Originally Posted by
aesla11
We are in planning stages for a combined Safari/Maldives trip next May/June. From my research, India and Sri Lanka have the best Safari options in Asia. India is pretty straight forward as Taj/Andbeyond camps are always fantastic. However, it will be quite hot in India and cultural excursions may not be as easy due to distances. On the other hand Sri Lanka's national parks such as Yala sound great (highest leopard concentration but no tigers) and weather should be more ideal. The only major issue with Sri Lanka would be Camp/resort quality that offers safaris. Of course, Amanwella seems too far from Yala (around 2 hours away). One of the ones that I've found would be Chayaa. Can anyone comment on quality of Safari experiences in two countries mentioned as well as possible luxury accomodation options in each?
Depends where in India. Ranthambore is closed starting June 1st, and can be brutally hot in May. We considered ourselves lucky that it was low 40s during the day--last year it was apparently day time highs of 48. I have to say that I think even at Aman i Khas that would be debilitating. It is simply too hot to do anything between 10 am and 5 pm. I really do think May is too hot unless you are native. I dont think the north east would be much better; temperatures may be a couple degrees lower but humidity would be much higher. We will definitely go to India again, but it will just as definitely be Feb/March time. Also, and others may disagree with me, but if you are used to high end Africa safaris, India isnt that. I suspect that Sri Lanka is really really not that. Even Aman, Oberoi, etc are not quite up to high end South Africa, Tanzania, Botswanna standards.