Year 3 -24 January 2026 – Yala National Park-Sri Lanka

I woke about 6.30am and the light was streaming in through the doors of our villa. It was quiet outside and Peter (with whom I am sharing a twin room) had a cup of tea and then went for an early breakfast.

We walked down to the lake and there in front of us was a crocodile lying on the edge of the water. We kept well clear and went on to breakfast.

This was an extensive buffet with lots of choice and the others joined us in due course.

We had a leisurely breakfast. Paul and Judith who had been for a swim in the pool saw a leopard on the other side of the lake when coming to breakfast. When we were finished we walked to the beach nearby which was only about a quarter of a mile away. It was hot and we saw on the beach tracks from elephants, wild buffalo, snakes and some form of small cat. We walked for a bit but the security man called us back and said it was not safe to go further and 2 people had been attached by a wild buffalo. We then returned to the hotel and the lake and saw a number of large crocodiles in the lake or resting on the sides.

We returned and the read, swam and rested by the pool for a couple of hours before about 1.15pm when we had to get ready for our safari.

We left about 2.00pm in the open top type of jeep and headed further into the Yala National Park.

Our safari lasted 4 hours and we travelled round on dirt tracks. We saw lots of wild animals including elephants, mongoose, monitor lizards, squirrels, wild buffalo and a lot of birds – eagles, brawny kites, herons, pelicans, painted storks, various other stalks, Ibis, kingfishers, bee eaters etc etc. We also saw grey linder monkeys on rocks.

We hoped to see leopards and we did stop and may have seen one lying on a rock but it was quite far away. All you could make out was a vague outline.

It was a great safari but after 4 hours of bumpy tracks we were ready to get back to our hotel.     

We washed and changed and the met at the bar for a drink and then we had another buffet supper with so much variety of food.

It had been a great day and we move on tomorrow to Ella further North.

The picture of the day is of two water buffalo who were not in the water.

Need/Opportunity Year Three

In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. 

I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town (mid June to end of July) and from Cape Town to the Azores and then to the UK (mid August onwards). If of any interest do email me.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com