Epic Yala Safari: Everything You Need to Know Before Visiting

This blog post is all about Yala Safari in Sri Lanka.

When it came to planning our trip to Sri Lanka, going on Safari was top of the list. We chose Yala Safari in the Southeast area of Sri Lanka.

There are several national parks to choose from.

Parks in the northern area of Sri Lanka are renowned for elephants. But in the south, Yala boasts one of the highest densities of leopards in the world.

Offering visitors a rare opportunity to spot these majestic big cats in their natural habitat.

If you’re heading to Yala or want to know more about my experience of Yala Safari, check out my YouTube vlog below!

Related Sri Lanka blog posts to read:

Yala Safari National Park

Yala Safari National Park spans over 978 square kilometres, and is the country’s second largest national park, so is a very ethical way of seeing wildlife.

The park is home to a diverse array of animals. We saw so many different varieties of birds, as well as peacocks, wild boars, deer, water and domestic buffalo, crocodiles, and elephants.

We even saw two of the elusive leopards – a baby cub high up in a tree licking its paws, and a larger leopard roaming across one of the roads right behind our jeep.

Yala Safari Options

The park offers both morning and evening safaris, allowing guests to witness the captivating beauty of its inhabitants against the backdrop of the rising or setting sun.

Most safari packages offer full-day or half-day experiences.

We opted for the morning half-day package, which was still seven hours long, leaving our hotel at 4.30am, returning around 12.30pm and we felt this was definitely long enough to see everything.

Morning is the best time to see all of the animals, but evening is better for leopards. So it’s up to you which you choose.

We chose the morning and were very lucky to see two leopards.