Whales And Leopards Of Sri Lanka

Day 1
The group will meet at Colombo Airport in the early afternoon and transfer immediately to a hotel on the south coast, located approximately 225 km south of the airport. The drive will take approximately 6 hours and the group will arrive in the evening.

Day 2
After an early breakfast (or taking a packed breakfast) we leave for the harbour arriving by 0700 where we will be met by our naturalist guide for the day as well as the crew. The naturalist on board will have a wealth of knowledge about local marine life. The captain will often stop and hail a passing fishing boat on its homeward journey to see if they have information on where and which whales were spotted that morning! The vessel is fitted with radar and GPS which helps to increase chances of success. We continue out to sea and hopefully encounter the mighty giants of the sea, the Blue Whales, Sperm Whales, Killer Whales and several species of dolphins between 20 and 40 nautical miles from the coast. Return to the hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure.

Day 3
Another early morning to get to the harbour for our second Whale watching trip, as well as spotting whales on a lucky day we will have the treat of observing more than five hundred dolphins having a siesta. The long-snouted spinners are a treat to watch in action. Return to hotel and spend the rest of the day at leisure (or play cricket on the beach!).

Day 4
After breakfast we leave for Yala National Park, a drive of approximately 2.5 hours. We will then check in at Chaya Wild where we can relax and have some lunch before our late afternoon game drive. Yala is Sri Lanka's best known National Park and is popular for Elephant, Leopard, Bear, Crocodile and Wild Boar. More than three times larger than Udawalawe at 97,800 hectares, this is the second largest of Sri Lanka's national parks. Its open undulating terrain made it famous for elephants for many years, but recently the park has become well known for leopard. The park, which is is primarily shrub jungle with several salt and fresh water lagoons, has one of the highest concentrations of leopard per square kilometre in the world.

Day 5 - 6
Morning and afternoon game drives in the park. With 6 included game drives we maximise the opportunity to spot as much wildlife as possible.

Day 7
This morning you will have your last game drive in Yala N.P. before we transfer back to a south coast hotel close to the harbour.

Day 8
Today you will have your third and final whale watching trip before returning to the hotel where you can have lunch before we transfer to Tamarind Tree Hotel near the airport.

Day 9
If you are travelling on the group flight we will transfer to the airport after breakfast for the daytime group flight to London. The arrangements for those not flying with the group ends after checkout or after the transfer to Colombo airport.