Welcome to the Jungle
9 kilometers from Buttala town
Where About. We are situated 9 kilometers from Buttala town. 3-wheeler transfers between the town and the lodge take about twenty minutes. Arrival details are provided with the booking. For easy access, guests arrive in coordination with the lodge. This makes it a memorable start to your Sri Lankan travel experience.
A Transfer Into Nature
The transfer from town to lodge, on a local sand track, is a journey into the wild, step by step leaving civilization and then discovering an area of great natural beauty.
Finally, you arrive in the heart of elephant country, staying as a guest in a camp seamlessly nestled within the natural surroundings. Designed to harmonize with the environment, the camp is thoughtfully positioned along animal and elephant tracks, fostering coexistence with the local community. This marks the beginning of your wild safari Sri Lanka adventure
Arrive In Daylight
This region is known for its abundance of elephants, so we recommend planning your arrival at the lodge no later than 4 pm to fully enjoy the experience. If that’s not possible, aim to arrive by 5 pm, in time for tea. Ideally, arrive for lunch and spend a few hours immersing yourself in the unique local environment and atmosphere before joining the team for an afternoon walk.
Night arrival is not recommended. Elephants might be moving on the access track. Furthermore, it just feels more enjoyable to get there in daylight, with time to make yourself comfortable before the night falls.
The Region
The vast Yala jungles surround the lodge, with the national park boundary located approximately 8 km south of the property. The area between our camp and Yala National Park consists entirely of forests and semi-wild landscapes. Please note that there is no direct road access to Block 4, the closest section of the national park.
Farming
The local district is a sparsely populated area, characterized by a mosaic of semi-wild expanses, irrigation lakes, paddy fields, and slash-and-burn farming plots at the forest’s edge. Seasonal rain-fed farming begins in October and concludes with the harvest in February or March. This rural charm adds a unique and memorable touch to your Safari experience in Sri Lanka.
Safari Tours in Sri Lanka
We are keen wildlife enthusiasts and photographers and do safari tours with great passion. We obsessively recommend tours in Sri Lanka’s alternative northern regions of Yala National Park while also being open to the advantages (and potential disadvantages) of safari in the classic southern part of Yala.
A Sri Lanka safari experience here is unlike any other, offering a blend of adventure and discovery.
Ruled by the Rhythm of the Jungle…
The complete package of vision and concept, camp infrastructure, management, and the staff team is tailored for a real-deal safari experience with the world of the wild, as well as a sustainable way to co-exist with the surrounding environment.
This is Sri Lanka in the raw. It may not be for everybody’s taste (which is also not our purpose and vision …). A Sri Lanka safari experience here is truly unparalleled, combining the thrill of adventure with the joy of discovery
A stay with us is about living in a tropical bush forest with the rhythm of the jungle and with only ‘… natural … entertainment …’ amidst stillness, bird calls, sounds of wild nature, and once in a while, the trumpeting of wild elephants. Roaring of a leopard has been heard, not often but sometimes.
A Real Deal Wilderness Camp
Getting the … Basics … Right
Tree Tops Jungle Lodge was created and is operated with passion and pioneering spirit. It may seem purist and rough.
Our service is designed as an artful blend of contrasts, striking a perfect balance between simplicity, immaculate service, and touches of luxury. Imagine the bush ambiance of a candlelit dinner in a mud hut, followed by a night spent under canvas in the heart of the jungle. These unforgettable moments are what make safari camps like ours truly unique.
Living in the Bush With Native Trackers
With Native Trackers
We strive to convey a most authentic experience of travel in Sri Lanka, connecting guests with the local area, community, and wilderness. Tree Tops Jungle Lodge is run by a 6-man staff team, recruited in the local area. Another 10-12 persons are working part-time behind the scenes as part of the resource pool of team members working directly with the tourism hospitality service.
All staff team members are trained on the job. What they lack in hotel school certificates is compensated by their genuine hospitality and know-how in their jungle.
Local Landscape Walks
The team takes guests on foot in the local landscape. Walks are part of the service package we provide. On all walks, guests are led by our tracker team. A primary aim of the lodge is to employ locals and utilize their knowledge of the jungle to provide our guests with a safe and enjoyable safari experience while sharing their wealth of knowledge of the local fauna and flora.
Walks in the morning and late afternoon take around 1.5 hours. Morning walks typically start after breakfast at approximately 9 am, while the afternoon walk will start at around 4.45 pm when the heat of the sun ceases.
Living with Wildlife
The wild landscape is part of the greater ecosystem of the national park. It doesn’t mean that wildlife is easily observed. Especially mammals are hard to get sightings of; in fact, not that easy even inside national parks.
Still, wildlife might be around, and we expect guests to listen to our advice and respect the wild nature. We request guests to contribute to their own safety. Behaving responsibly is essential, and please use basic instincts while keeping this in mind:
- Take care
- Make no mistake
Wild Visitors
Most prominent amongst our wild visitors are the elephants. Yala National Park and bordering regions accommodate several hundreds of wild elephants. They can frequently be observed at the property itself. During dry seasons, more elephants appear near the lodge. It can be lone male elephants, but groups of elephants may also arrive in the area.
The local area provides ideal conditions for elephants; open landscapes and forest with secret shaded places to relax during the day. After the farming season and harvest, they feed on the fields, bushes, and grass in the open areas. They can find water at numerous water holes and a river.
Night in Elephant Country
Night in the jungle is an experience of darkness and defining sounds of the forest. Owls and Night Jar are common background sounds. Occasionally animal sounds are heard, often made by Samhar deer. Sometimes a Spotted deer makes alarm calls … if a leopard is on the move …
An elephant may also be heard or seen near the lodge. On full moon nights in the dry season, they may be visible as huge shadows gliding over the landscape.
More common in April – October where they might move at the lodge property itself, mostly after the day light fades around 6.30 pm.
Elephants move and behave silently, their presence almost ghostly in the quiet wilderness. Sporadically, the silence is broken by the sounds of a branch snapping, bark peeling, or grass being torn by their trunks. Occasionally, a powerful trumpet echoes through the air, a sound that adds to the magic of this unforgettable Sri Lanka safari experience.
