As Sri Lanka’s spectacular east coast finally opens up, you can discover big game and ancient treasures on an island full of wild wonders

Sunset over the Indian Ocean and a campfire on the beach crackles under a slowly rising orange moon. A candlelit table for five sits on the sand, a bottle of wine chills in the cooler.

“Oh my goodness, look at that,” my 12-year-old son Felix screams as he jumps out of his chair.

A hand grabs my shoulder. ‘Ma’am, can you move your family? There’s an elephant coming.’

I turn and there he is. Five tons of elephas maximus maximus, 20 feet from the tablecloth. We spread out as hotel guards monitor his progress by torchlight. He is headed for a freshwater lake.

“He’s not going to the front desk anyway,” says our waiter. “Last time he drank from the pond for two hours and no one could get back to his room.”

Animal magic: Sri Lanka is home to the ‘largest elephant gathering in the world’, reveals Fiona Hardcastle, who travels the country on a tour organised by Uga Resorts

Small islands are not meant to house big animals, but Sri Lanka is full of surprises: leopards, sloths, blue whales, sperm whales, huge crocodiles and the largest elephant population in the world.

Another interesting fact is that, thanks to the three climatic regions, you can avoid the monsoon that hits the southwest between May and August by heading to the dry and less developed east coast.

Here you can enjoy the 30 degree heat on pristine white beaches, softened by a sea breeze. What’s more, the national parks are home to some of the best big game safaris outside of Africa.

Add to that an enchanting melting pot of culture and gastronomy and I assure my husband and three children that we are having a holiday like no other.

Our 10-day trip is organised by Uga Resorts, a stylish chain of boutique hotels spread across the island. With Sri Lanka declared safe to travel after years of unrest, there is no better time to explore.

On Fiona’s tour, Uga Riva, ‘a sensitively restored 180-year-old mansion’ (above) in Negombo, is her first stop

Fiona’s daughters relax in Uga Riva’s pool, pictured here, after their 11-hour flight, which they describe as ‘perfect’

First stop: Negombo, a short distance from the Colombo airstrip, with more statues of the Virgin Mary than the Vatican (the wayside chapels and Catholic churches are a legacy of Portuguese colonial times) and accommodation that exudes peace and tranquility.

We’re barely under the sloping roofs of Uga Riva, a meticulously restored 180-year-old country house, when I’m surveying the fixtures and fittings. “This is perfect!” shouts Rose, 18, from the pool as she and Evie, 16, float away from the 11-hour flight from the UK.

The next morning our expedition really begins: we go to the Cultural Triangle, where the largest ancient cities of Sri Lanka are located.

We start in Dambulla, where the climb to the legendary rock temple brings my husband’s dormant fitness app to life.

“You’re off to a good start,” is the understatement of the year as we stand breathless but in wonder in the first of five caves bursting with golden Buddhas on the way to Paradise. They’re not the only ones.

On to the rural retreat of Ulagalla and a pilgrim’s welcome. Candles are lit, blessings are said, bells are rung. It could be an initiation ceremony, I joke, adding that I would happily join in whatever happens if it meant spending my days in this special place.

For the next three nights, I’ll be staying in one of 25 palatial villas spread across 58 acres of forest, each with its own lily pond, plunge pool and rice paddy. I don’t have the heart to tell the kids to set the alarm at 4am to go see a rock. Sigiriya, built like a fifth-century king’s fortress at 650ft, is Sri Lanka’s most dramatic sight, and there’s only one way to do it: Climb the metal steps bolted to the rock face and don’t look down.

Fiona climbs the impressive Sigiriya rock fortress (pictured) – ‘Sri Lanka’s most dramatic landmark’

Once again, my husband’s fitness app registers unusual activity, but as we reach the top, I can’t help but think that this needs a little more attention.

Dizziness is one thing, ignoring the repeated warning signs of ‘Wasp attack: be quiet’ is another. How King Kashyapa, who reportedly had 500 concubines in his skyline palace, managed to get so many women to the top is beyond me. Mind you, as King K no doubt told the girls, ‘The view is amazing, darling’. And so are the opportunities for prey.

A group of Grey Langurs hop along the edge. We watch, impressed, as one of them reaches into a woman’s bag before making off with her sandwiches. It’s definitely time for breakfast.

Back to basics to fortify with egg hoppers – crispy bowl-shaped pancakes into which we scoop curries, pickles and dahls – bowls full of fruit and king coconut juice.

You can go kayaking, horse riding and enjoy a sunset drink in what Rose calls her ‘happy place’ – an open-sided Land Cruiser on the shores of Nachchaduwa Lake.

Fiona is staying at Uga Bay Resort (above), which is set on more than two miles of private beach. It “has the kind of powdery white, palm-fringed sand that makes any sun worshipper’s heart beat faster,” she writes

Top left you see one of Uga Bay Resort’s expansive beach villas with a private pool, while on the right you see one of the bedrooms

Our last night and a party in the Kamatha, a piece of bare land in the heart of the rice fields, where the rice harvest comes to rest.

We pull up cinnamon-stick chairs as sisters Manel and Diluka welcome us into their mud-hut kitchen and explain how the women of the household come together to prepare dinner for their husbands after a day of working in the fields. My husband, who is responsible for all the meals at home, raises an eyebrow. The 25 dishes that follow astonish us. Our banana-leaf bowls are emptied.

Time to leave the wilderness that has captured our hearts and head for the breathtaking beaches. Our next stop, Uga Bay on the east coast, has the kind of powdery white, palm-fringed sand that makes any sun worshipper’s heart beat faster.

The 44 rooms and suites are spread out over two miles of private beach and all have private balconies overlooking the calmest of bays. A morning of snorkeling on a catamaran with a friendly crew of five from Sail Lanka takes us to deeper waters.

Fiona visits the Uga Chena Huts, seen here, an ‘exclusive’ 18-room safari setting

Inside one of the villas of Chena Huts – pictured one of the bedrooms (left) and a bathroom (right) – in the jungle of Sri Lanka ‘at the gates of Yala National Park’

Fiona sees a native leopard ‘slinking out of the bush’ in Yala National Park. ‘It’s a memory that will stay with us,’ she writes

It’s finally time for the big boys of the jungle and two nights at Chena Huts, an exclusive 18-room safari setting on the edge of Yala National Park. Our first morning game drive begins with a serendipity as a family of warthogs, my personal favorite, rush past.

The next three hours could have been straight out of The Jungle Book. Crocodiles and buffalo bathing in one lagoon, a trio of elephants playing in another, chattering monkeys crashing through trees, more peacocks than you can shake a tail feather at.

Then we see him. He slinks out of the undergrowth, crosses in front of us, the unmistakable mass of muscle and menace that is Sri Lanka’s native leopard. A look that carries the fear of God and he’s gone. Along with our jumbo encounter on the beach that night, it’s a memory that will stay with us.

But like Mowgli, we must leave the jungle. To the great smoke of Colombo, a haze of chaos and construction, and a lightning-fast tuk-tuk tour to our final stop at the Uga Residence, an oasis of colonial tranquility.