The village tank, five minutes down the road. Herons, cormorants and fish eagles at dawn, an outstanding sunset, and — on a good evening — elephants coming down to drink.
Habarana is built around its tank, one of thousands of reservoirs across the dry zone that have been storing the monsoon and releasing it through the dry months for the best part of two thousand years. It is a working piece of irrigation, not a beauty spot, which is rather the point: everything that lives here is here because the water is.
At first light the far bank is lined with birds — egrets, painted storks, cormorants drying their wings on the dead trees standing in the shallows, and grey herons picking along the margin. White-bellied sea eagles and serpent eagles work the thermals above. It is the easiest birding in the area and needs no guide, no jeep and no ticket.
In the late afternoon the light comes across the water and the whole thing turns gold, with the treeline black against it. Wild elephants use the tank too, and while nothing is ever guaranteed, guests do come back having watched a family drinking on the far side.
It is close enough to walk in about twenty-five minutes, or five minutes in a tuk-tuk. If you only have one free hour during your stay, spend it here at either end of the day.
