My little brother is a huge fan of animals (but too bad, mum will never allow him to keep a dog...). While we still have no plan to visit Africa, we shall compensate him with the mini safari in Sri Lanka. In fact, a lot of people might not aware that Sri Lanka is actually quite well-known for their safari in the various national parks, with the most popular one being Yala. The main reason that attracts tourists to Yala is definitely the higher chance to spot a leopard. Then are there other options available?
Yes and no. If seeing a leopard is the must-achieve takeaway from the country, please go ahead. However, many would warn you that even in Yala, the chance of seeing a leopard is slim.
Anyway, to cut the long story short, we chose a safari tour in Udawalawa, after considering the following:
Total cost = USD303 (for the package) + USD15 per pax (entrance ticket to Udawalawa National Park)
The nostalgic ambiance.
Bonfire dinner~
Yes and no. If seeing a leopard is the must-achieve takeaway from the country, please go ahead. However, many would warn you that even in Yala, the chance of seeing a leopard is slim.
Anyway, to cut the long story short, we chose a safari tour in Udawalawa, after considering the following:
- The negative reviews about Yala being too crowded with tourists. Not just a few comments, there were a lot of them!
- The location of Yala is slightly out of path, which translates to a longer travelling time.
- Found this affordable safari camp that we really wanted to experience, which I will share in details later.
Makulu Safari Camp
The package
- Pick-up (our driver called the person-in-charge directly to agree upon the meeting point)
- Accommodation (2 tents for 6 people)
- Evening tea/coffee with snacks upon arrival
- Dinner - (8-10 Menu Sri Lankan and western Mix)+ Bonfire + Dessert
- 03 hour Safari for 06 of you in private Add on USD40 for jeep (Excluding entrance tickets)
- Breakfast (8 Menu Sri Lankan and western Mix)+fruits and juice+ Dessert
- Unlimited bottled water
Other important info:
- Most recommend Safari time from 6.00am or 3.00pm.
- The campsite is very good bird-watching; you can see variety of local and migrated birds and many more animals. Though we were too tired to scout for any.
Cost per person = USD65.50 per pax
It wasn't a devastating experience, but we found that it's highly overpriced for the quality of the stay we got (no electricity and no water supply). It will be a great experience for adventurous nature lovers or city kids who want a unique camping lifestyle, but not for people who prefer comforts, and is a definite "NO" for family with elder people.
Accommodation
We were offered two tents, 3 people occupying one. One came with attached bathroom but the other one requires us to use the shared bathroom outside. It's not the luxurious tent that you might see on Instagram. Small and basic. We had multiple electricity cut-off at night, leaving us in complete darkness and stuffiness. No hot water shower and the water supply seemed limited. All of us just had a quick shower and gave up washing our hair... My parents also complained about noises made by animals overnight that were disruptive to their sleep (that's why I mention that camping is not catered for elderly).
We were offered two tents, 3 people occupying one. One came with attached bathroom but the other one requires us to use the shared bathroom outside. It's not the luxurious tent that you might see on Instagram. Small and basic. We had multiple electricity cut-off at night, leaving us in complete darkness and stuffiness. No hot water shower and the water supply seemed limited. All of us just had a quick shower and gave up washing our hair... My parents also complained about noises made by animals overnight that were disruptive to their sleep (that's why I mention that camping is not catered for elderly).
Food
The campfire dinner was the key highlight, but the selection of the food did not meet our expectation. However, we did enjoy the ambiance and family time (no Wi-Fi anyway and nothing much can be done in such darkness).
Breakfast was OK. We were famished after coming back from the tour. Suggest buying some snacks or breads before entering the camp (obviously, you can't find a convenience store in the camp). Drinking water is not an issue, as there was endless supply of bottled water. Hence, don't bother to carry your own here.
The nostalgic ambiance.
Bonfire dinner~
My favourite photo from the safari camp.
The safari tour
We had to wake up around 4.30am to get ready for the tour. Coffee and tea were provided with biscuits. When we reached the national park around 5-ish, there was already a long queue of jeeps waiting to be admitted. Suggest bringing some snacks along (you have to purchase them prior to checking in the camp). The waiting time was about 1.5 hour.
Once passing through the entrance, one person had to step down to purchase the entrance tickets. I vaguely recalled that there are discounts if you travel in a larger group. Here began our hunt for animals. The more commonly seen animals include buffaloes, peacocks and elephants (though it took us quite a while to spot the first one). Apparently the drivers would communicate with each other over the phone and all the jeeps would rush to the same location where elephant herd appears. I bet you could have imagined the situation? Countless jeeps surrounded the elephant herd with the eager tourists trying to snap a photo. It was scary...
We went back to the camp about 9.30am to have breakfast and pack our things. The official check out time was 12pm so we had some time to rest (everyone was exhausted).
My key takeaway from the safari trip? Save up and go Africa for a better experience. You don't see many varieties of animals here in Sri Lanka. Even the main star - elephants were not that many. In fact, there were more jeeps than animals!!! However, this was my personal experience and I had read some good reviews online nonetheless.
I think I have been ranting too much! We will be entering the beach zone (approaching the end of our trip) in the next post (I promised no rants)! :)
We had to wake up around 4.30am to get ready for the tour. Coffee and tea were provided with biscuits. When we reached the national park around 5-ish, there was already a long queue of jeeps waiting to be admitted. Suggest bringing some snacks along (you have to purchase them prior to checking in the camp). The waiting time was about 1.5 hour.
Once passing through the entrance, one person had to step down to purchase the entrance tickets. I vaguely recalled that there are discounts if you travel in a larger group. Here began our hunt for animals. The more commonly seen animals include buffaloes, peacocks and elephants (though it took us quite a while to spot the first one). Apparently the drivers would communicate with each other over the phone and all the jeeps would rush to the same location where elephant herd appears. I bet you could have imagined the situation? Countless jeeps surrounded the elephant herd with the eager tourists trying to snap a photo. It was scary...
We went back to the camp about 9.30am to have breakfast and pack our things. The official check out time was 12pm so we had some time to rest (everyone was exhausted).
Look at the queue.
My fat thigh is hopeless by the way.
One of the most frequently spotted animals was definitely peacock.
A herd of buffaloes.
My key takeaway from the safari trip? Save up and go Africa for a better experience. You don't see many varieties of animals here in Sri Lanka. Even the main star - elephants were not that many. In fact, there were more jeeps than animals!!! However, this was my personal experience and I had read some good reviews online nonetheless.
I think I have been ranting too much! We will be entering the beach zone (approaching the end of our trip) in the next post (I promised no rants)! :)
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