Wild encounters: We're taking the lid off Sri Lanka's best-kept secret

Almost a third of Sri Lanka is green - rainforest in the lowlands and upper tropical montane in the highlands; along with endlessly scenic plantations of the country's most famous export - tea.

I'm enjoying a cup of the latter while sitting on the deck of my glamping accommodation at Wild Coast Tented Lodge, abutting Yala National Park on Sri Lanka's southern coast. The name perfectly describes its setting, nestled between untamed bush and a tempestuous stretch of beach - I can't see a single person or building, and the only sounds are birdsong, the soprano chatter of langur monkeys and the ocean, its thunder muffled by dunes and the cassia scrub.

Yala National Park is one of 26 national parks across this island nation, encompassing a wide range of habitats; scrub and forest, natural lakes, marshland and open grasslands. The country hosts the world's largest annual gathering of wild elephants, as well as sloth bears, sambars, jackals, spotted deer, crocodiles and a host of smaller mammals, amphibians, birds and reptiles.

The most famous resident of Yala, once a hunting ground for the British, but designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1900 and a national park in 1938, is Panthera pardus kotiya - the Sri Lankan leopard. It's believed the park is home to the highest density of leopards anywhere in the world.

Wild Coast Tented Lodge operates like a luxury safari lodge, offering guests small-jeep game drives into the park in the mornings and afternoon. Before we even set off for our first, our wildlife guide, Kasun shows us a video on his phone another group had taken that morning - a bull elephant tusker called Gemenu charging a jeep.

He says everyone is fine, but I can imagine what an unsettling experience it would have been and I cross my fingers that we don't encounter him. The elephants here are a sub-species of Asian elephants, not as large as African elephants, but bigger than their Asian cousin. They are protected in Sri Lanka, the penalty for killing one, death.

The tracks through the park are rutted and pot-holed after recent rains. Some of the local safari operators don't go off the main tracks, Kasun tells us, because they're only two-wheel drives and worry about getting stuck. The trucks we encounter are generally much bigger than our jeep, in which I am one of only three guests.

We haven't driven far and are about to cross an overspill across the track, when we witness a crocodile emerging from this knee-depth puddle, its considerable jaws clamped around a large python. We watch as it drags the snake, right in front of us, before slipping into the bush and disappearing. We see herds of endemic spotted deer, families of wild pigs, including adorable piglets snuffling in the grass, buffalo bathing in small waterholes, and are forced to give way to another crocodile sunbathing on the track beside a swamp. At a lily-filled lagoon, with the fitting background of the metamorphic outcrop known as "elephant rock", we come across an elephant, wrapping its trunk around reeds and pulling them up to munch on the tender stems, utterly unperturbed by our presence.

The park is also a home to more than 215 species of birds, both native and migratory, and with the help of the knowledgeable Kasun, we spot green bee eaters, painted storks with their delicate pink tail feathers, the majestic crested serpent eagle, as well as many wild peacocks and the far less elegant Sri Lankan jungle fowl.

We are driving some back tracks when Kasun spots movement and indicates for the driver to stop. In the trees above, monkeys have started to howl and screech.

"There's a leopard about," he says. "The monkeys can see it and they are warning each other."

Our driver climbs onto the bonnet of the jeep with binoculars, but can't find anything - the vegetation is too thick. The monkeys' alarms seem to indicate the direction the leopard is heading in, and we take off to catch a glimpse but are eventually forced to admit defeat.

We're leaving the park when an elephant emerges from the bushes and comes right towards us at a considerable trot. "It's him," Kasun says urgently. "If it comes to the jeep, move into the middle." Fortunately, Gemenu seems to have a change of mind, abruptly swerving off in the last few seconds and heading back into the bush.

Part of the safari experience is the "apres ski" equivalent - sundowners. Back at the lodge, a bar has been set up on the bluff overlooking the sea and guests gather for a drink to watch the sun set and compare sightings. It transpires we'd just missed a leopard, but we're more than happy with our wildlife encounters.

After drinks, I have dinner at a table on the rocks overlooking the beach, beneath a clear sky splintered with stars, romantically lit with lanterns, cooled by sea breeze and soundtracked by the ocean.

The park is not fenced, so guests are escorted to their tents at night for safety. Following a visit to the spa the next morning, I come to a roadblock - a troupe of about 30 monkeys have discovered a fruiting tree and have hunkered down on the path, picnicking. I eye them, and take a step forward, trying to look confident, but they are not moving, so I'm forced to return and find a member of staff who scatters them for me.

While the beaches and heritage sites of Sri Lanka absolutely deserve their place, a visit to a national park such as Yala to experience the country's ecological diversity and unique wildlife should be considered an equal imperative to any itinerary.

Read more on Explore:

Getting there: SriLankan Airlines fly from Melbourne and Sydney to Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital. Yala National Park is about 280 kilometres south of Colombo. The easiest way to get there is with a private driver.

Staying there: Prices at Wild Coast Tented Lodge start at $US1265 ($1939) per night and include all meals and beverages (select spirits, wines and cocktails), in room mini bar and one shared game drive daily. See resplendentceylon.com/wildcoastlodge-yala

When to visit: The best time is during the dry season between February and July when animals tend to gather at the waterholes.

Explore more: srilanka.travel

The writer was a guest of Resplendent Ceylon's Wild Coat Tented Lodge.