Safari at Yala National Park or extra day in Ceylon Tea Trails?
 

Hello Everyone,

At the moment we are planning to travel around Sri Lanka at end of Mar / early Apr for about 2 weeks on the following itinerary.
Cultural Triangle (3 nights)
Kandy (2 nights)
Tea Country - Castlereagh Bungalow (2 nights)
Safari at Yala National Park (2 nights)
Galle (3 nights)

Debating if we should skip the safari at Yala National Park and add an extra night in Tea Country at Castlereigh Bungalow. Are the scenery and hikes better than safari at Yala? We've been on 4 safari trips in Africa plus 1 in India so a little bit concerned that we might be a little disappointed with the game viewing in Sri Lanka. Would love to see leopards & elephants though! Someone commented on TripAdvisor that Yala gets traffic jams with load of jeeps that it's like "a caravan ride in a Disney themed park."

Also is it possible to do Sigiriya Rock Fortress and Polonnaruwa on the same day? I've seen it in some travel itineraries. Wondering if we need an 1 more night in the Cultural Triangle.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Yes it is possible to do Sigriyia rock and Polinnaruwa in one day, ( go early to SR to avoid the crowds). We stayed at Tea Trails in November and had 2 nights and really wish we had stayed for 3 ...
Ref the cultural triangle ( which is fabulous) we thought 3 nights fine for us but it really does depend on what you want to see....
What time do you arrive in Sri Lanka? Are you going straight to the Cultural Triangle? We elected not to do this and stayed at the fantastic Wallawala hotel so it wasn't a killer day of travel.....

Thank you Smeagol. My preference would be to drive directly to Dambulla but we are arriving at 1 am in Colombo Int'l Airport, so perhaps not feasible. I'm still trying to find a car & driver. No response to my email from BSL so I might have to phone.

Hi Smeagol, How did you travel to Tea Trails? Did you drive direct or train + drive? Tea Trails suggested that I drive directly to Hatton but I head the train journey is very scenic.

I duuno its a your call but i always push fordorites who ask this question to go directly from the airport to the cultural triangle. Late night at 0100am there is very light traffic, the air is cool and you can get to you hotel in about two max two and a half hours. In the morning it will take the better part of 4 hours., believe me the traffic is horrible after 6am.

Going direct you get to your destination and then you can sleep late and by afternoon you can go out touring.....

If you choose to sleep near the airport by the time you get to you destination it will be afternoon the next day and you will likely be tired again and ready for early bed again....

It depends on your priorities, but personally, I'd cut out Yala and add a day each to the Cultural Triangle and Tea Trails.

Our driver dropped us at the train station and we went by train, he then picked us up at Hatton station... Lovely way to go I would highly recommend....

Thank you Smeagol and Kathie. I think we are leaning towards skipping Yala, given what I've been on this Forum and also Tripplanner001 didn't spot any leopards during their 3 days in Yala.

Thanks Mohammed. I share your view about getting to my destination and sleeping in late but both of the car hire companies I contacted are advising that I do the drive the next morning.

Given your time frame, two nights does not give you much time to spot leopards.

The best itinerary for you depends on the type of activities you prefer. I spent an equal amount of time at Tea Trails and Yala. A return visit is on my wishlist to experience Yala again, rather than Tea Trails.

If you really want to see leopards, you need a speciality guide, IMO. There is a company in Sri Lanka called Leopard Safaris (I think). A friend used them and they did see leopards. But you also need to spend enough time there to be able to se a leopard. If it was really important to me, I'd spend more time. Remember that two nights anywhere is just one full day. I have had contact with this company and plan to use them when we return.

Would love to see leopards & elephants though! Someone commented on TripAdvisor that Yala gets traffic jams with load of jeeps that it's like "a caravan ride in a Disney themed park.">>

i wouldn't put it exactly like that but we did not find that it was a very satisfactory experience for us, and worse for the animals. We specifically asked not to chase the animals around at Yala but to look for birds instead, and after having, metaphorically speaking, put our foot down, we largely succeeded. [for more details click on my screen-name for my trip report].

you can see elephants aplenty at Minneriya in the right season, but you've probably seen loads in India and Africa; you've probably seen a lot more game in Africa too.

I agree that if you want to see animals properly, you need a specialist guide that you set up before you go. I also agree with Mohammed that it would be better to go straight to Dambulla from the airport and then sleep in. I'm sure that the hotel will be used to this and you won't be missing much scenery en route. You could always go to the Dambulla caves in the afternoon as a short and easy trip.

you can see that I am tending to suggesting that you omit Yala. you could add a night to the Cultural triangle [there is an excellent TR about Anuradhapura at the moment] which would give you time to recover from your trip and see more of that area at more leisure. 4 nights at the Kandalama [assuming that's where you are going to be staying] are no sacrifice! Another night in the Tea Country would be good too.

Thank you all for your advice. We decided to give Yala a miss this time and added a night on to Tea Trails.

Smeagol, How was your stay at The Fortress?

Cynerella: I just got award tickets to Sri Lanka for Feb. 2016 and plan an itinerary similar to yours. I have the same question about Yala safaris as I am going to South Africa and Botswana in 3 weeks for safaris there. I'll wait until I get back to see if a SL safari would be underwhelming after African ones.

I too never heard back from BSL. I am planning my trip with a local agency called Camlo Lanka Tours. The owner, Kanchana, is very responsive. Our plan is to meet up with 2 British ladies I met on TA and share the driver/car for a week before we split up. We will meet up again at the end in Unawatuna. I have to fill in the middle.
http://www.camlolanka.com/