Mahoora - Yala by Eco Team

So far one of the best experiences I had while traveling. The location was stunning, the tents are well positioned and walking to reaching them in the nature at night is amazing. Naturalist guides that brings you in the safari are at top level!

We stayed for 1 day at Mahoora Camp at Yala during our recent family vacation to Sri Lanka. It is right in the midst of nature and gives you an authentic forest experience. We stayed in a comfortable tent which had 2 beds (enough for the 4 of us to stay) with an attached toilet. Hospitality and food was great (the staff connected with us on WA before we reached there and helped with the location map and food preferences) and the staff was helpful. We also went on a forest safari (it was complimentary with our package). There were 2 options - morning and afternoon safari and we opted for the afternoon one. Our safari guide Dilhara (he had a degree in animal studies) was extremely knowledgeable about the forest, its birds and animals and explained everything well (kept on patiently answering our queries as well). He, as well as our driver Piyumal, were quite diligent taking us to nook and corner of the forest to spot leopards (which we finally could). Overall, a great experience. If you are looking at an authentic forest experience, you can consider Mahoora. Also, request them to assign Dilhara as your guide and you would have a great safari experience.

The Safari with Dilhara and Kasun was really nice. Dilhara knows a lot about the animals and was really good in spotting the Leopards. We saw 5 Leopards including a mother with two babys. They were really respectful towards the animals and Kasun turned off the engine as soon as we were close to them.

We spent one of our two days completing the Safari with the wonderful Dilhara who took us on a tour of Yala national park. He was so knowledgable about all aspects of the wildlife and natural habitat of the animals that we encountered. Genuinely proud to share with us what he knew and excited to accompany us on the hunt for wildlife. The highlight was finding a herd of elephants and even getting close enough to touch the one Dilhara knew well- affectionately named Raja. Would defo recommend - even with the 5am alarm haha

Our stay at Mahoora tented Camp was an unforgettable experience. We were two families with two children each and spent three nights there. Everything was perfect: the facilities in the tents, the camp itself, the delicious breakfast and the atmospheric BBQ dinner around the campfire under the stars, where the children were allowed to grill marshmallows. The entire team was incredibly friendly and accommodating and especially warm with our children. We will never forget the numerous experiences that the team of guides and naturalists made possible for us and our children: Afternoon walk with exciting information about plants and animals with a great sunset. Night walk, during which we marveled at sleeping lizards, spiders, turtles and a nesting bird. A morning safari by jeep, where we saw lots of different animals and were able to learn an incredible amount about the animals and their habitat from our guides Dilhara and Aroun. And last but not least, the wonderful children's program, where our kids painted their experiences and made animals out of clay. There was also a great lesson on nature conservation and ecosystems for our children. They were made aware of our responsibility, the value of nature and how to treat animals with respect. A thousand thanks to all the staff for making our stay a phenomenal nature experience.

Really nice stay here, get clean and the tents are luxury !! Staff are very attentive and the whole setting is beautiful. The safari was absolutely excellent, organising everything for us and we also saw an abundance of animals, even a leopard !! Our driver was excellent, and huge amount of respect goes to Vimansha, safari guide (zoologist) , who’s knowledge was incredible, giving us loads of facts about each and every animal we saw, made it a great experience !!!