Wild Things

Glamping at the edge of Yala National Park in Sri Lanka means befriending a resident wild boar and tarantula

- Kalpana Sunder

It’s pitch-dark by the time I arrive at Wild Coast Tented Lodge, on the dramatic southern coast of Sri Lanka, seven hours from Colombo. I cannot discern much of my surroundings in the darkness, and peer at the board outside the restaurant:

“(The lodge) is not fenced off. Elephants, leopards, sloth bears, wild boar, crocodiles and other denizens of Yala National Park could enter the lodge… We request you not to walk around in the night unless accompanied by a staff member.”

Wild Coast is situated in the buffer zone adjacent to the Yala National Park, a hotspot with one of the largest leopard populations. My temporary home is a glass fronted, cocoon-shaped tent that looks like a UFO which has inadvertently landed in the jungle. But look inside and you see that the lightweight structure of polyester has teak floors, porthole windows, slated blinds and a distinctly colonial decor—four-poster beds, vintage-style trunks that double as mini bars, and leather planter chairs. But the show-stopper is the claw-foot copper bathtub in the bath tent, which was crafted in Jaipur.