Yala National Park is world renowned as one of the best parks to observe and photograph leopards. Although it has one of the world’s densest leopard populations, it still requires good luck to see one of the elusive creatures in its natural habitat.

Covering an area in excess of 126,000 ha, the park is divided into 5 blocks, of which only Block One is open to the general public. The area consists of scrub jungle and brackish lagoons with stunning rock monoliths scattered throughout the park. The many different habitats provide a unique experience to anyone visiting the park and support a great variety of animals. The often low-density vegetation provides ideal conditions for safaris as it allows a clear and unobstructed view of the wildlife.

Yala National Park has a substantial elephant population along with many other species like spotted deer, sambur, wild buffalo, sloth bear, mongoose and crocodiles to name a few. Also more than one hundred and thirty different species of birds can be seen, ranging from the lesser flamingos to Paradise Flycatchers, Crested Hawk Eagles and the rare Black necked Stork.

It is possible to take full day jeep safaris or to split the day into morning and afternoon drives. The best times to see the wildlife is either in the early morning or in the late afternoon, when the animals are most active.