ハンバントタ港発ヤーラ/ウダワラウェ国立公園サファリ

The guide came to pick us up at the hotel as planned. He was on time, and we arrived in the first jeeps. The guide is serious, communicates with other guides to find the famous leopard. He drove carefully and was much more respectful than others regarding the observation times of the animals.

We spent a couple of days in the Yala National Park area, and we did a nice safari with Yala Kings Safari. We were a family of three, and we had planned directly with them the safari already from home. We got several option and full flexibility was offered, because we were travelling with kid that did not want to spend the entire day at the safari. The safari was very well organized, communication was done via email at the beginning, then later via Whatsapp, very fast and efficient; the driver was very nice, and, although it was a shared safari, it was very comfortable. If coming back to Yala, would certainly use their service again, and I would highly recommend them to everyone.

Very good and timely service, drivers are trying to find best and calm spots to observe the animals in peace.

We spent a lot of time reviewing the various different tour operators providing safari's in both Udawalawa and Yala National Parks based on the large number available. We were looking for a company who could provide quality experienced guides with a superb knowledge of both parks. We wanted not just a good knowledge of the parks themselves but guides who could spot the wildlife and provide details on what we were seeing. I have a strong passion for wildlife photography and these were places i'd been looking forward to visiting for a number of years. To be clear from the start 'Yala Kings Safari' surpassed all our expectations! We had a truly incredible experience across the 3 full days and one 1/2 day safari's which we booked. If photography and wildlife is your passion (like mine) then you have to book with these guys!! We started our Sri Lankan adventure at Udawalawa National Park with a half day afternoon safari followed by a full day the following day with 'Pancha' our guide who met us each day at our accommodation with a huge welcoming smile. We decided on private jeeps as we wanted an exclusive personal experience (highly recommended if able too). The jeeps were all quality in build, comfortable with amazing viewing on each side. Pancha, gave us a really great detailed explanation on what to expect before we headed off into the park. He also had fantastic knowledge on how the park was created and the history of its evolution. All costs for the entrances' were included in the trips (which we noted other safari companies expected clients to pay additionally so beware!). Pancha's knowledge of the park was amazing with 15 years experience he knew all there was to know about the many different tracks and animal behaviours. He could spot wildlife at a distance with incredible skill which was truly amazing and fantastic to see! My partner absolutely loves elephants and Pancha provided us with some beautiful memories of them engrossed in many different behaviours including feeding, swimming, blowing dirt and water over themselves to name but a few. We must have seen over a hundred across the 2 safari's we did. We were lucky to see quite a few babies as well who would wander close to their parents providing wonderful photography opportunities! The bird life is simply off the scale with hundreds of different varieties to see. Around the pools and reservoir edges you would see Painted Storks, Asian Openbills, various types of Herons, Black Head Ibises, Spoonbills, Black Winged Stilts etc. Away from the water we found four different types of Kingfishers, Bee Eaters, Hornbills, Crimson Babblers, Peafowl, Egrets and then flying over our heads we watched White Belled Sea Eagles, Crested Serpent Eagles and Changeable Hawk Eagles searching for prey. Its literally breath-taking in every direction! Pancha's knowledge also extended to the mammals who lived in the park spotting Jackals, various Mongoose, Cheetal Deer, Jungle Squirrels, Black and White Langurs, Hares, Torque Macaques and Crocodiles basking in the sun with their mouths open! The lunch on the full days safari was brilliant with various different curries to try with fresh fruit to cool down with and we even tried a Sri Lankan delicacy called 'Curd' made from Buffalo milk and Kithul treacle (gorgeous). My partner is vegetarian and all the food we had was first class! Plus, all day we had access to bottled water to keep us hydrated! Our next adventure was at Yala National Park where we were lucky to share the experience with two different guides across the 2 full day safaris we had booked. Dinindu picked us up nice and early for our first day making sure we got into the park before the crowds in the search for Leopards which the park is renown for. A little more busier than Udawalwa as the Leopards are popular to see but Dinidu did his best to try and stay away from the other jeeps so we could enjoy all that Yala had to offer. He had a wonderful knowledge of the park and took us to some amazing hidden water pools with muddy Buffalo's cooling off surrounded by stunning water lilies of different colours. We found lots of birds with gorgeous colours perched on old dead trees poking out from the water. He took us to the famous 'Elephant Rock' and 'Human Rock' deep into the park with Barbets, Parakeets, Kingfishers, Egrets, Bul Buls and Storks flying around at every corner with the odd Mongoose sniffing around in the search for food. The wildlife, like in Udawalawa, is simply breath-taking with so much to see and capture with a camera! Our second day was with Tharange who again picked us up early in the hope of seeing a Leopard. They are certainly difficult to find with the morning time seeming to be the best opportunity. Again, like the other guides Tharange had an incredible knowledge of the park having worked their for 30 years. He took us away from the other jeeps finding a Leopard called 'Gale' perched on a large rock watching us with the early morning sun gently touching the side of her fur. What an unbelievable moment! There was no one else around as we watched her stretch and then gradually walk down the side of the rock no more than 15 feet away. One of the most incredible experiences we've ever had. We still can't believe that Tharange had seen her almost invisible to the eye until he pointed her out! The rest of our time in the park was equally enjoyable. Tharange new all the best places to visit and seemed to have an incredible ability to keep away from the other jeeps which seemed to just go up and down the main paths at speed creating dust clouds not actually looking at the wildlife around them. Finding a company who has drivers like this is like pure gold and with so many different operators to choose from you don't want to get it wrong and end up having a terrible experience! Top Tips - Choose Yala Safari Kings - Try and book at least 1 full day as you get to explore deeper into the parks - Take a camera. I used a Sony A7R V mounted with a 100-400mm f4.5 plus a Sony A1 mark II mounted with a 300mm f2.8 prime and x2 extender. - Come away with memories of a truly incredible experience which will stay with you forever!

They picked me up at the hotel, offered me breakfast, and most of all we saw 3 leopards on the half day tour! The guides were amazing and professional, 100 % recommended!!!

We did a full day tour. Our driver was excellent and went above and beyond to have us see as many animals as possible. We saw leopards, elephants, antelope, water buffalo, mongoose, crocodile, black bear, goana, deer, peacock, and other birds. The lunch was delicious. There were breaks for breakfast and lunch at the beach. It is a very long day but we are glad we did it as we only saw leopards after 3:30pm. Highly recommend

We had a great day with Yala Kings Safari. We saw every different type of wildlife in the park and our guide had a very good eye for spotting the animals and birds. He obviously knew the areas in the park where we were most likely to have sightings.

Generally good. Ride to Yala park was long. Had to wait two hours after we got to safari start place to start safari. Had a snack that was ok. When paying for it with USD a big hassle on perfect notes to pay. Very frustrating. Saw a good assortment of animals.

Thank you to the Yala Kings Safari for a great day out. The safari was great, especially Ranga our driver, he was excellent at spotting all the animals. Yala Kings were great from start to finish, booking was easy Tharindu made sure everything was ready and gave clear instructions regarding costing and timings etc. I’d highly recommend using Yala Kings Safari.

We had an amazing experience with the safari, the driver and the staff that arranged the safari were excellent . Guiding us every step. We were able to spot all the animal and had great time during the trip. Would highly recommend it .