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Yala

A July 2025 jeep safari in Yala National Park: an elephant that strolled straight up to our jeep, a painted stork at a waterhole, and dust everywhere.

Yala in July 2025 was a family affair: three generations packed into one safari jeep, one long lens, and a park that did not make us wait. The elephants came to us.

Inga and Dileep taking a selfie in an open safari jeep while a wild elephant walks up the track behind them
The selfie rule in Yala: smile first, check what is behind you second.

We rolled through the scrub in an open-top jeep, camera at the ready, everyone scanning a different window. The park was dry and golden in July, which makes the waterholes the place to be, for the animals and for us.

Dileep holding a camera with a long lens inside a safari jeep, with family members looking out at the dry forest
Full jeep, full concentration. Everyone on spotting duty.
A painted stork with an orange head and pink wing feathers wading at a waterhole beside grassy rocks in Yala
A painted stork working its waterhole. The pink flight feathers give it the name.

Between sightings you bounce along red-dust tracks and count peacocks until the next radio crackle. It never gets old. Pair Yala with the south coast: our Galle stop is a couple of hours down the road.