Yala is the most visited National park in Sri Lanka. Located on the easternmost point of the south coast of Sri Lanka, most travelers visit Yala after checking out the east coast of the island, or on their journey south from Nuwara Eliya. Whilst extremely popular amongst tourists carrying large camera lenses and wearing incongruous safari suits, the park will provide for the tolerant backpacker. I was amazed by how well this park lived up to the hype - despite the hordes of tourists chasing leopards and sunbathing elephants I caught myself having fun. I know right, now that’s incongruous.

UNDERSTAND

Tucked away on the eastern side of the south coast of Sri Lanka, Yala National Park covers an area of 979 square kilometers. Yala was designated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1900, and contains a stunning variety of both animal and plant life. Yala has a variety of ecosystems across its 5 blocks; including moist monsoon forests, dry monsoon forests, semi deciduous forests, thorn forests, grasslands, fresh water and marine wetlands, and sandy beaches. Whilst famous for it’s high leopard density, Yala National Park is also home to a whopping 44 separate species of mammal including water buffalo, sloth bear and deer, 215 resident bird species, 6 of whom are completely endemic to Sri Lanka. Driving through Yala, you’ll be struck by the sheer magnitude of elephants roaming the plains - there are between 300-350 individual elephants that call the park home. However, it’s not just warm blooded creatures that call this place home, Yala also boasts 46 species of reptile, including flying snake (sounds apocalyptic), crocodile, green turtle, indian cobra and russel’s viper. In short, Yala is a wildlife park that will make ‘The Lion King’ seem positively unpopulated by interesting creatures.

While the park has 5 zones, only zone 1 and zone 5 are open to the public via a safari tour. The other zones are reserved only for professional research and documentary filming. This allows for a large proportion of the park to remain a natural habitat for the animals without the intrusion of safari jeeps. Most significantly, Zone 1 has around 33 leopards within - providing the visitor just about the best opportunity in the world to see one of these cats outside of captivity.

DO I NEED TO BOOK WITH A GUIDE?

How to put it bluntly? Yes. Absolutely yes. There is no way on earth that you could do a trip into the Yala National Park without a guide. The animals within the park are wild, possibly dangerous, and are considerably better off without you wandering into their midst. So please, if visiting Yala, splash out for a guided tour.

A good guide will know which locations are most likely for sightings in addition to avoiding big tourist crowds. On my trip into Yala we were able to ask the guide about secluded places to spot animals, gain tidbits about the park, and learn heaps about the mechanics of Yala National Park. Aside from being safe in the jeep that he drove, having a guide afforded us a much more rewarding and engaging experience. Also, it’s definitely illegal to be in there without a driver and guide. Definitely.

What to expect?

• When visiting Yala on a safari tour, you can generally expect that you’ll most likely spend the day in Block 1. Block 1 contains the vast majority of animals, is easily navigable by road, and is most popular with tourists. Following from this, as a word of warning - don’t expect Yala to live up to any fantasy around pristine untouched wilderness - each day the park receives a horde of jeep-driven tourists, every moment that you’re in the park you’ll likely be surrounded by a convoy of black jeeps, camera shutters clicking the whole time. The first thing to expect is that this is a tourist attraction, not a wilderness escape.

• Upon getting picked up from your hotel/hostel in Tissamahara, your driver/guide will drive you out to the park. This took us about 20 minutes - however, our driver seemed to have binge watched the entire Fast and the Furious franchise in the weeks leading up to our safari and drove as if auditioning for a role - other run times may vary. However, the way to the park is actually fairly scenic, we passed by tiny settlements, endless grassland and some densely forested areas - all excellent appetizers for the views to come.

• When arriving at the park you’ll start to note the lines of tourists - chances are the jeeps will be banked up by the main gates. While there are 4 main gates to the park, it’s fairly likely you’ll be entering from either the Palatupana or Katagamuwa gates. Here you’ll be expected to pay your entrance fee. As of 2018 the entry fee is about $15 USD. While we were lining up to pay an inquisitive elephant wandered past, shortly before stomping down a small shrub - so the entry fee seemed to be well spent already.

• Once inside the park you are in the hands of your guide. Depending on whether you are doing a morning or afternoon cruise, the start or end to the safari is likely to be fairly cold (due to sunrise/sunset), whilst the day is likely to get increasingly hot as the safari progresses. However, we spent about 3 hours in the park, entering at about 1:30 pm, and finishing up by 6:00 pm. In the end, this was more than ample time to hang out in the park. We spent about an hour cruising through some of the wetlands, our guide pointing out the plethora of life lining the sides of lakes and little rivulets. This early stage of the tour was utterly flabbergasting - we saw herds of elephant freely grazing alongside deer and butter buffalo, cormorants swooping down to scoop fish from the lake whilst alligators sunned in the mud and a sun bear lounging near a tree. It was honestly like a Disney film, all animals living in some weird stasis of harmony. Genuinely riveting. After an hour of this we then stopped to have lunch. It seems like all of the guides have a pre-arranged lunch spot by a beach in the park. Here there was toilets, a few benches and some weird sculpture. After lunch the real work began - the guide now racing about the park, walkie-talkie ablaze in his hand, searching for a leopard. I won’t lie, I was pretty eager to spot one - but was wholly accepting of just how unlikely this was. However, after snaking past some more elephants, starting a herd of buffalo, the walkie-talkie came alive - leopard had been spotted in a clump of trees. The driver sprung into action, doing a genuine burn out as he raced to their last known location. He took no prisoners as he sped along the bumpy bush track, overtaking other cars and jeeps, always ensuring that he kicked up as much dust as was possible with each turn. All in all, it was fairly exhilarating. After a final turn past a clump or bush we came upon a small encirclement of jeeps, all faced towards a large tree. Our guide told us that a leopard had been spotted by another guide somewhere in the tree, and that we had 5 minutes to wait to see if it would appear. As the sun began to set we were bathed in an uncommonly beautiful golden light, but the leopard showed no signs of moving. However, just as the shadows started to grow long across the small clearing a small dark shadow popped out of the underbrush right in front of our car. I snapped a photo without really knowing what I was looking at. When I looked again the magnificent profile of a leopard snapped into view. It trotted past our jeep and into the underbrush on the other side of the road. The scores of other jeeps roared into life as their guides tried to jockey for a better position. The leopard however, was gone.

• Once the sun sets your time in the park is thoroughly over. All tours end by 6 pm as the guides face a heavy fine if they remain there after dark. After the leopard spotting our guide trundled us out of the park the same way that we came in. Passing by the main gates of the park I felt a strong sense of finality - probably just the self satisfied air of a tourist with a special memory.

HOW LIKELY AM I TO SEE A LEOPARD?

Lets face it. That’s why you’re here. You want to see a leopard. It’s certainly why I visited the park. Yep, elephants are awesome, crocodiles are imposing and deer and endearing (sort of). Leopards though, leopards are something special. And Yala has more of them than anywhere else in the world! So of course you want to see one. Every blog out there seems to contain a post related to ‘how to see a leopard in Yala,’ providing generic and often misleading information. Allow me to syhtesize this information into a small tidbit; your best chances of seeing a leopard occur between February to June, when the rivers run low. Outside of that, it all comes down to luck, pure and simple.

Cutting to the proverbial chase right here, you chances of seeing a leopard in Yala are pretty high. Relatively speaking, you’ve got a shot at seeing one, which is a hell of a lot more than what you have in most national parks out there. There are currently estimated to be over 30 leopards in Zone 1 of the park, making Yala the most densely populated place on earth for leopards. However, given that they are ambush predators, extremely smart, and not heaps fond of hordes of jeeps racing towards them, your chances of seeing a leopard is still fairly slim when compared with the other animals in the park. When I was there in 2017 I got extremely lucky and caught a 20 second glimpse of a leopard trotting across a road (insert a ‘why did the leopard cross the track’ joke here). However, this came down to luck. No special skill on the guides’ part, no amazing orienteering proficiency, pure and divine luck. As we drove around the park our guide was constantly on the radio to to other guides, trying to ascertain the location of any leopards and discussing where they were last seen. In the end, the constant back and forth resulted in the briefest of sightings of a leopard, leading to a truly unforgettable moment. To accompany this unforgettable moment please scan below to see my highly forgettable photo.

BOOKING + COST

First step in visiting Yala National Park is understanding that you don’t actually stay within the park, more likely than not, you’ll be sleeping at the nearby town of Tissamahara. Once you’re there it’s time to go about booking a Safari. You’re best bet for booking a safari is to avoid any that your hotel or hostel recommend - more likely than not they are making a sizable commission on any guests that they refer. Instead, take a quick walk around town to get a rough idea on prices. The various safari companies will be lining the streets - haggle them all down. My pick on the best companies to book with are;

• Sudu Safari Tours: Will provide a jeep safari tour with guide. The guides here speak English, and reportedly a few words of German, French, Polish, Dutch, and Russian (not that I tested this). Half day tour $25 US, Full day tour for $50. Also have the option of adding in lunch for $3 US. Book here

• Yala Safari by Lakpura: Lakpura operates a slightly more expensive safari service. A full-day safari is $75 US which lasts from about 5:30am to 6:00pm in the evening (so pack water). A half-day safari is $55 US which includes a safari from 5:30am to 9:00am. Book here

Most safari operators will charge at least $20 US per person, and many will be charging well above the $100 mark. I’d strongly recommend for you to go with one of the middle range options - your experience is going to be largely the same no matter which way you go. It’s also important to note that the cost of the tour won’t include the $15 US entry fee. You should also definitely tip your driver around $5 US for the day.

TIPS

• Don’t be that person with the huge camera lens. You know the one. Telephoto, sticks out about a metre from the body of the camera. Lets face it - you’re not on assignment for national geographic, and you don’t need a lens like that/ Just invest in a decent DSLR with a zoom lens - you’ll be fine.

• Bring sunscreen. The jeeps are covered but the son is a goddamned nightmare in the park - expect to get burnt.

• If doing a full day tour definitely bring a jacket or jumper - the park is weirdly cold before sun up.

• The park has few toilets, and you can only legally sneak into the bush for an ablution in a few places - definitely go before you go, if you catch my drift.

• Be tolerant; no matter what time of year that you visit, the park is likely to be fulled (to the brim) with other tourists. That means that you’ll be often surrounded by geriatrics in safari suits living out fantasies reminiscent of ‘Out of Africa.’ Be prepared to spend time with those that you wouldn’t normally.