Oct 31, 2024
Yala. What an amazing experience! - A big thank you to Bentota Travel Mart for helping us plan and organise an amazing safari trip to Yala National Park.
Sam and the Bentota team have been great to communicate with, very knowledgeable and responsive. He dealt with a late change to our hotel pick up quickly and efficiently and gave us valuable advice on the best time of day to go on our safari, based on current feedback from the park.
We had a private car provided to take us to and from the meeting point for the safari jeep pick up near Yala. A delicious lunch was provided at Red Restaurant, including a range of gluten free options for me. Then it was off in our private safari jeep for the drive to Yala National Park.
I really wanted to see a leopard and I knew it wasn’t guaranteed. Sudda, the driver Bentota arranged for us was brilliant. With his hard work, patience, expert knowledge and constant contact with other drivers, he didn’t deliver 1 leopard, but 4!!
To top that we also saw the rare Sloth Bear! Obviously we saw many other animals and birds, including elephants (a first for my husband) and the Sri Lankan Grey Langur, but we know just how lucky we have been.
Thank you Bentota Travel Mart for our extraordinary and amazing day!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 16, 2024
Our Amazing Private Trip to Yala park - We had an amazing trip to Yala with Bentota Travel Mart. My husband and I were picked up at 0400 from Centara Ceysands resort in Bentota and were warmly greeted. Our driver, Dinesh, couldn't do enough for us. He showed us many sights along the way. We were then taken for a coffee before meeting our jeep driver who showed us the park. We saw many elephants, crocodiles, water buffalo, deer, wild boars, many beautiful tropical birds, land monitors ( large lizards) unfortunatly, we didn't see any leopards but hey...that's nature. Afterwards, we were brought to meet our driver at a local restaurant where we had an fabulous Sri Lankan rice and curry lunch. We could choose of the menu and order what we liked. We highly recommend this travel company and used them for several other tours during our trip to Sri Lanka.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 13, 2024
Great trip to Yala - We had a fantastic trip to Yala. 4.30am pick up from hotel and morning safari all went smoothly. Driver and guide on safari made sure we saw lots of animals. Highlight for us was seeing some leopards. Lunch nearby was a lovely way to finish, before the drive back.
All our communications with the company were prompt and professional as well.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 10, 2024
Worth every penny , the best day everv - We had the best day ever visiting Yala. The trip was very well organised, communication was good, the driver kind. Considerate and friendly.
The day was exactly as described in the details.
It was an early start but we'll worthwhile. Our experance with the elephants was undiscribable our safari guide and jeep driver was second to non. He was knowledgeable of the animal, patient and intent on making the experiance the best it could be. Had the best day ever. Well worth every penny.
I'd heard that drivers could be pushy with Trying to show off the local area, trying to make money on the side, to be honest this is Srilanka across the board, our driver was respectful of our choices and not pushy at all
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Mar 8, 2024
Perfect day! Great experience! Will do it again! - It was a perfect experience. Everything went well and was organized perfectly. From pickup to lunch to the game drive to drop off - it went smoothly. It was a great experience at the natural park, the ranger and driver spotted to many great animals for us! We saw so many elephants and even a leopard. So happy!
Even though I travel by myself, Sam from the Office connected me to another solo traveler so share the experience (and costs!) which was so great! Thanks again!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 7, 2024
Just Incredible - Bentota travel are excellent. From the booking all the way to the guide at Yala was a very good experience. I cannot give them enough praise. So happy with the whole day. Even saw a Leopard and the guide took brilliant pictures while I watched the Leopard. The lunch was amazing to. All in all an amazing experience I will never forget. Thank you all at Bentota Travel.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 5, 2024
We totally enjoyed our safari trip to Yala - To begin with, we did not expect our trip to be an individual tour. We didn't know until we got on the jeep, and it was a very pleasant suprise. Driver Eresh picked us up from the hotel in a very comfortable car with plenty of water, and took us to a lunch place where we had delicious rice and curry Sri Lankan style (but you can choose other dishes from the set menu) and got on the jeep. Eresh was very welcoming, and on the car, we had a nice chat about Sri Lanka. In the Yala Park, we were joined by a volunteer guide Priyantha. He helped with spotting and indentifying the animals, and shared many interesting facts about the animals in the park. Also, Priyantha had powerful binoculars, and shared them with us. We saw elephants, deer, crocodiles, buffalo, a mongoose, wild boars, jackals, a leopard, hares, chameleons, all kinds of birds, including the Sri Lanka junglefowl, the national bird of Sri Lanka. I think we missed only the bear. Our jeep driver was very professional both as a driver and as a scout. He helped us spot many animals that even Priyantha couldn't see at once. We are very glad we had such a professional crew with us on the jeep. On the way back to the hotel, Eresh showed us a very beautiful ancient Buddhist stupa Yatala Wehera, and we even did a short tour of the stupa and the temple while Eresh told us about the Buddhist customs and traditions. We totally enjoyed, and highly recommend Bentota Travel Mart!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mar 3, 2024
Great Yala experience - Fantastic trip. Our driver Asanka was great; very punctual, helpful and friendly. Our Yala park safari driver was great also. He pulled out all stops so we saw all the parks highlight animals including a Leopard.
The whole process was so smooth and seamless with Bentota Travel Mart. Wouldn’t hesitate to use them again. Sam was so responsive and nothing was too much trouble.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jul 24, 2024
Good, but mixed - I had mixed feelings about this tour to be honest. Background: I have done a fair amount of travel, been to a bunch of national parks and wildlife areas, and have degrees in biology and zoology.
The good of it: Although not seeing any leopards (it's not a zoo, so it is always just chance), we did see a few elephants, a sloth bear, lots of birds, some frogs, and some crocodiles. Great to see the wildlife in nature. The safari driver my wife and I had did well to get us into view of different organisms and also stopped when we asked and would reposition for better views. He also showed us some flying foxes outside of the park. Coming from Unawatuna, we had a bit of a drive, but our transport driver was professional and got us there quickly. Lunch was included - it was good and there were a few (limited) options.
The bad of it: Safari drivers played elephant calls and leopard calls to try to attract animals. The drivers also drove very quickly to jockey for position to see animals.
I do understand that they are making a living from these tours and a guide that does not find any animals or does not get his/her client views of wildlife will not be a guide very long. This is why I am mixed about how I feel. On one hand, I hate that wildlife is being "attracted" to the jeeps and then they are speeding to see the animals - it all feels too intrusive. On the other, a guide with no animals won't be a guide and they have families to feed.
If I were to go again, I would set some guidelines with the drivers and let them understand that their tip is set already and that the animals seen won't effect that. Ethics should have a place.
Review provided by Viator
Feb 12, 2024
Ok but not expensive enough - The trip was nice enough. The driver was enthusiastic enough to find the animals, but we were probably a little disappointed at how few animals there were in the park and saw them from afar. Would probably recommend that you go to another national park where there are more animals.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
