‘My parents were crazy wildlife people': meet the safari guide helping tourists experience Sri Lanka's wild side

The Guardian

21-05-2025

More than 2,000 years ago, a large Buddhist community settled in the Yala region of Sri Lanka at the island's southern tip. Temples were built, water holes dug and big areas of forest cleared for grazing, creating a huge monastic complex, parts of which survive today. Hundreds of years later, when the community went into decline, it left behind a landscape ideal for herbivores such as water buffalo and spotted deer. And where herbivores thrive, carnivores follow.
Today Yala national park, Sri Lanka's first nature reserve, hosts one of the densest populations of leopards on Earth. At dawn and dusk, they stalk wild boar and sambar deer, before pouncing at a breakneck sprint. Living alongside them are countless insect and bird species, plus 43 other types of mammal from mighty elephants and buffalos to jackals, crocodiles and the endangered sloth bear. There's a home for them all in the reserve's vast and biodiverse landscape, stretching from coastal dunes to monsoon forest. In all, Yala covers 1,300 sq kms (500 sq miles) and areas are increasingly being opened to visitors.
Hilton Yala Resort
Travellers keen to explore this beautiful place will be hard pressed to find a more knowledgable and enthusiastic guide than Sajith Withanage, head ranger at Hilton Yala Resort, a hotel wonderfully sited at the edge of the national park with stunning views of the Indian Ocean. Withanage credits his parents with instilling his love of Yala. 'They were crazy wildlife people,' he recalls. As a baby, he would be driven to see the park's colony of Sri Lankan elephants in his family's Austin A30 car.
It is perhaps not surprising that he chose to study natural sciences, and was then offered a job at Sri Lanka's Department of Wildlife Conservation. 'But my dad said: 'Sajith, if you join the department you'll be happy, but you'll never get close to the animals while you're holding a fancy camera.'' So he followed his heart and headed to game parks in Africa to train as a professional guide, honing his understanding of safety, ethics and tracking through the Field Guides Association of Southern Africa.
The reserve is sited on lands originally settled by a Buddhist community, and is home to a wide range of wildlife
Today he and his team take guests from Hilton Yala Resort on day or half-day safari adventures to explore different areas of Yala, often heading off the beaten track in search of wildlife. 'Hilton Yala Resort commits to an ethical kind of Sri Lankan safari,' says Withanage, rather than racing around to spot species, telephoto lens in hand. 'That's not a wildlife experience.'
'In Yala you see how nature is a symbiosis of different species, landscapes and trees,' says Withanage
Yala is divided into blocks to make it easier to manage. 'Block one is geographically stunning because it's right next to the coastal belt,' says Withanage. 'We have open grasslands, bush, dunes, then brackish inlets, freshwater lakes, waterholes.' A Noah's Ark of wildlife treads the diverse topography here. The park's 300 resident elephants shoulder through the undergrowth. Each one consumes up to 150kg of plants a day – about twice the weight of an average human. Watch out for reptiles – there are nearly 50 species including the Sri Lankan flying snake, which can glide down from the treetops, making serpentine swishes in mid-air. They're non-venomous but can still cause an almighty shock.
Withanage will often pause with his groups at lakes dug out more than 2,000 years ago for the Buddhist monks. Here, from the safety of their safari truck, guests may see mugger crocodiles, camouflaged in the shallows, waiting to ambush grey langur monkeys. Leopards too are known to stalk prey that have stopped to drink.
'Safari-chic' in the hotel's rooms
At dawn or dusk, Withanage and his Hilton ranger colleagues take guests into block six, the park's most recently opened section. Monsoon rains and varied wetlands make it Grand Central Terminal for almost 200 species of bird. These include the long-tailed Sri Lanka sharma, endemic to the country and known for its loud and vibrant song. The largest bird is the spot-billed pelican, which belly flops in on wings up to 2.5 metres wide, then scoops up fish, frogs and crustaceans in an enormous pinkish bill. 'In Yala you see how nature is a symbiosis of different species, landscapes and trees,' says Withanage.
From the resort, guests can visit ancient Buddhist temples and authentic local villages
For even more wildlife, the resort runs tours to Bundala national park, a wetland an hour's drive away that is a bird watcher's paradise and important winter sanctuary for migratory birds.
The Hilton Yala Resort itself promotes a nature-first philosophy so that it and its guests live in harmony with their surroundings. Wastewater is recycled into the bio-pond that hosts birds and reptiles. Soap is re-processed then gifted to local communities. The hotel restaurant, Lanthaaruma, prides itself on serving locally caught yellowfin tuna in a fairytale beach setting, illuminated by storm lamps and sunsets.
The 42 guest rooms feature safari-chic decor including ceiling fans and contemporary wildlife art. Guests can write their own jungle book by logging species, such as the langurs swinging through arjuna trees. And when it's time to relax in the hotel's serene setting, there's a pool featuring tree-dotted mini islands.
Withanage and his colleagues know exactly where to find local wildlife such as langur monkeys
With sustainability at the resort's core, ayurvedic toiletries are sourced from Sri Lanka's leading herbal supplier and the spa uses natural oils in treatments such as abhyanga, a traditional rhythmic massage said to rub away stagnant energy.
If you can be tempted away from safari-ing, there are many other ways to deepen your experience of this part of the world. 'The resort is like an activity hub with so much to do,' says Withanage, mentioning dune hikes, bush walks, stargazing and visits to ancient Buddhist temples and authentic local villages.
And not forgetting the magical coral reef a little way off shore … the protected Great Basses Reef shelters a shipwreck dating back to the Mughal empire, from which silver rupees and brass cannons were recovered in the 1960s. The wreck is guarded by green turtles and surgeonfish, all in dive-friendly shallows. 'You get a little bit of history, a little bit of nature,' says Withanage. Just like in his beloved Yala national park.
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