Nature Walks in Wild Sri Lanka
No Day-To-Day Itinerary
The stay is designed as a wild nature living experience. Our local nature walks in Sri Lanka are part of the stay. We walk in the area around the camp, exploring the landscapes. Each walk in Yala National Park is led by our ecolodge staff team, ensuring a safe and immersive experience.
We want to emphasize that we don’t provide fixed itinerary details for our walks, as nature shapes our journey. However, for a general idea, here are some key highlights of our nature walks in Sri Lanka National Park.
WALKS - KEYWORDS :
- Generally we do two walks per day – one in the morning and one in the evening
- The morning walk goes into nature similar to Yala National Park. Usually the walk starts after breakfast, about 9.15 am, and ends around 11.30 am
- Afternoon walks begin 4.45 pm, avoiding the hottest hours of the day
- Each walk lasts about 1.5 -2 hours
- In terms of routing, walks are quite similar from day to day. However each walk is unique, all walks offer different experiences every day
- Routes depend on the day’s conditions and wildlife activity
- Walks are leisurely, focusing on wildlife, birdwatching, and the small details of nature
- Ecolodge host and manager Kamal, an experienced guide, always carries a bird book and binoculars
- Walks may be shorter, changed, or canceled depending on natural factors like weather and wildlife movement
- Our walks in wild nature near Yala National Park may offer unexpected wildlife sightings, making each experience one of a kind
IDEAL LENGTH OF STAY
A stay of 2 – 4 nights allows guests to fully experience some of the best guided nature walks in Sri Lanka.
We recommend a 3-night stay for a balanced mix of relaxation, jungle immersion, and guided walks next to Yala National Park Block 4.
Arrival and Departure days
ON ARRIVAL DAY
Arrive at the lodge early in the afternoon for lunch or tea, and acclimate to your surroundings.
The earliest check-in is at 1 pm.
Afternoon :
At 4.45 pm, our tracker team will take you on a nature walk in the vicinity of the lodge, introducing you to the landscape. You may pass elephant tracks, see some birds and insects and will be introduced to the wild nature of this remote buffer zone area, north of Block 4 of Yala National Park.
Evening :
When returning to the lodge at around 6.15 pm, enjoy the jungle ambiance as night falls with a sundowner served with local bites.
Seasonally elephants can appear in the evening before sunset. In the dry period June – October elephants are observed more frequently near the lodge. Elephants are always on the move, and they come and go in the area around Tree Tops Jungle Lodge. Elephants are primarily nocturnal and more active at night. It means wild elephants are not seen much by humans in the daytime.
ON DEPARTURE DAY
Enjoy an early morning tea or coffee while birdwatching.
Breakfast is served from about 7.30 – 9.00 am.
Our nature walks in Sri Lanka typically take place between :
9.15 – 11.30 am and 4.45 – 6.15 pm.
Please note that walks are not available on departure days. Early sunrise walks are not guaranteed due to the realities of camp life and daily operations. As a result, our team cannot conduct two morning walks in a single day.
The latest departure- check-out time is 10.45 am.
Trackers
Our talented trackers guide guests on each walk in our local nature, part of the Yala National Park ecosystem. They navigate through forests, waterholes, and diverse terrains, bush and forest. We operate as a two-to four-person tracker team, ensuring both safety and immersive nature experiences.
Our team consists of highly skilled trackers with extensive experience, training, and in-depth knowledge of the jungle, its wildlife, and potential risks. They serve as both spotters and alert scouts, ensuring we stay clear of any possible dangers in the wild.
One tracker will be escorting guests and two scouts are a little ahead with the task to spot various creatures we pass by, big or small, in the air, in trees or on the ground. The bush-walk trackers are the same team members as those who handle the lodge operations.
Slow Walking
Not Trekking
Unlike intense trekking, our nature walks in Sri Lanka focuses on slow, mindful exploration. Guests can observe birds, lizards, dragonflies, and other micro-details of the local ecosystem.
Walks last about 1.5 – 2 hours, covering short distances but offering in-depth interactions with nature.
A nature walk near Yala National Park provides an intimate connection to the surrounding environment. There is no exact target, distance, schedule, itinerary or program for walks.
We tend to plan every single walk depending on factors at any given time. We want to create the best experience-walk, we don’t measure walks as a duration or a-b trip.
Local Community
A small community of farmers and families lives near the ecolodge. Our nature walks often pass through these areas, offering firsthand insight into local life on the boundary of the forest. It’s a special feature in this area that elephants and other animals often try to raid home gardens as well as fields in the farming season.
Try To Do Nothing
Follow the natural rhythm of the jungle
Between nature walks, the hottest hours of the day are perfect for unwinding and immersing yourself in the wild. After lunch, enjoy a long afternoon siesta. Feel free to ask our staff for tea, coffee, fruit juices, or soft drinks
Listen to the sounds. The local staff is highly skilled in the art of interpretation of signs of nature and when spending some time with them visitors could learn about sounds and smells of the jungle.
Experience an armchair safari—a chance to embrace the jungle’s natural rhythms while simply doing nothing. It’s a grounding and meditative experience. You can also capture stunning photographs of lizards, giant squirrels, and the vibrant birdlife around you.
There’s a collection of books about Sri Lankan nature, birds, environment, elephants, insects, butterflies, Buddhist history and some interesting novels left by guests.
Morning Walks
Wake up to the sounds of nature and enjoy a relaxed breakfast. The morning forest walk close to Yala National Park begins around 9.15 am, taking guests into the tall dry-zone forest, providing shade from the sun.
In the Forest
A post-breakfast nature walk starts with a short 15-minutes walk through open landscapes before entering the dense primary canopy forest. With over 400-year-old ebony trees, vibrant birdlife, and hidden wildlife, this forest walk in nature next to Yala National Park is an unforgettable adventure.
We never know exactly what will happen. Sightings might materialize all of a sudden. On most days there will be good bird sightings. We spot dragonflies, giant squirrels and various lizards. More rarely it occurs that we get a glimpse of elephant, spotted deer, sambar deer, wild boar and monkey. Other rarely observed species are wild buffalo, barking deer, porcupine, jungle cat and fishing cat.
We may pass high places and rocky plateaus in the mountains of the protected Rahatangala conservation forest. You will be rewarded with stunning views of the surrounding countryside, forest, jungle, irrigation tanks and paddy fields. From mountain view points we can see the vast wild landscape of Yala National Park and bordering forests.
Return to camp around 11.15 – 11.30 am and enjoy a refreshing glass of cool soda with lime.
Afternoon Walks
Afternoon nature walks begin at 4.45 pm. With a duration of 1.5 hours this is a slow walk through bush and abandoned fields and to nearby waterholes. The local area is a mosaic of open wet season farming landscapes, irrigation water holes along the forest, thorny bush jungle and mature tall forest. After the harvest and in the dry season cultivated areas are abandoned and left to be used by animals and birds.
Paddy farmers use the “wewa’s”, the irrigation tanks as a back-up water supply in the cultivating season from October – February. Depending on weather and rainfall farmers also cultivate paddy, some years, in the dry season, using tank water in June and July. The lakes are constructed to catch water running from the boundary of the tall forest. It means the lakes are frequented by birds and by animals, mostly appearing at night.
At lakes we will usually wait for some time. With a bit of luck, wildlife can be observed. Marsh crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) could be hiding in the water, we may be seeing them catching fish. In dry seasons wild elephants frequently come in the evening to drink water. To see wild elephants you’ll need to wait patiently and behave silently.
Arrive back at the lodge around 6.15 pm in time for a bath and refreshments before the dinner.
Dry Season
From May to October, the dry season adds an extra thrill to our nature walks in Sri Lanka, with elephants frequently roaming near the ecolodge. Walks may be adjusted or even canceled due to elephant presence.
However, staying at the camp can offer exceptional opportunities to observe these animals from a safe distance. Our ecolodge property is a place elephants can be passing by on their tracks, and we can observe the animals from a safe hiding spot.
How we plan
In light of safety and risk factors
Our ecolodge is located in a truly wild area. Safety is a top priority for both guests and staff. For this reason, we don’t charge separately for nature walks—they are part of our hospitality but not commercialized. We avoid asking a price for walking with us. There are o inbuilt walk charges in our rates. The walks with guests are our pleasure. And we make no promises when it comes to walks. We prefer to see what we can do the given day, given the local situation, given the type of guests, given annual, seasonal and periodic variations and changes.
Every walk in this area bordering Yala National Park is adjusted based on weather, guest preferences, and seasonal wildlife activity, ensuring a safe and rewarding experience.
On Foot In the Wild
Any Wildlife Sightings ?
Guests should set realistic expectations. Our nature walks focus on the experience of being immersed in the wild rather than guaranteed animal sightings.
Wildlife tends to avoid humans, making sightings unpredictable. However, our skilled trackers can often identify animal footprints, adding excitement to every walk – as if it was inside Yala National Park.
In our local landscape. Foot print by a Leopard. A jumping Barking Deer