Makini Bush Camp Blog

Even though there are some countries still on an uphill battle against the Coronavirus, many other countries are easing lockdown rules and gradually encouraging people to resume work. Some countries, such as  Italy ,  New Zealand , and  Sri Lanka  had gone one step further and laid plans to open borders to resume tourism. The timeline they are looking at falls around July, and according to the chairperson of the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, their destination management companies already started getting travel inquiries from various parts of the world. Travelers will still have to go through a security, health, and hygiene check as part of the entry process, and hoteliers will have to abide by new health and hygiene regulations enforced by local governments. Why Sri Lanka? The primary reason to pick Sri Lanka as the top post-coronavirus destination is the way they managed and contain the spread of COVID-19. Sri Lankan government foresaw the threat and took...

Last year Sri Lanka was recognized as the  “Best Safari Destination Outside of Africa”  by Forbes. At a time countries gradually lifting lockdowns and travelers eagerly searching for their first post-corona destination, we hope all wildlife and nature lovers will find this post timely and useful. In Africa, 'Big 5' means the animals that are most aggressive and difficult to hunt on foot, even though many think that it means the animals that are the highest in demand by visitors. Sri Lanka has it’s own 'Big 5' however, unlike in Africa the animals were chosen purely based on the popularity and demand by local and foreign visitors and it consists of both land and sea mammals. Namely, Sri Lanka’s Big5 is the Sri Lankan leopard, Sri Lankan elephant, Sri Lankan sloth bear, the blue whale, and the sperm whale. It’s truly miraculous that a small island paradise like Sri Lanka with an area of just over 65000 km² able to home the world's largest land and sea mammal...

Yala national park is located in the southeast part of Sri Lanka boarding the Indian ocean. It’s an area of nearly 1000 square kilometers and primarily composed of forests, grasslands, lakes, and lagoons. Yala homes to many varieties of mammals, birds, reptiles, and other wildlife. Sri Lankan leopard, Sri Lankan elephant, Sri Lankan Sloth bear, many endemic bird species, snakes and pythons are among them. Yala is the best place in the world to spot leopards in natural habitats because of the high density. According to statistics, it is said that there are 18 leopards per 100 square kilometers in Yala, which is the highest in the world. And it’s not just the density that makes Yala the best place to see leopards. Leopards are known as nocturnal and they seldom come out during the day time. One main reason for this is, there are other predators like lions and tigers that hunt leopards, and scavengers like hyenas who steal food and night time give just enough safety and privacy for leopar...