Wildlife Photography Safari

1. Journey Phase

   Day 01

   Colombo to Yala (arrival & first light)

   Colombo to Yala · ~5h SUV
   Morning

   8:00 am

   Private SUV south

   Roughly five hours from Colombo to the edge of Yala, with stops where you want them and none where you do not.

   Midday

   1:00 pm

   Camera brief over lunch

   Your lead photographer runs through settings, light and the plan for the block, so nothing is improvised at the sighting.

   Afternoon

   3:15 pm

   Private evening safari, Block 1

   Golden hour with leopard, elephant, buffalo and kingfishers on the list, engines off at every sighting.

   Evening

   6:30 pm

   Back to the lodge

   Dinner at the lodge and a first look at the day's frames before an early night.

   A Lux SUV transfer south from Colombo to your Yala lodge, arriving in time for a camera brief over lunch. The first private evening safari in Block 1 is timed for golden hour and for the leopards that drift back toward the tracks.

   

   

   
2. Journey Phase

   Day 02

   Yala Big-Cat Day (AM + PM Safari)

   Yala · 2 private safaris
   Dawn

   5:15 am

   Gate-open AM safari

   First vehicles in, leopard priority, with elephants, crocodiles and jackals along the way. Out until 9:30 am.

   Late morning

   9:45 am

   Brunch and rest

   A long brunch at the lodge and a deliberate midday pause while the light is hard.

   Afternoon

   3:15 pm

   Golden-hour PM safari

   Back into the park until 6:15 pm, working behaviour sequences, portraits and environmental context rather than one trophy frame.

   Evening

   7:30 pm

   Dinner and a quick edit

   Your photographer talks through what worked, and what to try again tomorrow.

   A pre-dawn wake-up for a private AM safari at gate open, back for brunch and a midday rest, then a PM safari with your photographer through the golden hour window.

   

   

   
3. Journey Phase

   Day 03

   Final light, return to Colombo

   Yala to Colombo · ~5h SUV
   Dawn

   5:15 am

   Last AM safari

   A final private drive with your photographer, either chasing the missing frame or returning to yesterday's best sighting.

   Late morning

   10:00 am

   Brunch at the lodge

   Unhurried, with time to pack properly.

   Midday

   11:30 am

   60-minute image review

   A one-to-one mentoring session with your lead photographer on selection, edit and sequencing.

   Afternoon

   1:00 pm

   Private transfer to Colombo

   Roughly five hours back to the city or the airport, timed around your onward plans.

   One last AM safari to capture the frames you are missing or to return to a productive sighting, then brunch, an image review with your mentor, and the private transfer back to Colombo.

   

   

Your Field Team

The photographers you'll travel with

Two resident naturalists and published wildlife photographers ride with you, behind the lens, on the radio, and in the jeep beside you.

Gayan Kumarage

Resident Naturalist & Wildlife Photographer

Award-winning wildlife photographer and our in-house wildlife specialist. Years of Yala and Wilpattu fieldwork behind every sighting he sets up.

Jayathu Amarasinghe

Resident Naturalist & Wildlife Photographer

Field photographer with a deep ranger network and a patient eye for behavioural sequences, the quiet stakeouts are his specialty.