People sometimes ask us why we don't operate in Yala Block 1. It's a very fair question. If you have been researching Yala before coming to Sri Lanka, Block 1 is probably the name you have seen most often. It is the part of Yala that made the park famous for leopards, and there is a good reason for that. The leopard density in Block 1 is exceptionally high, and if seeing a leopard is the main reason for your safari, we would be the first people to tell you that Block 1 gives you a better opportunity.
So this isn't a story about Block 1 being bad and Block 5 or Block 6 being good. It is really a story about what kind of safari we enjoy ourselves, and what kind of experience we wanted to offer our guests.
The more time we spent guiding in different parts of Yala, the more we noticed that we were naturally drawn towards Blocks 5 and 6. There was something about the pace of a safari there that we liked. You could drive for a while without seeing another jeep. You could stop beside a reservoir because there was a group of birds worth watching, rather than because somebody had just announced a leopard over the radio. You could sit with an elephant herd for a little longer and watch what they were actually doing instead of immediately thinking about where you needed to go next.
After a while, we realised that these weren't just the places we happened to be working. They were the places where we genuinely enjoyed being on safari. And that became the reason we decided to focus only on Block 5 and Block 6.
It really starts with what happens when a leopard is found
There is nothing strange about wanting to see a leopard. Imagine you have travelled all the way to Sri Lanka. Maybe you have been looking forward to this safari for months. You've seen photographs of Yala leopards sitting on rocks, walking along the road or looking straight into a photographer's camera. Then, halfway through your safari, the radio suddenly comes alive.
"Leopard."
You can almost feel the mood inside the jeep change.
The guide knows it. The driver knows it. The guests definitely know it.
And suddenly everyone wants to get there.
We understand that feeling because we are wildlife lovers too. If we hear that a leopard or sloth bear has been seen somewhere nearby and there is a genuine chance of getting there, we will usually head in that direction. Of course we want our guests to have that opportunity.
The problem starts when the same information reaches dozens of other jeeps. One vehicle becomes five. Five becomes twenty. And before long, what was a quiet road in a national park can become a line of vehicles all trying to reach the same animal.
The drivers aren't necessarily bad people. Most of them are doing exactly what their guests have asked them to do. Everyone wants the best possible view. Everyone is excited. Everyone is thinking, "If we don't get there now, we might miss it."
And that is how the pressure builds.
This is one of the things that made us think differently about what kind of safari we wanted to run.
We still want to see the animals
Choosing Block 5 and Block 6 doesn't mean we sit in the jeep and pretend we don't care about wildlife sightings. We care a lot.
If a reliable leopard sighting comes over the radio and it makes sense to go, we'll go. If a sloth bear has just been seen in an area and there is a realistic chance of finding it, we'll try.
Our guests have come all this way. Of course we want them to have those moments.
But there is a point where trying to get a sighting stops being reasonable.
We won't speed through the park. We won't drive off the road to get closer. We won't push another vehicle out of the way because we want a better position. And if the only way to reach an animal is to put unnecessary pressure on it, we are comfortable accepting that we might miss the sighting.
That can be a difficult decision when you know your guests would love to see the animal. But this is where our idea of an ethical safari becomes something practical rather than just a word on a website.
Sometimes the right decision is simply to let the animal go.
This is why the quieter nature of Block 5 and Block 6 matters to us
The difference is not that you enter Block 5 or 6 and suddenly have the entire national park to yourself. You don't. If something exceptional happens, other vehicles can still arrive. If a leopard is found, people will naturally want to see it. We cannot control every other driver operating inside a public national park.
But most of the time, the experience is different.
You can spend longer periods simply exploring. And that changes the way you notice things.
You might be driving beside a reservoir and see a group of painted storks feeding in the shallows. There is no reason to rush, so you stop. While watching the birds, you notice a crocodile lying on the opposite bank. Then you realise that the spotted deer on the edge of the water have suddenly become very alert.
Nothing dramatic has happened. Nobody has shouted "leopard". But now you're wondering what the deer have noticed.
Maybe it is nothing. Maybe it is a jackal moving through the grass. Maybe there is a predator somewhere hidden in the vegetation that you will never see.
Those are the moments we enjoy.
Because a safari starts becoming much more interesting when you stop looking at the park as a place where you are supposed to collect animals.
Planning a safari in Yala Block 5 or Block 6?
We plan everything personally and reply on WhatsApp, usually within a few hours.
And this is where Block 5 and Block 6 suit us
There are days when we spend a long time with elephants. There are days when we find ourselves watching birds for far longer than we expected. There are days when a crocodile becomes the most interesting animal of the morning.
And then there are the really lucky days.
A sloth bear appears beneath a Palu tree.
A leopard quietly crosses the track.
For a few seconds, everything changes.
But those sightings are special partly because we haven't spent the entire day chasing them.
This is particularly important with leopards.
Leopards are present in both Block 5 and Block 6, but they are seen much less predictably than in Block 1. From our experience, we would describe leopard sightings in Block 5 as uncommon and unpredictable, while in Block 6 they are rare.
We would rather tell you that clearly before you book.
If your main goal is to maximise your chances of seeing a leopard, Block 1 is the more sensible choice.
We don't want to make Block 5 or Block 6 sound like a secret version of Block 1 where you get the same leopard opportunities without the vehicles. That simply wouldn't be honest.
What we can say is that when a leopard does appear in these quieter areas, the experience can sometimes feel very different.
Sometimes there are only a few vehicles. Sometimes more arrive. Sometimes you get a few quiet minutes before the radio starts bringing other jeeps towards you.
That is simply part of being in a national park.
But for the rest of the day, you are usually not living from one leopard report to the next.
There is also something we learned from watching our guests
This is probably one of the things that made the decision clearer for us.
At the beginning of a safari, guests often have a very specific idea of what they want to see.
"Leopard."
"Elephant."
"Sloth bear."
And that is completely understandable.
But after a few hours, something usually changes.
Someone starts asking why the deer are behaving strangely. Someone notices a bird they have never seen before. Someone becomes fascinated by a family of elephants feeding beside the road. Someone asks us to stop because they have just noticed a huge crocodile lying completely still in the water.
The focus slowly moves away from what they came hoping to tick off and towards what is actually happening around them.
That is when we feel the safari has really started.
You are no longer waiting for Yala to give you the one animal you came for.
You are watching Yala.
And there is a big difference.
We also don't want to pretend that Block 1 is the problem and we are the solution
There are many good guides and drivers working in Block 1 who genuinely care about wildlife and try to conduct responsible safaris.
The difficulty is that they are working in a much busier environment.
Even a careful guide can find themselves surrounded by vehicles when an exciting sighting is reported. The pressure doesn't necessarily come from one person making a bad decision. It can come from fifty people making perfectly understandable decisions at the same time.
That's why we don't think this is as simple as saying, "Block 1 has bad drivers."
It doesn't.
There are responsible operators there.
There are also different kinds of safari experiences, and Block 1 is particularly attractive to people whose priority is seeing leopards.
We simply decided that it wasn't the kind of environment we wanted to build our own business around.
So why only Block 5 and Block 6?
Because after spending years in Yala, these are the places where we still enjoy getting into a jeep ourselves.
We like having time.
Time to watch.
Time to listen.
Time to change direction because something interesting caught our attention.
Time to sit beside a reservoir without feeling that we have to move because another vehicle might be waiting behind us.
And if a leopard appears, we'll absolutely try our best to give our guests the opportunity to see it.
If a sloth bear appears, we'll probably be just as excited as they are.
But if neither happens, that doesn't mean the safari was unsuccessful.
There is still the elephant herd. The crocodile. The deer alarm calls. The eagle sitting above the grassland. The birds around the reservoir. The changing light. The landscape itself.
And sometimes, after six hours in the park, those are the things you end up talking about on the way back.
That is the kind of safari we want to offer.
Not a safari where we can promise you a particular animal. Not a safari where we pretend Block 5 or Block 6 is somehow "better" than Block 1. Just a quieter way of experiencing Yala, where we still take every sensible opportunity to find wildlife, but don't feel that we have to chase every sighting at any cost.
Planning a safari in Yala Block 5 or Block 6?
We plan each safari personally and are happy to talk through what you are hoping to see, the time of year you are visiting and which block we think would suit you best.
If your priority is a leopard, tell us. If you are more interested in elephants, sloth bears, birds, photography or simply having a quieter day inside Yala, tell us that too. We'll give you our honest opinion, even if that means telling you that another part of Yala may suit you better. Because we don't think our job is to convince everyone to choose Block 5 and Block 6. Our job is to help you understand what the experience is actually like, and then let you decide if it feels right for you.