Jeep Safaris in National Parks is one of the various activities Sri Lanka can offer. Of course, Sri Lanka is not Africa and Sri Lankan parks are not as reknown as some of them in Africa such as Kruger National Park. Do not expect to see the Big Five but doing a safari in Sri Lanka can help to vary and entertain your trip and will give you the opportunity to see some elephants. The most famous one is Yala Natioanal Park where you can observe some leopards if you are lucky (see my post on Yala National Park). There are some others such as Pinnawala, Udawalawe or Minneriya but reading some comments of travel guides, people are quite disapointed seeing the massive tourism they try to get out of this. On our way back to Colombo and coming from Anaradhapura in the cultural triangle, there was quite a long distance to do and we decided to do a stopover in Wilpattu National Park.
The ride in Willpatu is quite pleasant as the road is smoother than in Yala National Park. Yala was full of wholes which made it a bit painful for our backs. The road in Willpatu is quite flat and the vegetation is changing, which makes it a pleasant journey within the park .
The ride leads you around a two lakes, one with lots of water lily, which make it lovely at sunrise.
However, do not expect to see too many animals, we did not even see an elephant and a crocodile when Sri Lanka is full of them ! You will see mainly peacocks, bambies, small pigs but from quite far away... The ride is pleasant for landscapes and vegetation but very deceptive for animals watching.
The Safari jeeps was quite more expensive from the one in Yala National Park and did not worth it. The safari was organized by our hotel. We decided to stay in the Big Game Camp as we though sleeping in a tent in a park would be quite different. However, confort is very limited, I share the bathroom with a frog and the heat inside the tent is unbearable in the day. Thanks to our organization, we planed to arrive late in the evening and to leave right after the safari, but just having a shower in that heat and tiny space was an effort ! In addition, we paid the tent around 90 euros which was very expensive compared to the confort we had and the price we paid for upscale hotels. However, we must acknowledge that the staff was really helpful, took everything in charge of the organization of the safari and was really reactive for each of our requests. The price the hotel camp offered for the safari was cheaper than booking it directly with a specialized company.
Willpatu is a good solution in terms of distance and journey but leaves you a bitter taste at the end of the trip and prevents you from ending in apotheosis. But this is only my opinion !
Big Game Camp
Sri Lanka
https://www.srilankabiggamesafaris.com/
Big Game Camp
Sri Lanka
https://www.srilankabiggamesafaris.com/
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