Yala National Park

The alarm went off at 4.10am but Dad had already been up for 25 minutes – not quite over the jetlag!

First job was to rattle the dags of the kids, fair to say they weren’t all that impressed by the early morning wake up call! True to form the hotel staff were there ready and waiting just before 4.30 to take our bags. They really were amazing. And much to our surprise our driver was there ready and waiting at the end of the driveway. Everything going to plan so far..

The driver had said 45 minutes to get to the park so we were wondering why we were starting so early when we knew the park didn’t open until 6am. After driving for nearly an hour an a half we met the jeep man and it was another 45 minutes from there. Well and truly missing the sunrise!

Compared to Udawalawe, Yala was a real let down. The toilets were so bad that most just peed behind a tree. Everything was run down and the staff rude. Nevertheless we got our tickets and ventured on.Read more