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So, you're thinking about a trip to Sri Lanka, but you're not quite sure what to expect. Woohoo! Oh, that's exactly why we came north. Maybe you're looking for all the Instagrammable places. Or perhaps you are looking for adventure on the wind is blowing. I hate this. My mother would kill me, my mother. But don't worry. Whatever you are looking for, we will share with you our honest experiences in this wild and colorful country. And because we are budget travelers and specialize in bigger and better adventures for less money, we do it all for less than $1,000 each. So sit back, relax, and join us on this epic journey through
Sri Lanka. Okay, Tayu, do me the honor. Play the intro. IN! Boom! It always comes too late. Everything remains unchanged. And I try, I try to find my way and learn from the dark days. The creation of this season was made possible by Sri Lankan Airlines, which provides convenient and cheap connections to the island. Book flights with Sri Lankan Airlines. We are also supported by Wando-an indispensable app for any digital nomad. Discover destinations, jobs, housing and more. Download it for free on the App Store today. We are still at the top of Ella Rock. We spent the night here last night. If you saw the previous episode, you know it was amazing.
It was incredible. And today we had the joy of descending this mountain. We hunt on safari and maybe jump into the ocean. We haven't seen the ocean in a long time. So, we don't quite know what awaits us, but we know it will be an adventure. We know it will be cool. And we're going out for breakfast soon, to give this one coffee and that one something to eat. It will be a very, very busy day. Our first task is to set up the tent. Yes. And take all our things Yes. Time to face the truth. Yes. Spending the night here, on top of Ella Rock, was definitely an incredible highlight of our trip. With the cool mountain air and the soft
warm sun shining through the trees, it was a truly peaceful and direct journey back along the beautiful natural trail to our tuk -tuk. We did a final oil check before the long drive out of the mountains towards the plains of Udawalawe National Park. We drove about 100 km through the valleys back into the hot lands, the tuk- tuk moving slowly but surely, and we arrived in the afternoon. We were hoping to be able to go on a jeep safari and finally see wild elephants for the first time. So, welcome to Uda-Walawe We have already left the mountains and headed south, to the flatlands, and it is incredibly hot here.
Mhm. We miss the fresh mountain air. In any case, there are many luxury hotels in Uda-Walawe for those going on safari. And if you're a budget traveler like us, head deep into Uda-Walawe. You can find cheaper guesthouses and bargain. We rented a room for about $18 for three, which is not bad at all. And it's a little bit beyond our budget, but only a little. Yes, the sun is already setting. It is about three o'clock now. We hope to see our first elephant. True. That's the goal of today- to see wild, real, and free elephants. Why a jaguar? Jaguar. That would be epic.
Thank you. This is our driver. What is your name? Nice to meet you. Thank you. As you can see, organizing a jeep tour was extremely simple. All the places to stay in the area have contacts for guides who will come, pick you up, and take you to the park entrance. Entrance to the park cost $20 for a jeep, and a guide who takes you around the park costs between $50 and $80, depending on your bargaining skills. And the more people in your jeep, the cheaper it is for us. The total cost of the 4- hour jeep safari was just under $100 for all of us. A real bargain that could have been even cheaper if we had found other travelers who wanted to join us. But we were very pleased that the jeep was only at our disposal. And soon we noticed the first
signs of wild animals. Not even 5 minutes, and we're already. Look, he's peeing. What do we have here? Wild buffalo. Look, he's peeing He's just taking a mud bath. , they look so happy when they are completely covered in mud. Our driver spotted elephants. So, elephants and. No, only females. They are all females. Oh, of course. hiding in the bushes. It was so wonderful to see these giants with at least one eye, even if only for a moment and through the dense undergrowth.
We drove around the rest of the day with huge smiles on our faces. Because for us, just seeing them so wild and free in this beautiful park was more than enough. And while we were driving through the park, we saw many more wild animals. We saw large groups of monkeys eating and drinking at the waterhole. We saw crocodiles basking in the afternoon sun, showing off their jagged scales and sharp teeth. We saw beautiful tropical birds dancing and courting females on the tops of branches above their nests. And we enjoyed all this incredible beauty, while desperately searching for another elephant. The only problem was that they were very good at camouflage. The jungle is so thick, and it seemed that if we saw them, it would only be from afar, because they were all
already returning to the forest to prepare for sleep. But then we turned the corner and found something epic. This is the city of elephants. We never thought we could get so close to animals. Heat. So, they found a lake, and two elephants were swimming there. There the crocodile is basking in the sun. The sun has set. We found seven, I'll try. Here Oh my God. Mission of the day accomplished. We were on safari. We saw elephants. We returned on time. We even have housing for today. Everything was arranged in a short time. Well done, guys. Well done. Yeah, we should, uh, tip him. We were told that, uh, the usual tip is 800 rupees, which is like 5 dollars, not much, but uh, he was a good guide, a very
friendly and nice guy, so it was worth it. Yes. Donate a few beers for a job well done. Thank you. So, although we were exhausted after hiking to Ellis Rock since early morning, covering many kilometers by tuk- tuk, and the southern safari, we were still in high spirits as we prepared for the night. The next day there was no time for rest, as we packed up our tuk- tuk again and headed to another national park, perhaps the most famous in Sri Lanka- Yala National Park. We still had 4 hours of driving across the island to go, but we all really fell in love with Sri Lanka and life on the road with our trusty little car. We even saw more elephants on the way south, but that was because tourists were feeding wild elephants, which is forbidden
for a good reason, guys. This not only endangers people and traffic, but more importantly, the elephants themselves, and has already resulted in their deaths due to this behavior. So please don't do this, even if your guide thinks it's a fun photo shoot. We reached a small town near the park and found a cheap hostel. And that's when we happened to meet our familiar friends. They not only had exciting news for us, but also warnings about the campsite at the top of Ella Rock, where we had all enjoyed a relaxing break two nights ago. So, we got to Yala and met up with these guys, our friends, who you may know from our previous episode, and Sharon. But it turns out they had their own adventure at Ella Rock, where we camped yesterday. We left about 3 hours after
you and on the way back we were stopped by the police who told us that it was very illegal to camp there. They are very afraid of forest fires and said they could arrest us if they find us there again. It's your fault. It's not my fault. To be fair, to be fair, we were told by our couchsurfing host that it was allowed to pitch a tent there and we didn't force you to go without and he told us, "Oh yeah, we camp there all the time, like him and his friends." So, we do n't. So, we apologize. It was an epic experience, and we don't regret it, but took care of fire safety and cleaned up after ourselves. We always clean.
We put out the fire before we left. Yes, we were very conscious. By the way, about consciousness: these guys have their own business, the travel app Mindful Travels. Today they kindly invited us on a safari, and we're kind of testing out one of the experiences on their platform, Mindful. I think it will be fine. I hope it will be great. Everything we do is based on three main things. The first is to inspire people to learn through experience. The second is to help them contribute to helping those in need. And the third is to show them ways to live in the present moment. So we traveled the island, looking for ways to learn, help, and live in the present moment.
And we put it in the app. So when you travel, you too can find ways to learn, help, and live in the present moment. We truly invite you to download it when you are here in Sri Lanka. Try it out. Let them know. Leave feedback, because that's what you want. That would be great. Um, and you can organize a bunch of things to do in Sri Lanka, like a safari tour and meeting other people, to reduce the costs, because jeeps are quite expensive. And with budget travelers, when they said, "Hey, let's split the cost." And we're like, " Okay, cool." And then, " Oh, we have a new app. Maybe we can do it through the app." And we're like, "Okay, that's even better for us.
Thank you very much. Let's do this. Let's go have some fun." Adventure time. We were excited to be Yala National Park. This is the most famous national park in Sri Lanka. But is he good? And is it crowded? We had many questions. The most interesting thing we were sure of was the fact that Yala is home to a significant population of leopards. And we kept our fingers crossed that we would see at least someone. We rushed into the park and immediately felt the sheer scale of this reserve compared to Udawalawe the day before. The park stretches along the coast, and we saw a great variety of species almost immediately.
Greetings. Our driver received news that a leopard had been spotted near one of the roads about 5 km into the park. And so, excited with excitement, our driver accelerated and rushed us to the place where the leopard was. When we arrived, we saw that it wasn't just our trucks that had received word of the sighting, so we had to patiently wait our turn to drive up to the spot where we had seen the leopard. There we got stuck in a queue to see it and there is no delay, unfortunately. Did you get your, uh, leopard pass? I've never seen anything as wild as Patty's shirt., but we don't know if he has moved. We don't know if he's hiding or if they're just really hard to spot. But here's what we're looking at.
Do you see him? I don't see him. So, as you can see, the leopard was impossible to spot, and perhaps that's thanks to its amazing camouflage. Or maybe the loud trucks scared him off much earlier. Despite everything, we continued to enjoy our trip through this wonderful park, bathing in the rays of the setting sun. And again our driver received news of another leopard. And without any warning, we raced at full speed along the winding and thorny paths towards the animal. The ride was exciting, but we hoped that the crazy speed we were driving at was within the park's rules and safe for the animals, because who knows what could have happened if a frightened animal had jumped out in front of the
jeep while we were driving through the park. These fears, however, were somewhat hidden at that moment, as we held on as best we could, and were also excited by the prospect of reaching the leopard much earlier than the others. After about 20 minutes of extreme off-roading, we turned a corner, and although it took our eyes a minute to adjust, we saw that the leopard had not just appeared, but was actually resting on the trail, completely oblivious to us. It was a magical moment, and the beauty of this predator is simply unmatched. The fact that we got so close and intimate with such an animal was definitely a moment we will never forget.
However, all of these emotions and reflections are much easier to convey to you now, weeks after this meeting, because we haven't shown you one thing-the reality of this situation. What is happening? One leopard, and here are 10 jeeps. I think it looks a little unethical now. Not sure what I think about that. To be fair, the animal didn't look too stressed, but all that commotion was definitely distracting and certainly unsettling. We were happy, of course, to see a leopard, but the way we did it was far from ideal. I hope you can enjoy the peace and quiet, although I doubt it. And as we were leaving the park, just as the sun was setting, we decided it was best to stop, wrap up the episode, and
just try to understand and appreciate our experiences here in Yala National Park. The sun sets, ending the day and the safari. Well, how did you like the safari? We really liked it. Yes, it was exciting. Yes, it was also very, very crowded here. So, yes. Amar said it was low season. So it was crowded, but imagine what happens here in high season. It's also worth knowing that Sri Lanka has many national parks, right? And Yala is usually the most crowded of them. So you can decide for yourself whether you want to go to Yala, which is famous for leopards, or visit other national parks that are no less beautiful.
It was a completely different experience. I think it's completely different. Yes. Jeep drivers have their own jobs, right? They should provide tourists with the best possible experience. And people come to Yala for the leopards. So they get a message from the other 25 drivers: "Oh, there's a leopard on the cliff. " Come quickly." And we are all rushing there. Well, there are 30 jeeps surrounding one poor leopard park management's fault, because there are ways to avoid this. How many leopards are there in that park? Probably 20-30, maybe. This park is larger than some small European countries. But, you know, we all rush to the same place. So, I don't know. You know better than us.
We just want you to draw your own conclusions from what you saw, because you can see how incredibly beautiful this country is. And we hope that by showing you what it's like in Yala, those in charge will start implementing stricter rules about how close jeeps can get to these amazing animals. But we just hope you appreciate the honest and truthful stories of our travels that we continue to do here at Budgeteers. And we hope to see you next week for a new adventure that we can't wait to share. Thanks again for watching. If you enjoyed this episode, please support us by giving us a like, subscribing to the channel, and clicking the bell icon so you don't miss new videos. You can also support this channel by purchasing
Budgeteers merchandise. There are lots of cool designs and new product lines, including stickers. So be sure to go and take a look. And if you liked the music in this episode, know that we use Epidemic Sound for all of our videos. And below you can get a 30- day free trial to improve your content, whatever it is. But for now, we'll leave you with this teaser for next week's episode and a simple question for you. In what situation while traveling did you feel most awkward? We would be happy to hear your answers in the comments below. And so, see you next week. Greetings. We are Budgeteers, and these are very famous coconut trees.
