The Best Eco Place to Stay
In Yala National Park
A Pure Nature Living Experience
Tree Tops Jungle Lodge is an eco-camp in Yala and stands out among the best places to stay in Yala National Park. It is situated in Buttala, in a wild natural forest at a remote location. This accommodation in Yala National Park is a semi-permanent eco-camp operated by a locally recruited jungle team, providing an authentic nature experience with a great sense of place.
We have built the place using mud and canvas as well as a rewilded property and a vision. The place is also based on the concept that our large jungle property is reserved for a truly limited number of guests. That’s why there are only three tented rooms, making it one of the best accommodations to stay in Yala National Park. All come with a king-size double bed, private toilet, and shower in the tent.
Our ethos is to operate this jungle camp at a high hospitality level but with very little “hotel development” in order to preserve the original atmosphere. This eco-friendly experience offers a taste of wild Sri Lankan nature, creating a stay that feels good for the place, for the guests, and for the wildlife.
View more about our concept and ethos.
Tented chalet Rooms:
Yala National Park Accommodation
Our purist setup with a few tented rooms and a mud-hut restaurant creates a genuine bush camp atmosphere. Designed to convey an unfiltered sense of the protected forest nearby, our jungle camp spearheaded ecotourism in Sri Lanka.
Minimal facilities are balanced and brought to life by a well-trained team of native people, impeccable service, tasty curry meals, local landscape walks and bird watching with our team.
The Tented Rooms
Featuring :
- Eco jungle camp in Yala with a one-of-its-kind location in the wild jungle. This is in the Buttala area, north of Yala National Park Our 30-square-meter tented chalet rooms are made on elevated cement platforms, making a clean and safe interior environment
- The rooms are designed for simple, stylish living, offering a Sri Lankan eco experience that connects guests with the outdoors
- The size of the tented rooms is devised to sleep two adults. They come with high ceilings and feel quite spacious
- Each room has a large 6.5 x 7 square meter king-size bed. This four-poster bed includes a mosquito net, carefully selected foam mattresses, proper bedding, and tailor-made pillows
- Bedside solar-powered lamps, with torches for outside use
- Drinking water in clay jugs
- En-suite bathroom fitted with a ceramic sink, running water, shower, toilet, and a big mirror
- The shower has "cold" water (not really very cold in a hot tropical climate)
- Each tent room has a verandah with views into the surrounding jungle and forest-covered mountains
- Twin-bed setups available on request
- There is sufficient space to arrange one extra bed
- En-suite bathroom fitted with ceramic sink, running water, shower, toilet, a big mirror
- The shower has "cold" water (not really very cold in a hot tropical climate )
- Each tent room has a large verandah with views into surrounding jungle and forest covered
- mountains
- You can request a twin-bed set up
- There is sufficient space to arrange one extra bed
The Mud Hut Restaurant
Our thatched mud-hut restaurant offers an atmospheric setting for candle-lit dinners and a lounge space where guests can read a book and enjoy the views. In the daytime, this dining area in our Yala National Park ecolodge accommodation is also a superb spot for bird-watching, with a water hole in front attracting many bird species.
The Pond - The Water Hole
The distance to the water hole is sufficient to leave the pond with a quiet undisturbed feel for the birds, while still close enough to observe birds with the high quality Nikon binoculars we provide.
The pond is also used, unseen, at night by various species of wild animals; some of them are wild boar, spotted deer and sambhar deer. In certain parts of the year also used by wild elephants.
In such exciting situations where an elephant is observed, it is required and expected that guests understand the place as an … observation platform … and behave very discrete and with respect for the wild animals.
First of all – Try to be very quiet. Move with great care. Even better don’t move. Try just to stay where you are. Because wild animals do not appreciate when two-legged humans move close to them.
A Sense of Locality:
Chena and Elephant Country
Experience Life in Chena Country
As an accommodation and camp living adventure the stay has been created to get the feel of sleeping under canvas in a jungle, while participating in an ancient local lifestyle next to wild habitats.
A wild living experience infused with an authentic cultural dimension, inspired by the local lifestyle of traditional paddy- and chena farmers. Literally, the word chena farmer denotes slash-and-burn cultivation, an ancient method of farming in jungles, cultivating on plots of land in open clearings in the jungle. In wild regions farmers stay overnight in simple shelters, mud- or tree-huts, in cultivated plots – next to natural habitat from where wild animals may appear.
Still today, in the wet and harvest season farmers guard their fields at night, watching out for elephants, wild boar and other animals that may eat and destroy the rice and other crops at night.
The lodge team are native people and the ancient chena and farmer lifestyle is the traditional background of all our staff members. All grew up in families living this type of subsistence economy, farming culture existence.
Guests staying with us will take part in the conditions and impression of the ancient bufferzone, Chena lifestyle, living and sleeping next to wild habitats.
With our remote location, guests will experience an unusual, fundamental contrast between day and night. In … Chena country … day and night are two really different chapters of the 24 hours day.
This experience makes Tree Tops Jungle Lodge one of the most unique places to stay in Yala National Park, giving guests a meaningful connection to both the jungle and local traditions.
Electricity and Lighting
In the wilderness, we are off grid and there is only limited electric power, generated by a solar power system, sufficient to charge camera batteries,mobile phones, laptops etc. A generator is used only when we pump water from our well … or need to start a blender to make fruit juices.
Inside the tented room, there are solar-powered bed lamps. At night, outdoor areas on-site are only illuminated by hurricanes. The restaurant is lit only by candlelight, maintaining an authentic eco-friendly atmosphere.
Lodge Life and Service
Our staff is not formally educated and qualified – but they manage and find practical solutions to all challenges even under tough conditions.
Contact the Staff Team
There is no such thing as an actual hotel reception. You can find team members in the mud-hut restaurant or in the kitchen.
They are always happy to serve a cup of tea and coffee, a fruit juice, soft-drink as well as assist you with any requirements.
Water Conservation and Supply
Tree Tops Jungle Lodge operates as a camp and with homemade solutions to daily needs such as light and water. The water supply is ensured through the practical solutions we have designed ourselves. Water is pumped from our own freshwater well, constructed by us.
The team will pump water from the well and into a water tank in the camp which generates running water in the tented bathroom. Rain falls with seasonal variation. At certain times of the year drought can occur periodically. In the dry season, guests may be asked to conserve water for sustainable practices.
How Long to Stay in Yala National Park?
To fully experience Tree Tops Jungle Lodge and the natural beauty of our accommodation in Yala National Park, we recommend staying at least three nights. It takes time to acclimate to the heat and lifestyle; the longer you stay, the more connected you’ll feel to the natural environment.
Safari Camp with Two Unique Experiences
We understand the need for flexible holiday planning and budgeting. Guests on shorter stays are also welcome to enjoy a condensed, immersive nature experience. Tree Tops Jungle Lodge offers two distinct safari options, each providing a unique encounter with Yala National Park.
For a classic experience, guests can embark on the Classic Safari Tour in Block 1, ideal for those seeking a more traditional safari route through diverse wildlife habitats.
Alternatively, guests can choose our Alternative Safari Tour in Block 5, located just a 35-minute transfer from our lodge. This tour offers a quieter, more secluded safari experience, blending wild nature with the camp’s eco-living ethos.
Whether staying for one or two nights, you can enjoy a truly wild nature experience combined with safari tours that suit your preferences.
