Hi, I'm Eric.

I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

I help implement the Content Authenticity Initiative at Adobe.

ericscouten.com

Subscribe / Follow · Now

ericscouten.com

Subscribe / Follow · Now

Search Results

Sri Lanka and India Day 3: Yala National Park

19 February 2016 • 42 km / 26 mi (map)

  • Added to Eric Scouten :: Travel on 16 June 2026
  • Sri Lanka 4

This morning we were up and on our way at first light so we could enjoy the animals in nearby Yala National Park.

We weren’t the only ones! Here we are waiting in line for our turn to enter the park at 6am.

A long line of open safari jeeps queued along a paved road at dawn, with two men standing and talking beside the vehicles. A green sign on a post stands to the left near scrubland and a tree under a hazy pinkish sky.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
An entrance sign for Yala National Park written in Sinhala, Tamil, and English in white lettering on a brown wooden board, mounted on a rough stone pillar beneath a dark wooden shelter, with a pale sky and green foliage visible at the lower right.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
Two safari jeeps packed with tourists crowd side by side on a narrow red-dirt track through dense forest, with more vehicles bunched up behind them. The grey jeep on the right bears a Sri Lankan license plate reading SP LJ 3993.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
An Asian elephant stands side-on in front of dense green forest undergrowth, its trunk curled toward its mouth, in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka. The grey, wrinkled animal stands on grassy ground with a patch of reddish earth in the foreground.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A dark safari jeep with two passengers seen from behind, driving away down a dusty orange-red dirt road that cuts through dense green jungle in Yala National Park, with hazy golden light filtering through overhanging tree branches.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A line of open safari jeeps drives along a dusty red dirt road through dense green forest, with hazy pale sky above and trees lining both sides of the track.
Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
A hazy dawn landscape in Yala National Park, with scrubby green vegetation and yellow wildflowers in the foreground, scattered large boulders on bare reddish ground, and a line of silhouetted trees against a pale sky, with the ocean faintly visible on the horizon.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A large rounded rock outcrop rises above dense green woodland under a hazy pale blue sky, with a dirt track running through scrubland in the foreground where a small truck is parked.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A small group of wild boar, including piglets, crossing a wide reddish dirt road flanked by drainage ditches in Yala National Park, with dense green woodland and a large rocky outcrop rising on the horizon under a pale sky.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A large dark wild water buffalo with curved horns lies resting in a clearing of dry golden grass, while a white cattle egret stands close beside its head. Lush green trees and bushes fill the background.
Symbiosis at its best. · Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka

Grumpy Old Man Rock. (OK, probably not its real name. I’m improvising here …)

A massive weathered granite boulder rising above dense green scrubland under a pale blue sky, its rounded, eroded surface forming craggy ridges that suggest a face in profile. A smaller rock formation is visible to the right, partly hidden by trees.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka

This is one of the roads we used through Yala National Park. The “puddles,” they get big around here.

A muddy brown waterway winding through a wild landscape in Yala National Park, with eroded grassy banks, sandy patches, and dense green bushes and trees under a pale sky.
Road Maintenance Required? · Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
An Indian peacock with an iridescent blue neck and head crest stands amid tall golden dry grass and green undergrowth, with dry brushwood and trees in the background at Yala National Park, Sri Lanka.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A tusked Asian elephant walks toward the camera along a sandy dirt track, its trunk hanging down and ears spread, with green bushes and trees lining the right side of the path.
Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
A grey mongoose with a grizzled coat and long bushy tail stands alert in patchy grassland, its head raised and turned to the side amid green and dried vegetation.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A painted stork with a white body, black wing feathers tinged pink, an orange bare face and a long yellow-orange bill wades through muddy reddish-brown shallow water, its head lowered as it forages, with green reeds along the bank and its reflection visible in the water.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A black-headed ibis with a white body and a long, curved black bill wades through shallow muddy water, lifting one black foot as it forages among scattered green grass.
Love the foot detail here! · Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
A large weathered boulder painted with yellow lettering reading “Yala National Park” in both English and Sinhala script, topped with a rough-cut stone block, set against dense green foliage and trees in bright sunlight.
Yala National Park, Southern Province, Sri Lanka
around Yala National Park, Sri Lanka · 42 km / 26 mi
(Mouse over or tap on the markers to see the photos there. Use the button to adjust the map’s position and zoom.)

If you’ve enjoyed this …

Subscribe to my free and occasional (never more than weekly) e-mail newsletter with my latest travel and other stories:

Or follow me on one or more of the socials: