Dry Zone
Cinnamon Wild Yala
The recently refurbished and award-winning Cinammon Wild Yala is located just outside the world renowned Yala National Park boundary and borders a beautiful golden beach in Kirinda.
The lodge blends wilderness and luxury living without damaging the existing flora and fauna. The theme of the lodge is ‘in harmony with wildlife’. The hotel has 68 well-appointed deluxe air-conditioned bungalows with verandahs scattered around ten acres of woodland, some with beach views.
All rooms are equipped with minibar, satellite TV, international direct dial telephone, safety deposit box, electric kettle with tea and coffee, hair dryer and have free WiFi.
The Tuskers Restaurant in the main lodge offers an good selection of a la carte dishes and there is a friendly bar and plenty of living areas including a rooftop terrace around the property in which to enjoy a beverage. There is a large swimming pool with sun lounging terrace for relaxation between safaris.
The lodge is ideally located for early morning and evening game drives in Yala and also offers birdwatching and bush walks and night safaris with infra-red light giving opportunities to see elusive nocturnal species. Even around the grounds of the hotel it is not unusual to see a diversity of wildlife including wild boar, squirrels, deer, scorpions, civets and hear elephants in the distance.
Facilities
Restaurant and bar, swimming pool, LCD TV, air-conditioning, ceiling fan, hair dryer, safety deposit box, laundry service, room service, free WiFi, currency exchange, luggage storage and gift shop.
Local Wildlife
Yala has some of the highest leopard densities in the world and the cats are particularly habituated making it one the world’s best parks for spotting and photographing these magnificent cats. One may also see elephant, sloth bear, sambar, spotted deer, wild boar, stripe-necked mongoose, black-naped hare and several civet species. In the water holes you may see mugger crocodile, painted stork, lesser whistling teal, black-headed ibis, Eurasian spoonbill and the rare black-necked stork. The monsoon forest ecosystem of the park is dominated by Palu and Manilkara hexandra trees and thorny bushes create a dense understory.
Optional Activities
Game drives, elephant back safaris, night drives, guided walks and cultural tours.
Alan Godwin
Area Specialist
It’s well worth booking the nocturnal safari which includes night vision goggles for seeing wildlife in the dark.
If you have any questions regarding our Sri Lanka tours, please feel free to contact me on +44 (0)1803 866965
We very much enjoyed this hotel. The traditional food was very tasty and interesting, and wine was nice too. Staff were very attentive and walked us to our room when it was dark. We loved the rooftop terrace for wildlife viewing (leopards) and star gazing, and packed lunches were very generous.
