Yala

When we got to our room, we saw a cockroach. It had scuttled onto the bed. We kept trying to kill it but it wouldn't die and we were all screaming because it kept reappearing. Eventually, mummy flattened it down with a tissue box. The other funny thing was that the bathroom roof had gaps in it which meant insects could fly into the chalet, so at night we had to use the bathroom with someone else holding a torch outside to let a little light in, as we didn't want to turn the lights on which would attract the creepy crawlies!

We didn't like all the dogs at Koragaha Lodge. Every time we left our room the dogs would swarm around and follow us or they would be fighting each other and barking.

The staff were very nice and we were given very big meals! On the Sunday after we came back from our safari we also enjoyed a dip in the pool.

Yala National Park.

• Yala National Park is the most famous National Park and second-largest National Park in Sri Lanka. The park has a protected area of nearly 130,000 hectares of land consisting of light forests, scrubs, grasslands, tanks and lagoons. Two blocks are currently opened to the public.

• Situated in Sri Lanka’s south-east hugging the panoramic Indian Ocean, Yala was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1900 and was designated a national park in 1938. The park was initially used as a hunting ground for the elite under British rule. 

• Yala is home to 44 varieties of mammal and 215 bird species. Among its more famous residents are the world’s biggest concentration of leopards (the highest density of leopard in the world in block 1), majestic elephants, sloth bears, sambars, jackals, spotted dear, peacocks, and crocodiles. 

• The best time to visit Yala is between February - July when the water levels of the park are quite low, bringing animals into the open.

• In 2004 a tsunami hit Sri Lanka and the animals in Yala left because they somehow knew that the tsunami was coming. Not a single animal was harmed by the tsunami.

• Yala is split up into 5 different blocks, Block 1 (opened 1938), Block 2 (1954), Block 3 (1967), Block 4 (1969) and Block 5 (1973). Only blocks 1 and 2 are open to the public.

Yala was our second place to see wild animals. We went in a modified Toyota Hilux for the first time! 

Chanaka, the guide was very nice.  Ajeet also came along. It was exciting waking up early and leaving at 5am when it was still dark.

We saw lots of animals but sadly NO LEOPARDS (even though there are 100 leopards in Block 1)! Chanaka thought it was because it was very grey and overcast that morning so the leopards hadn't come out to sunbathe.  But it was exciting trying to track the leopard by following the alarm signals of the spotted deer and following leopard footprints in the sand.

Animals and birds we saw included: black nape hare, wild boar, hornbill, painted stork, domestic buffalo (not meant to be in the park!), peafowl, brahaminy kite, sambar deer (largest deer), jungle fowl, rose ring parakeet, kingfisher, black and white spoonbill, golden jackal, little green bee eater, serpent eagle, land monitor, grey heron and indian darter.