Yala National Park Travel Guide

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In all the enthusiasam to see the big cats and other animals do not miss out on the opportunity to spot some migrating and endemic birds in the Yala Sanctuary. It is teaming with birdlife and you can easily spot 50+ species if you spend a day or two there.

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There is a particular spot that has crocodiles, so when at Yala ensure yous top at htis place and get your shots of the crocs. their camouflage is excellent, so spotting them itself is a good experience in itself! :)

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Ensure you get in time for the sunrise at one of the many waterholes in the sanctuary. The peace and calm is amazing and you cna get some glorious landscape views as well as listen to the hornbills taking off above your head! Glorious experience this.

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The special thing about Yala is it is right on the beach! Very rarely do you find jungles rich in wildlife which are by the sea, this is one of them So if you are in need of a lunch break you can head to the beach and park yourself there for an hour or two.

When we had no luck with sighting the leopard in the morning, we asked the driver for a break before starting on the search again. He took us straight to the beach. We just took out our packed breakfast and cooled off on the sands here. Prana and Manoj were doing their darndest best to hide their disappointment at the lack of sightings in the morning... :)

Yala National Park
When the alarm sounded at 4:00 AM, driving around in a jeep was the last thing on my mind. Up, coffee, grab supplies & off we went in to the dark, looking for wild animals. 
My expectations weren't very high having read a BBC review on the park from Charles Haviland on the 26th April,  (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17126895). I was expecting, I think, traffic jams, hundreds of jeeps and four wheeled drives racing each other on narrow dirt roads, each trying to outdo the other for that first glimpse of whatever they were chasing. My view hadn't changed while we waited for our jeep driver to get tickets for us to enter the park. An air of the start of a race was evident as at least 50 jeeps were waiting to chase and see what was to be seen. 
How things changed, how wrong my expectations were once we entered Yala. Our driver explained we would spend the first while searching for a leopard. I was still sceptical. But no, we arrived at a rocky outcrop with several other jeeps and surely, sitting majestically on high, was a leopard. And...several feet below was another. Two leopards. There was no beeping of jeep horns or revving of diesel engines. Complete silence as we all gazed on such a sight. After a while we slowly backed away and suddenly stopped. There were two more leopards crossing the road behind us. Again, silence. The highlight of the day came five minutes later when a fifth leopard was spotted. He slowly meandered towards us. No one took a breath. He stopped two meters from our jeep completely ignoring us, then turned slowly and walked off. We all sat, completely stunned at what had just happened. We saw our last leopard of the day twenty minutes later, a total of six.  
The respect the drivers and guides have for these natural wonders is obvious. This was noticeable when our driver stopped our jeep, got out and picked  up a plastic bottle top. And when leaving the Park in the evening our guide made several stops to pick up bits of plastic and general litter. Yes, they do phone and text each other as to what sights are to be seen but in no way are they in competition as to who sees the most animals. 
When our guide spotted an elephant in the bush he let his fellow drivers know but when arriving near us they all stopped their engines and we all waited in anticipation. The wait was well worth it, four adult and two baby elephants crossed the road ahead of us heading to a lake. We followed and spent a half hour watching in wonder as the two youngsters played while the adults kept watch.
By the end of the day we had viewed leopards, elephants, water buffalo, wild pigs, crocodiles, deer and so many birds. There were Black-headed Ibis, Yellow Billed Stork aplenty. Even the rare Black-Necked Stork, two adults and their chick, were seen. 
Breakfast was had to the sound of crashing waves on a beach facing the Indian Ocean where in 2004 up to 47 people lost their lives following the tsunami. A plaque marks the spot. Lunch was had by a riverside, a meal cooked by our driver's mother, we left the dishes empty.
Overall I would have to say that nothing during our trip to Yala was similar to Charles Haviland's description, above. We had a fascinating, rewarding and with our sighting of six leopards, an extremely privileged day in the company of guides and drivers who truly have a passion for their Park and the animals living there.