Yala, Udawalawe or Wilpattu: Choosing a Sri Lankan Safari
Three parks, three different animals and three very different mornings. What each one is actually good for.
Shanika Fernando··6 min read
Yala has the densest leopard population on earth and, in high season, the traffic to match. Block 1 gives you the best odds of a sighting and the worst odds of having it to yourself. The eastern blocks are quieter and worth the extra hour of driving.
Udawalawe is the elephant park. Open grassland around a reservoir, about six hundred resident elephants, and a near-certainty of seeing them at any time of year. It is also the easiest drive with children: two hours, not four.
Wilpattu is the largest and the least visited, a park of natural lakes in dense forest. Sightings are harder won and the leopards are shyer, but you can go a whole morning without seeing another jeep.
One rule for all three: the 5.30am gate is not optional. By nine the animals have gone into cover and you are looking at scrub.
Planning this trip?
The planner drafts a route from our own catalogue in about ninety seconds, and a consultant in Colombo checks it before anything is quoted.
