Surprise! Safaris Aren’t Just in Africa

Before visiting Sri Lanka I thought Safaris only existed in Africa. There are actually a number of national parks in Sri Lanka which offer safaris. However, some of the traditional big 5 are not in Sri Lanka. Anyway, I chose to go from the Ceylon Tea trails to the Wild Coast tented lodge which is just on the outskirts of the Yala National Park. Also, both hotels are part of the same ownership group. On our way to Yala, we were able to stop at three different places to see some waterfalls. Seeing these natural wonders made me think to myself “Sri Lanka truly has it all”.

We also made a stop at the famous 9 Arches bridge. It was beautiful to see in person. Another thing people do is ride the “blue train” from Kandy to Ella which also goes over the bridge. However, my research made me conclude that the 7 hour ride would not be worth it.

After some time, we finally arrived at the Wild Coast Tented Lodge. We were welcomed with some drink and frozen treats.

Before being shown to our room, we were given a tour of the property. The restaurant, bar, and pool are steps from the ocean and beach and the setting is really magical.

After the short tour, we were finally showed to our “cocoon” which blew away all my expectations. This is glamping at its finest!

After we got settled in, we headed back to the beach area for the daily sunset party where canapes and drinks are provided. The hotel includes all meals with your booking.

After grabbing a drink, we relaxed on some bean bags overlooking the Indian Ocean. It was an amazing experience.

Here are some aerial views of the coastline and camp.

After the sunset, we had dinner (I will talk about the food at the end of this post), and then went back to our cocoon for a night swim.

We awoke the next morning to some visitors!

Later in the afternoon, we did our first safari and then our second safari the following morning. With each stay, you get a safari and can choose either AM (I believe 530AM) or PM (around 230PM). The safaris are about 3 hours each. We saw most of the animals we wanted to see except for leopards and bears.

I am going to end this post with a comment about the food at the Wild Coast Tented Lodge. Here is one of the breakfasts I had which was a Sri Lankan breakfast:

While the food was plentiful, of high quality, good selection, and came with excellent service, my feedback would be that the local food was bland a lot of the times. When I brought this to the attention of the staff, I was told that the food was cooked with less spice and flavor to accommodate Western palates. I think this is a shame. By default, the food should be cooked as authentically as possible, and it should be up to the diner to request “less spicy”. Most waiters we encountered in the country warned us when ordering local food, that it would be spicy. Also, people doing research on the country, should already know that the food is spicy. Anyway, once I brought the blandness to the attention of the staff, the chef came out and ensured that all my future meals were cooked properly.

Overall, this was an amazing experience and my first real safari. The accommodation and service were outstanding and consistent with what I experienced throughout the entire country. Our next stop will be exploring the southern coast beaches of Sri Lanka.