All-inclusive Privé-jeepsafari in het Yala National park

Tried booking this twice and cancelled both times. No reason, very annoying as the cancellation notice came through at 19:00 each day leaving no time to book with anyone else.

Worst tour experience ever. Avoid at all costs if you are arriving by cruise ship. Our driver met us outside the ship at 8:30 AM as planned for a scheduled private tour of Yala National Park. We rode in his safari jeep for the next 6 1/2 hours, with only one bathroom break, and hardly saw any animals in the park other than a couple of birds and a deer. It was a total waste of our day. The driver was a good driver, but there was no guide. The driver was not a guide, and the best he could do was show us pictures of animals in a book. The driver told us that the only way we could have a successful safari and actually see animals moving about was if we started our tour at 5:30 AM or 6:00 AM in the morning at a starting point close to the park. He said the ship terminal was way too far away to have a successful tour actually seeing animals. We got into the Safari Jeep at 8:30 AM and did not get to the park until after 11 AM. The park is known for all of its elephants, but we never saw even one elephant in the park. The driver said that arriving at the park in midday was the worst time to see animals because at that time of day they are all sleeping. The owner of the tour company knew that our ship was not landing until 8 AM and the earliest we could meet the driver was at 8:30 AM. And the owner of the tour company also knew that the cruise ship terminal was too far away from the national park to have a successful tour starting out from the cruise ship at 8:30 AM. The owner of the tour company also knew that the weather had been very bad with lots of heavy rain for several weeks before today, and that many roads in the park were washed out and the driver said even the main visitor center was closed. The owner of the tour company knew all of this, but didn’t share any of this information with us prior to our starting the tour. If we knew in advance that the cruise ship terminal was too far away from the national park, and that the only way to have a successful tour was to leave at 5:30 or 6:00 in the morning, which was impossible for us, we would have canceled this tour in a timely manner and made other plans for the day. But I’m certain the owner of the tour company was only interested in getting our money and not making sure that we had a good tour as we expected.

I contacted the provider beforehand about the meeting point in the harbor. He didn't know whether she could get to the cruise ship in Hambantota with her vehicle (other providers could do this). It wasn't really a problem for us. We could have taken a shuttle into town. But the provider didn't try to clarify this beforehand... So there was no driver there and after a few calls and inquiries we had to walk 25 minutes in hot sunshine to the harbor entrance. We then started the tour an hour later to Yala National Park. Then the driver got lost and we lost another 50 minutes. The organizer hasn't contacted us or apologized to this day, nor has he met us halfway. The driver was good and the visit to the national park was great. We saw lots of animals. But we only had two hours in the park - instead of the four we booked and paid for. We didn't see the other stations as described. So we would book the park again (two points for that). However, the organizer only deserves one point.

Trip was very good and guide was very knowledgeable and would have given five stars had it not been that the guide turned up 90 minutes late. Also the vehicle was quite old and was left behind by other tour vehicles

Great fun and great value. We didn't find the leopards but saw other wildlife. Safari driver was terrific and worked hard to find the leopards. He taught us about listening for the call of the animals. The driver was interesting and pointed out sites of interest along the way. We stopped for a Madu River Cruise which was also very memorable.

Excellent trip very knowledgeable. Assisted with park arrangements saving over 40%. Would not hesitate to recommend. 5* Norman kemp England

My family and I had an amazing 2-day tour of South Sri Lanka organized by Dimuth. He is a great driver and knows the area well. With in our tour we did a half day safari with Nelum (safari driver). Nelum was great at showing us the national park and searching for animals to show us. He pointed out many animals including elephants, wild boar, alligators, iguanas, monkeys, water buffalo, many types of birds and we tried to find a leopard but we weren't too lucky. I highly recommend booking a tour with Dimuth and Nelum. It's an experience of a lifetime!

We were promptly picked up at 2am from our hotel in Colombo. Entered to the Park around 07:00am . We spotted three leopards and as many elephants, as well as numerous buffalo, reptiles, birds and deer. Our Jeep driver always tried to position us well for sightings, At the end of the safari we also saw a rare sloth bear. Lunch was fantastic - large and delicious. Our friendly driver Mahesh Stopped Many places on the way and let us spent our evening at Galle fort. The vehicle he took us in was very comfortable and spacious, we got enough sleep too! Whighly recommend!!

We ended up using this tour service for a day. Left the hotel at 2 am, arrived at the National Park by 7am. Did the Half day Safari and drove back along the coat (stopped by at one deserted beach). It was a long, but doable trip. Sri Lanka is an amazing country and Mr. Elvis’s service is impeccable. He is friendly and knowledgeable guide as well as a safe and excellent driver. I will likely to use his service again if we go to Sri Lanka.