After Ella, we took a taxi van to Tissamaharama (aka Tissa) which was our base for visiting Yala National Park. We thought a full day jeep safari would be cool. Little did we know that it would be a pretty bumpy ride on dusty roads, spending hours looking for elusive wildlife. A half-day tour would have been plenty! We did get to see a lot of cool animals though, so I do not regret visiting Yala.
Among the animals we saw were: elephants, water buffalo, jackals, antelope, deer, mongooses, monkeys, crocodiles, peacocks, and a variety of colourful birds. We also saw 2 leopards (1 sort of up close, and the other in the distance obscured by bushes). The leopards are very elusive and sometimes it can be difficult to see one on a safari. If a jeep spotted a leopard, the driver would call other jeeps and the race would be on to reach the location of the leopard. By the time the other jeeps arrived, the leopard was gone and we would be wondering what all the jeeps were looking at! Despite this, our driver was pretty good and pointed out a lot of animals that we didn't even notice.
Yala was a peaceful place which was our first stop on the southern coast. In 2004 the tsunami killed approximately 35,000 people. There was a tsunami memorial at the beach at Yala. It was a bit eerie being at a place affected by the tsunami. It didn't help that I watched the movie "The Impossible" before coming on this trip (it's based on a true story of a family who experiences the tsunami in Thailand).
Anyway, seeing wild animals in their natural habitat was pretty cool. My favourite was seeing the elephants!
Among the animals we saw were: elephants, water buffalo, jackals, antelope, deer, mongooses, monkeys, crocodiles, peacocks, and a variety of colourful birds. We also saw 2 leopards (1 sort of up close, and the other in the distance obscured by bushes). The leopards are very elusive and sometimes it can be difficult to see one on a safari. If a jeep spotted a leopard, the driver would call other jeeps and the race would be on to reach the location of the leopard. By the time the other jeeps arrived, the leopard was gone and we would be wondering what all the jeeps were looking at! Despite this, our driver was pretty good and pointed out a lot of animals that we didn't even notice.
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| Can you spot the leopard? |
Yala was a peaceful place which was our first stop on the southern coast. In 2004 the tsunami killed approximately 35,000 people. There was a tsunami memorial at the beach at Yala. It was a bit eerie being at a place affected by the tsunami. It didn't help that I watched the movie "The Impossible" before coming on this trip (it's based on a true story of a family who experiences the tsunami in Thailand).
Anyway, seeing wild animals in their natural habitat was pretty cool. My favourite was seeing the elephants!
We also ended up staying overnight near the park in a treehouse and had a BBQ dinner there. It was ok, but for anyone visiting Sri Lanka in the future, I don't think it was worth the money for the overnight experience.
After Yala I felt sore from being jostled around in a bumpy jeep all day. It was actually like a work out trying to stay sitting properly in the seats! The first part of our Sri Lanka trip we spent 5 nights in 5 different places (Colombo, Kandy, Ella, Tissa, Yala). The rest of our trip was some much needed relaxation!
Good thing you planned visiting the beaches at the end of your trip. Great time to rest and recover from your jeep excursion. Nice pics of the animals.
ReplyDeleteThanks! We planned the beaches at the end on purpose!
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