Minneriya National Park

Three of the island's headline sights in one day from Kandy: Sigiriya, the Dambulla caves and a wild elephant safari.

A private jeep safari to see wild Asian elephants in the Cultural Triangle – and, crucially, to whichever of the three parks actually has the elephants in the month you travel.

Half a day in a working farming village near Habarana: a bullock cart along the field bunds, a catamaran across the tank, and lunch cooked with you in a clay pot over a wood fire.

Sri Lanka is Asia's best-kept safari secret: leopards, elephants, sloth bears and more than 400 bird species on an island you can cross in a day. This tour visits four national parks – Wilpattu, Minneriya, Udawalawe and Yala – with a naturalist guide and comfortable lodges close to the park gates.

A tour designed around light, not a checklist. Travel with a photographer-naturalist, use private safari jeeps with beanbags and extra time at sightings, and plan every shoot around golden hour.

Sri Lanka is Asia's best-kept safari secret: leopards, elephants, sloth bears and more than 400 bird species on an island you can cross in a day. This tour visits four national parks – Wilpattu, Minneriya, Udawalawe and Yala – with a naturalist guide and comfortable lodges close to the park gates.

A tour designed around light, not a checklist. Travel with a photographer-naturalist, use private safari jeeps with beanbags and extra time at sightings, and plan every shoot around golden hour.