5 most useful travel tips for national park Sri Lanka

Even from the beginning, we must clarify the following aspects: a safari in Sri Lanka is completely different than a safari in Africa.

You have to adjust your expectations accordingly and enjoy each moment of your trip. Still, there are some things you should be careful when you prepare for visiting a national park in Sri Lanka.

Based on our experience and from what we see when visiting the national parks from Sri Lanka, we prepared a list with the most useful travel tips for a Sri Lanka Safari in National Park.

Elephants in National Park Sri Lanka Safari

Table of Contents

important travel tips for national park Sri Lanka

It is a shortlist with the most important things you should have with you during your safari and some things which should be done for a perfect experience.

1. Bring with you binoculars

For a better view of the animals, binoculars are useful during a safari in Sri Lanka. Thanks to them you can get a better view of the animals and birds located at a far distance from your car.

What you can barely spot with your eyes, a binocular helps you see more clearly! Wild animals are usually hiding from people’s eyes and prefer to keep the distance! So a good binocular brings you the animals closer to you!

2. Go for the morning safari

In natural parks from Sri Lanka, the safari usually lasts from 3 hours and is one in the morning and another one in the late afternoon. It is completely different than African safaris.

The morning safari starts at around 6 o’clock in the morning while afternoon safari starts at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

Animals are more active early in the morning or late in the afternoon. Because of this, it is highly recommendable to have the morning safari. The animals from the park, including the leopards, are more active and more easy to spot.

That is why one of our travel tips for national park Sri Lanka is to go for a morning safari. You will increase your chances of spotting wild animals!

3. Get a guide who speaks good English

Going into a national park without a proper guide it is like going to war without arms. I am pretty sure that you don’t know all the animals and birds in the world and if there is nobody with you to provide you useful information; the safari turns into a simple tour of seeing all kinds of animals.

Not all drivers know English or have proper knowledge about wildlife. This is why you generally need two people: one to drive the safari jeep and another one who really knows what is in the park and share with you his knowledge about wildlife. It is the easiest way to learn new things and have fun at the same time!

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4. Take with you sun cream, a hat and water

Sri Lankan sun can be very strong so don’t forget to bring with you sun cream and water! It is essential to stay hydrated during the game drive.

Sun Hat in Sri Lanka Safari — The hat I used in Sri Lanka Safari

The safari jeeps don’t have a top-up roof, they are open so the sun reaches you very easily. It is not very easy to stay for 3 to 4 hours in the sun. If you can, bring with a hat! You will use it, especially around midday.

Inside the park there are no places from where to take water, so bring with you some bottles of water to keep you hydrated.

5. Go to the toilet BEFORE the Safari

One of the most useful travel tips for national park Sri Lanka is to go to the toilet before you enter the national park, because, once you enter the national park, there are no toilet facilities. .If you need to go to the toilet you have to drive back to the entrance of the park which means a lot of time waste and money paid for nothing.

Because the parks are far smaller than the ones in Africa, there are no facilities inside. I guess they consider that for a 3 hours safari it is unnecessary to build toilet facilities inside the park, and rather keep the space for the animals. And the toilets from the entrance to the park are not very clean either! At this chapter, there are many things that can be improved! But I am sure that such a minor fact does not make you change your mind when speaking about doing a safari in a Sri Lankan national park!

Now that you know which are the most important travel tips for national park Sri Lanka you are ready to experience a few hours in the wilderness.

Besides, ancient ruins and beautiful beaches, Sri Lanka has also many interesting and unique natural parks. A safari in one of these parks is something which should be on your list when visit Sri Lanka.