That night, I lived in the primeval forest——Cinnamon Wild Yala Hotel

I like traveling and have a special liking for all kinds of special hotels. For me, a hotel is not just a place to rest, but an experience. Among the various hotels I have stayed at, Cinnamon Wild Yala Hotel impressed me deeply with its unique location.

The hotel is located in Sri Lanka's Yala National Park. It is fully open and has no fences around it, which means that wild animals can enter and leave the hotel at will. Of course, there are no large carnivores like lions and tigers in the area, so basic safety can still be guaranteed. When we arrived at the hotel, our chartered Sri Lankan driver Udagama reminded us repeatedly that we must take all the food in the car, including the black tea we bought, because elephants would smash the car windows if they smelled the smell.

Do elephants still need to drink black tea? We found it fun and exciting.

When checking in at the front desk, the service staff also told us that when we go to the restaurant to eat in the evening, we need to call the front desk and be escorted by security guards. Is it really dangerous?

The hotel has more than 100 rooms, scattered in the virgin forest. The service staff also joked that elephants often pass through the hotel with their calves, and if we were lucky we could see them. Wow, it’s so original!

After hurriedly putting down our luggage, we met to go to the beach near the hotel to enjoy the scenery. Although animals generally don’t come out during the day because Sri Lanka is too hot. But after all, we are walking in a virgin forest. Six people got together to encourage each other. While walking, we suddenly heard a crashing sound in the tree, which startled us. Could it be that there was a leopard? The theme animal of Yala National Park is the leopard! When he looked up, it turned out to be a monkey.

A few minutes later, we passed through the hotel cabins and arrived at the beach. "Look," my companion shouted. It turned out that there were a series of deep footprints on the beach, as well as large piles of excrement. The excrement had dried and was mixed with a lot of undigested grass. Judging from the volume of excrement, it must be an elephant! They have also walked this road. We shouldn't encounter elephants, right? We were both looking forward to it and a little nervous.

We played and took photos on the beach for half an hour. Except for the footprints and excrement of some other animals, we did not see a single animal. The sunshine in the Indian Ocean is very strong, and we can't bear it if we stay for a while longer. No wonder these animals don't like to come out during the day, they can't stand such strong sunshine. The beach is only 200 meters away from the hotel. It is said that the entire hotel was submerged by the Sri Lankan tsunami. But the strange thing is that not even a single animal body was found afterwards. They probably had a sixth sense and sensed the coming tsunami in advance and fled long ago. In comparison, we humans are so vulnerable in the face of disaster.

Back to the room, put on swimming trunks and swimsuits, and we went to the swimming pool again. Swimming in a swimming pool in a primeval forest is unique. While we were soaking in the water, a group of monkeys came and lay on the trees to watch us swim. In fact, they are the masters of this land, and we have become the scenery in their eyes. These monkeys are very naughty, chasing and fighting, breaking one or two branches from time to time, and falling from the tree with a crash. We had to get out of the way to avoid being accidentally injured.

There is a small pool next to the swimming pool, which is specially reserved for animals to drink water. Some monkeys jumped down and drank the water swaggeringly. Drinking water here is much safer than drinking water in the lake outside the swimming pool. There are crocodiles there, and smart monkeys will naturally know this. The monkeys on the ground became more and more bold and even jumped onto our lounge chairs. We quickly took our clothes away to avoid them. If you can't afford to offend him, why don't we just stay away? At this time, the hotel security guard ran over and made a gesture, and the monkeys all ran away with a roar. It turned out that they were also afraid of people.

It was already dark when we ate in the evening. Because our wooden house was less than 100 meters away from the restaurant, we braved ourselves and walked over without asking for security escort. We saw a few wild boars flashing past in the dark.

Dinner was a buffet and the food was decent. In the middle of nowhere, we have no other choice. After our meal, we sat on lounge chairs by the pool and chatted. While looking at the stars in the sky, we look forward to the arrival of the elephants.

Suddenly, a large wild boar rushed past us, followed by a group of small wild boars, about 8 large and small. My friend jumped up first and chased after me. We also quickly picked up our cameras and tried to snap a few pictures. The wild boar family ran along the edge of the swimming pool. As we chased them, we kept a careful distance, fearing that the wild boars would turn around and attack us, so we did not dare to chase them too close. The boar family quickly ran out of the swimming pool and disappeared into the woods. We stopped and kept in mind the ancient adage, "Don't enter the woods, don't chase the poor." Don't chase a poor pig. We didn't take any photos, but we suddenly started to get excited and our mood became very high!

At this time, someone suggested going to the lake to see crocodiles. Wow, how exciting would it be! What should I do if I step on it on the beach?

We want to go, but we are a little worried and are hesitating. The patrolling security guard came over. He guessed what we were thinking and volunteered to take us there. Very good! Even though he only had a flashlight and stick in his hand, no gun. But he was a local and familiar with the environment, so we immediately felt safe. So, a group of six people followed the security guard, walked out of the hotel, and walked towards the lake.

The lake was only more than 100 meters away from the hotel. The moonlight was not very bright that night and the visibility was not high. We cautiously moved towards the water. The security guard said that crocodiles sometimes climb ashore at night, which made us even more nervous. I didn't have good eyesight, so I followed the security guard's route strictly. If you encounter a crocodile, you will probably bite him first, right?

The surroundings were silent, except for the occasional chirping of insects and the howling of unknown animals in the distance, which was eerie. Otherwise, let's go back. Some of our companions are beginning to back down. My heart beats faster. Where is the crocodile?

Suddenly, the security guard said softly, "Look, over there." Following the light of the security guard's flashlight, there were 1, 2, oh, no, 4 in the water about 50 meters in front. A crocodile's head floats on the surface. If you are not careful, you really can't see it. About 30 meters away from the crocodile, there was an animal that looked like a sika deer drinking water. While drinking, it looked warily in the direction of the crocodile. Soon, the sika deer drank the water, jumped up, and disappeared into the darkness. After watching the crocodiles, I gave the security guard a double tip and he happily waved goodbye to us.

We went back to the swimming pool to chat for a while, but unfortunately we still didn’t encounter the elephant, and the wild boar family didn’t appear again. Considering that we would set off by car at 4 a.m. the next day to chase leopards and other animals deep in the virgin forest, we gave up waiting and returned to the cabin under the escort of security guards.

The next day, we set off early for a 4-hour off-road vehicle jungle tour, and saw wild boars, bison, hares, peacocks, sika deer, jackals, elephants and other animals along the way. Led by an experienced tour guide and driver, our car was the first one to see a leopard that day, and we were able to take a photo of the leopard from less than 10 meters away. We were really lucky!

Although the theme animal of Yala National Park is the leopard, the probability of seeing a leopard is usually less than 50%. Because the total number of leopards in Yala National Park is only more than 20, distributed in the vast forest. In addition, leopards are solitary animals, often walking alone, and often hiding in trees and difficult to find. No driver can guarantee that we will be able to see them.

After the jungle tour, the off-road vehicle took us back to the hotel, and we left after checking out. We checked in in the afternoon the day before and left at noon the next day. Our stay did not exceed 24 hours. The hotel facilities and scenery were average. But due to its special location and our special experience, Yala Cinnamon Hotel left a different experience for me.

Hiking on the beach, identifying animal tracks, encountering wild boars, exploring crocodiles at night, waiting for elephants, and tracking leopards. That feeling of anticipation, excitement, nervousness and heartbeat is something I will never forget.

(Stayed at Yala Cinnamon Hotel, Sri Lanka on June 4, 2014)

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