Sri Lanka - Whales & Leopards

The waters around Sri Lanka are a haven for an extraordinary variety of cetaceans, offering a rare opportunity to observe these magnificent marine mammals in their natural habitat. Sperm Whales, Fin Whales, Bryde’s Whales, Short-finned Pilot Whales, and the occasional Orca, frequent these waters and captivate us with their prowess, while Spinner Dolphins and Bottlenose Dolphins provide endless delight with their playful leaps and acrobatics. Occasionally, the unmistakable silhouette and blow of a Blue Whale emerges, adding an unforgettable highlight to the experience! Although Blue Whale sightings are not as regular as they used to be, they are still occasionally recorded off Sri Lanka's southern coast between November and April, when they share these nutrient-rich waters with the above suite of more regularly seen species.  

Our tour begins with a flight to the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo, from where we head south, skirting the towering escarpments of the central Hill Country before travelling through a landscape of palms, rice paddies and roadside ponds to the Indian Ocean coast where we stay for four nights at a comfortable resort hotel near Mirissa. Doubtless the excellent amenities of the establishment will be a welcome diversion during our spare time, but each morning we will undertake a whale-watching cruise from a nearby port. During these 4-hour excursions we will sail up to 12 kilometres offshore in search of the larger whales and a range of smaller species such as Short-finned Pilot Whales, and Bottlenose, Pantropical Spotted, Striped and Spinner Dolphins. If we are fortunate to enjoy a close encounter then we may even get to smell their distinctive breath! After each exhilarating whale-watching experience, we return to dry land, then at the end of our 4-night stay near Mirissa we will head east to seek out another of the island's iconic mammals in Yala National Park, the Sri Lankan Leopard.

In recent years diurnal Leopards have been a regular attraction in this superb reserve and we have three nights here to maximise our chances of an encounter with this beautiful feline and to enjoy the other mammals and birds that live here. Wildlife abounds in Yala and each drive is likely to produce a range of species including Asian Elephant, Sloth Bear, Wild Boar, Spotted Deer, Sambar, mongooses, crocodiles and lizards, as well as a stunning profusion of colourful birdlife. Indian Peafowl are common and in the first few hours after dawn Sri Lanka Junglefowl emerge from cover to display and call. Raptors include Changeable Hawk-eagle, White-bellied Sea Eagle and and Grey-headed Fish Eagle. Waterbirds inhabiting the reserve include Spot-billed Pelicans, Painted Storks, Asian Openbills and Purple Herons, the odd-looking Great Thick-knee, Yellow-wattled Lapwing and many sandpipers and sand plovers. In the drier areas, we should see a variety of grassland and forest species such as Blue-tailed and Asian Green Bee-eaters, Blue-faced Malkoha, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Black-headed Cuckoo-shrike and Baya Weaver.

No visit to Yala ever disappoints but it is the sight of a somnolent Leopard draped across the branches of a tree, or padding along a track before disappearing into the undergrowth, that creates a memory to last a lifetime. During the final three days of the tour we will be staying at a very comfortable hotel just outside the park. With no fences to constrain the inhabitants, it is by no means unusual to see a Wild Boar wander through the grounds, or even to find an elephant browsing in the garden!

Yala is a magical place and a perfect venue in which to complete a tour that combines the best of Sri Lankan wildlife, both marine and terrestrial, with the most comfortable of accommodation. It will be with some reluctance that we will finally depart from here and return to Colombo for a return flight back to colder climes; however, for those unwilling to leave, we offer an extension to Sinharaja Forest, the largest and most important lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka and home to so much of the island's endemic flora and fauna.