Stayed a night at Yala Village and had a poke around the national park. The place is teeming with animals. Thank goodness Sri Lanka has national parks like Yala, Uda Walawe, and Wilpattu where these dudes can live. I saw wild elephants, boars, buffalo, jackals, peacocks, crocodiles, and even a leopard. Living in the city I forget that this is their earth too, but in Yala it’s quite obvious. I was chilling on the balcony two feet from a wild boar. On the way to dinner a wild elephant charged me and I ran like a rabbit, of which there are also many.
We came to Yala via the Galle Road, thru Hambantota. We were on a bit of a tour, if you’re coming straight from Colombo I’d recommend the Ratanpura Road. From there you take the Kataragama road to Tissa and then this increasingly crappy road into the park. We stayed at Yala Village. This hotel is basically in the park. We came back late and the electric fence was up even. This is great because there are animals actually roaming around the hotel.
For example, this wild boar with enormous testicles was just hanging around while we were chatting on the balcony. On the downside, however, as we were going to dinner at night when we saw a wild elephant. Peeps were like ‘let’s take the car’ but I think driving short distances is a bit vulgar. Instead, I cut through the underbrush and sorta tried to go around this elephant. As I look over the guy is kinda moving with me, about 15 meters away. Then I get to a path and he turns towards me, and charges.
At that moment I was shit scared and I just ran. Ran way around a cabin and didn’t look back. I didn’t see that elephant again but lesson learned. Wild elephants are indeed wild. In Yala one is a guest in their hotel.
In the morning we got up at like 5:30 to go on a safari. It costed like Rs. 3,500 for the jeep and a competent driver (including tip). This is for five people. Then you go to the wildlife office and get passes. If I remember correctly, it costs like Rs 60 for a local and Rs. 2,500 for a foreign passport holder. I dunno. I think there’s a line between making money and general hospitality, but don’t know where it is. A bottle of arrack at the hotel was like Rs. 4,000 and beer Rs. 450, which I think was obscene.
But I digress. We took a safari. Within about 10 seconds we saw brief glimpse of leopard, on top of a big rock. I saw it’s head and some tail. There were like 35 people parked around waiting for it and the leopard was just trying to eat. Inside there’s all manner of birds (jungle fowl, peacocks), cattalians (deer, buffalo) as well as jackals and elephants. Also a ton of wild boar, with their little wild boar pattiyas running around. I thought they were cute. We came across them eating the carcass of a buffalo and I became a bit more wary.
I dig Yala. It’s far away, you can see the stars, and it’s full of beasties. Right now it’s the non-rainy season and they’re filling the water holes with bowsers, but chaps survive. Especially crocodiles, no shortage of crocodiles. It’s lovely to see, and it’s lovely for these fellows to be.
Too often city people forget where they are, leading them into situations where sadly, if it turns bad, usually results in the wild animals suffering. It was a common practice at Yala for guides to provoking elephants into charging for ‘great’ pics; inevitably giving the poor beast a bad reputation
Yala sounds amazing. I do think though that SL tourism industry needs to regulate prices for foreigners. It would be better if there was always a uniform price for everyone, then foreigners wouldn’t feel like they were getting cheated and would want to come back. Instead the government should make a sort of tourist tax that visitors would pay for each day they are visiting. Then if e.g. the safari park has 10 foreign visitors, they can claim some of this tourist tax money from the government. This way, the tourist doesn’t feel ripped off, and the businesses will look after them better.. The current system doesn’t work. Esp as there are loaded ex-pats coming over on SL passports getting local rates. Not really fair.
Gorgeous pictures! I’m actually planning on visiting Yala soon.. just for the leopards and the elephants. Amazing stuff, it’s an incredible prestige that we’ve got something this kickass to go to in Sri Lanka.
I don’t really agree with this. If this kind of system is to be incorporated then college tuition fees in the UK should be the same for foreigners and UK/EU and salary levels in NGOs should be the same regardless of whether they are foreign or local hires. Rs. 2,500 is less than $25, please. That’s half the price of a shirt in the US. About the freeloading ex-pats, most expats do actually contribute a lot of money to the Sri Lankan economy through remittances, investments.
Seriously, they spend $800 on a flight, $200 on a hotel room and then fuss that they have to spend $25 on entry to a national park?
Not sure if the comparison with university fees is right. Education is subsidised and fees for citizens (in the UK) capped by law. The Universities are only free to charge a marketable rate to foreign students. Given half a chance the UK universities will raise their fees for locals.
Note sure about the US or indeed how SL treats the few foreign post-grads around.
Tourist attractions overseas all charge the same, for local our foreign tourists as far as I know.
It’s not really about the money, it’s the sentiment behind it. It’s the same anywhere in the world, tourists don’t want to feel like they’re being ripped off just because they’re a tourist.
My experience with my white friends in Sri Lanka is that they are willing to pay the higher rates and even think that’s it’s fair. The one time that this system got akward was when an uncle was taking myself and a foreign friend on an elephant safari. As with Sri Lankan custom, he paid for all of us, but was totally not expecting the foreign fees to be so high. I felt bad for him, as it really came down to him footing a bill that he couldn’t afford, or losing face in front of his guests.
Fair enough, the comparison is not that straightforward. However there is a significant barrier of entry to countries overseas to tourists from developing countries so differential rates of entry to tourist attractions don’t make sense. But to say tourists are getting ripped off is a bit ludicrous, we’re talking about per capita income differences from $30,000 to $2,000.
I fully agree with you. It is a terrible thing that they to international students.
@Jack Point
wake up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! which world do you live in.
I have to agree with ayshya. Rs 2,500 is not expensive for a foreigner, but they don’t like feeling like they’re getting ripped off.
N, I agree that they should pay more, but they should make this payment in a regulated way when entering or leaving the country. And I disagree that “most” expats plough money back into the system. I know plenty that don’t.
It’s got to be the worst for foreigners living/working in SL, because people must just take one look at their faces and quadruple the price. That’s why I think the tourist tax thing would be a better idea, because all non-residents would be paying a daily supplement for each day of their visit, making sure that all visitors (foreigners and ex-pats) pay their dues in a regulated way.. If SL tourist industry wants tourists to return, they should make them feel like they’re getting treated fairly on a day to day basis. The differences in local/foreigner hotel rates should be one of the first things the tourist board should regulate.