Where we go
The parks
Nine wild places on one small island, each with its own season and its own cast.
Yala
Leopards & sloth bears
Sri Lanka's most famous park, with one of the highest leopard densities on earth in Block 1, plus sloth bears, elephants and big dry-zone birdlife.
Kumana
Waterbirds & quiet tracks
Yala's wild eastern neighbour, with mangrove swamps, rock outcrops and huge waterbird nesting colonies, and a fraction of the jeeps.
Wilpattu
Villus, leopards & night drives
Sri Lanka's largest park, with sandy tracks and dozens of natural lakes (villus), leopards with far fewer jeeps, and a buffer-zone night drive for the nocturnal cast.
Gal Oya
Boat safaris & swimming elephants
Safari by boat on Sri Lanka's largest reservoir, where elephants swim between the islands, set in rolling grassland and forest.
Minneriya & Kaudulla
The elephant gathering
Every dry season, hundreds of elephants converge on the grasslands around these ancient reservoirs. It's one of the largest gatherings of Asian elephants anywhere.
Udawalawe
Elephant herds year-round
Open grassland around a large reservoir, and the most reliable place in Sri Lanka to watch family herds of elephants at any time of year.
Bundala
Lagoons & migrant birds
A Ramsar wetland of coastal lagoons and salt pans, where migrant shorebirds and flamingos winter alongside crocodiles and elephants.
Sinharaja
Endemic birds & rainforest
A UNESCO-listed primeval rainforest and the heart of Sri Lankan endemism, with mixed-species feeding flocks, blue magpies, owls, pit vipers and extraordinary macro subjects.
Horton Plains
Cloud forest & highland endemics
A high, misty plateau of grassland and cloud forest, home to highland endemic birds, sambar deer and the drop at World's End.
Best time to go
When each park is at its best
Endemic birding
Migrants join the endemics in the rainforest and on the wetlands.
Sinharaja
Drier mornings and busy feeding flocks.
Yala
Green after the rains, with leopards on the rocks in the mornings.
Yala
Waterholes start to shrink and leopards and sloth bears come into view.
Wilpattu
The lakes country wakes up, with few other jeeps around.
Horton Plains
Clear highland mornings for endemics and sambar.
Yala
Long dry days and strong leopard sightings.
Wilpattu
Leopards and sloth bears around the villus.
Sinharaja
One of the best months for the flocks.
Yala
Wildlife gathers at the last of the water.
Kumana
Waterbird colonies start to fill the swamps.
Wilpattu
Quiet tracks and big cats.
Kumana
Storks, ibis and spoonbills crowd Kumana Villu.
Yala
Dry season, open bush and good visibility.
Gal Oya
Boat safaris on Senanayake Samudra.
Yala
The driest months, made for leopard tracking.
Kumana
The colonies at their busiest.
Wilpattu
Sloth bears out for the palu fruit.
The Gathering
Elephants start moving to Minneriya’s shrinking reservoir.
Yala
Leopards, bears and elephants at the waterholes.
Gal Oya
Elephants swimming between the islands.
The Gathering
Hundreds of elephants on the grasslands of Minneriya and Kaudulla.
Wilpattu
Dry, open and full of life.
Gal Oya
The swimming herds at their most reliable.
The Gathering
One of the largest gatherings of Asian elephants anywhere.
Wilpattu
A strong alternative while Yala rests.
Sinharaja
A drier window in the rainforest.
The Gathering
Herds linger until the monsoon refills the tanks.
Wilpattu
The last dry weeks before the northeast monsoon.
Yala
The park reopens after its annual rest.