Yala Safari - The Nature expedition

Wild Safari !


A popular destination – especially for nature watching. It is going to be a series of posts about a national park best known for its variety of wild animals. Hurry ! we have many things to introduce and explore !Yes , It is Yala wild life , green woods and lands of the giants in the jungle.


Yala National Park , is the second largest and the most visited national park in Sri Lanka. I have to take the chance of several and a series of posts to mention the beauty and the value of this nature reserve. Well, this is going to be the introductory article of Yala.


Yala and its Location


Yala national park lies in two provinces, Southern and Uva, and belongs to Hambantota and Monaragala districts in each. This nature park is maintained by the Ministry for Economical development and the Department of Wild life Conservation. It consists of five blocks all of which are now open to the public. There is a strict forest reserve not accessible by public, green native lands of inherited wild life species. We will dedicate separate posts for each block for you to enjoy some virtual nature trail with us.

There are 2 main entrances to Yala, the first entrance is from Palatupana, passing Tissa , kirinda and Nimalava. Here you get the chance to visit Block 1 and 2 in Yala. The second entrance is at ‘Galge’ on the highway of Katharagama-Buththala letting
you access the Blocks 3,4 and 5.

Let us have a look at some steps to preserve the beauty of Yala and to protect yourself from the giants, while you visit this national park. The variety of wild animals , are not indeed harmless , you have to be very careful , especially maintain the silence, without disturbing their natural noises and life styles .Yala is known as the largest collection of leopards and elephants , yet dangerous, if you distract them. Silence is the best practice for you to watch the most of the animals.


Please do not leave any Polythene item in the national park area , as it cause major poisoning to animals and pollute the green land. Make sure you bring only the ‘lovely memories’ home, and leave only your footsteps in green forests in Yala.


Yala is the most visited wildlife sanctuary in Sri Lanka. Most of the visitors stated that reasons for their visit are to see wild animals, and elephant is the most preferred animal. The visitors like to see bears, leopards, birds as well.


A 4-wheeled vehicle is the best for a safari tour inside Yala. You have facilities to hire a 4-wheeled vehicle from the entrances, and please verify it is a real 4-wheeled, before you start! If it is a long safari tour (more than 2 days) , make it a must to have a 4x4. If you visit only for a day, you have no harm choosing a normal but a safe suitable vehicle.


Yala story is not over. Soon I am going to write about the 5 blocks of Yala, variety of wild animals, bungalows, camp sites and ‘Kabaliththa’ ancient shrine inside the sanctuary.


Want to see wild life in Yala ? call us or email :


Contact Numbers :      +94714449162


                                       +94112178209
e- mail address   : abeetha@explorelankainternational.com