Tree Tops Jungle Lodge

Tree Tops is the off-grid jungle camp out near Yala, about ten kilometres from Buttala and eight from the quieter northern block of the park, where the safari trucks thin out. There are only three tented chalets here, raised on platforms with a king bed and en-suite each, run on solar power with candlelit dinners — small enough that it never feels like a hotel and never tries to. You walk the forest straight from camp with a guide, then head into Yala proper for the headline cast: leopard, elephant, sloth bear, deer, wild boar. Rates include all your meals, which up here is the only sensible arrangement. It's deliberately stripped-back and the better for it. Verdict: a proper bush camp for the dry-zone south, with Yala's leopards a short drive away and only two other tents for company.