Kirinda Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Frequently Asked Questions
By tender. Kirinda is not a port in the usual sense: expedition ships anchor off the south coast and land passengers on the village beach. Swell hits this shore, and the landing always depends on conditions on the day.
For Yala. The national park lies a few kilometres away and holds one of the highest leopard densities in the world. The day belongs first to the animals; the village is the gateway.
Buffalo wallowing in mud, alert sambar deer, monitor lizards crossing the track with a prehistoric gait, whole families of Asian elephants, marsh crocodiles as still as logs, sloth bears digging into termite mounds, peacocks, hornbills and more than 200 bird species. The leopard has to be earned.
Yes. The vehicles set off when the light rakes across the savannah and the waterholes come alive. Later in the day the heat drives animals into shade and sightings thin out.
One of the island's oldest shrines, perched on huge rounded boulders facing the ocean. The Sinhalese chronicle says that in the second century BCE princess Viharamahadevi, offered to the ocean in a golden boat to calm the waters' anger, came ashore here. She married the local king and gave birth to the great Dutugemunu.
Barefoot, up a stairway cut into the rock, among monkeys and prayer flags. At the top, between the white stupa and the statue of the queen, the view takes in the coast through 360 degrees, as far as the Bundala dunes.
A hat, binoculars and a water bottle make the difference. Yala's tracks shake you properly: this is a real safari, not a paved drive. Bring something to cover shoulders and knees too if you climb to the temple.
Low houses along a single sandy street, brightly painted fishing boats drawn up on pale sand, stalls selling coconuts, roti and the morning's fish, and schoolchildren in white uniforms waving. The community, a mix of Sinhalese and Muslim fishing families, relearned how to live with the sea after the 2004 tsunami.
Yes. Excursions run as half or full days, and the open vehicles are booked through the ship. The tender crossing and the track add their share to the travel time, so allow generously.
The Great Basses lighthouse, planted on its isolated reef, blinking out to sea. It guards waters once crossed by Arab dhows and Portuguese caravels. From the deck it is the landmark of the call.
