were not expelled until 1991. As in
the area of Jaffna, the larger Tamil
stronghold in the extreme north, the
security forces succeeded in retaking
the town, only for the LTTE to fade
into the countryside, which remains
highly unsafe for travelers.
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 Arugam
Bay, 3km (2 miles) south of the small fishing village
of Pottuvil, had a reputation as a surfer's paradise
before the area became unsafe due to incidents in
and around Pottuvil and on the roads leading to
it. It has long, empty beaches and a wide lagoon
which is a haven for numerous bird species. |
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 About
16km (10 miles) west of Pottuvil, Lahugala was designated
as a national park mainly to provide a protected
corridor for elephant groups moving between the
larger reserves of Ruhuna (Yala), to the south,
and Gal Oya, to the north. In the dry season this
small park is reputed to have more elephants than
any other part of the country, attracted by the
grazing around the reservoirs within the park |
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 Gal
Oya covers 260km2 (100 sq miles) of scrub and open
country around an artificial reservoir, the Senanayake
Samudra (Senanayake Sea), named after Sri Lanka's
first post-independence prime minister. Formed in
the early 1950s by damming the Gal Oya River, which
flows out of the foothills to feed the lagoons south
of Batticaloa, the huge lake has a deeply indented
coastline, suitable for exploring and viewing game
by boat. Unfortunately it is closed until further
notice. |
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