Yala National Park, Sri Lanka

Friday, midday

Check into Noel Rodrigo’s Leopard Safaris (double rooms from £700, www.leopardsafaris.com), pioneers of all-inclusive tent-based safaris in Sri Lanka’s sprawling Yala National Park. Their location is ideal for access deep into the park.

1:30pm

Enjoy lunch with the sounds of the dense jungle all around as you settle into this most special of environments.

2:30pm

Head out on safari in one of their custom-built Toyota Land Cruisers. The main draw is the park’s famous leopards, but they are dramatically backed up with an ever-changing collage of spotted deer, sloths, crocodiles and elephants, plus several species of eagle.

7:30pm

Enjoy the thirst-quenching local beer, Lion, before dinner under the stars put together with ultra-local produce, allowing you to feast on a range of delicious Sri Lankan specialities.

Saturday, 6am

It’s morning safari time, a breathtaking experience especially if they take you to the little explored Block 5, which rarely attracts many safari trucks and whose scenery is even more spectacular than the regular routes.

10am

Get off camp now by heading out on an additional excursion to the spectacular hilltop Sithulpawwa Rajamaha Viharaya, a 2,200-year-old Buddhist monastery.

1pm

If you don’t want to enjoy lunch back at the safari camp, you could have a simple local meal at the Chill restaurant (tel: +94-47 223 6173) in Kataragama on the way back to the camp.

3:30pm

Head out on safari or instead choose to embark on a guided nature walk, go birding, take a Sri Lankan cookery lesson or enjoy a photography session.

7pm

Enjoy an al fresco shower before a barbeque dinner at the camp of local prawn, chicken and pork laced with gentle Sri Lankan spices.

Sunday, 6.30am

Time for one more safari, hopefully seeing your last leopard, before a cooling dip in the outdoor swimming pool. ■

Etihad (www.etihad.com) fly to Colombo from Edinburgh via Abu Dhabi from £503.16 return. Flat beds available in business class. Indian Odyssey (www.indianodyssey.co.uk) can organise a stay at the camp and all transfers.