Let me say at the outset that Africa is in my blood. It’s our ‘go to’ holiday to experience the adrenalin rush of sighting something both rare and spectacular! In my book, there’s nothing to beat seeing a pack of Wild Dogs out on a hunt or a Cheetah trying to finish its meal before another predator comes in for the steal.

Then there’s the Leopard. One of nature’s masterpieces, not least because of its ability to blend in with its surroundings. It has the perfect camouflage.

So why am I talking about Leopards under a Sri Lanka heading?

After our stunning adventures in Africa in 2023, we decided to experience something different at the start of 2024. Sri Lanka was our choice, and it didn’t disappoint!  A little research before heading out on safari on this lovely island told us that both Yala and Wilpattu National Parks were ‘good for Leopards’. There are no Lions in Sri Lanka, and unlike in India there are no tigers either, so the Leopard is therefore very much the king of the jungle here.

If the theory of wildlife experts is to be believed, these two national parks have the highest density of leopards in the world. That may be so, but Leopards can be well hidden, and as we set out on our safaris we realised the dense vegetation, the jungle, of Sri Lanka’s parks was not going to make it any easier than in Southern Africa. We know from experience that sometimes you can safari for days on end and not have the privilege of even the briefest of glimpses of a Leopard.

What was the chance of seeing one on a full day in Wilpattu? This park is quieter than Yala and, therefore, I felt it would give us a better chance. Our driver new our mission and, with our travel guide Suminda, we embarked on our full day’s drive. There were hardly any other safari vehicles around so little or no ‘intelligence’ to aid our quest.

It was to be around the middle of the day when we ‘got a sniff’. A tip off from another driver led us to one of the best-known locations for Leopards. We were rewarded with a clear sighting of one of these most beautiful animals and, what’s more, we were able to watch it at close quarters on and off for almost an hour…………It strutted about both in a clearing and in the jungle….at to one point it made a half hearted attempt to chase a wild boar…………And that familiar African ‘adrenalin rush’ came flooding back!! We felt very privileged.