A fantastic stay with great wildlife sightings and incredible food

“We recently had a fantastic 4 night stay at Noel Rodrigo’s Leopard Safaris. Sam was our guide and he looked after us incredibly well and took us on some fantastic game drives where we saw leopards on 4 out of 7 drives and we also saw a sloth bear on the final drive! The park is also full of peacocks, spotted deer, crocodiles, elephants, water buffalo, wild boar and a superb array of birdlife plus lots of other interesting species. Sam was a passionate guide with incredible knowledge of all the animals and birds in the park and he was a safe and skilled driver.

Our days started with an early wake up with a quick tea/coffee before setting off to Yala National Park to be ready when the gate opens at 6am to look for the wildlife while they are still active. The park is gate is around 20-30 mins drive from the camp. Morning drives last approx. 3 hours before returning for breakfast. Lunch was at around 1pm after which we left for the afternoon drive at around 2:30pm. The park closes at 6pm and we would have drinks before dinner at around 7pm.

The food served at the camp was absolutely delicious, authentic Sri Lankan dishes with a fantastic variety each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Spice levels are adjusted to your requested level (so don’t panic if you are not good with too much chilli!) and wine, beer & spirits are all included.

We spent our first two nights in a mobile tent, with an insect proof sleeping area containing a double bed, bedside table with fan and light and power socket for charging batteries. In living area of the tent there were two camping chairs and table a cupboard and a light. Just outside the tent was a flushable toilet with a light and in a separate tent a shower which would be filled with hot water before our return from the afternoon drive.

For our second two nights we were upgraded to one of the two luxury tents, which has air conditioning and an attached bathroom and it much larger. The plan for the camp is to eventually upgrade all of the tents to the luxury style and I am sure they will prove very popular, it was very comfortable. Thank you so much to General Manager Sajith for the upgrade! They are also in the process of building a swimming pool which will be a most welcome addition to the camp.

We had a brilliant time at Noel Rodrigo’s Leopard Safaris and would definitely return. The great conversations with all of the staff during drinks and meals, the outstanding food, the service from the whole team and the exciting game drives made for a wonderful stay and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend a stay here.”