Yala Block 5 Safari

When people first start researching Yala National Park, they are usually looking at Block 1. That is understandable. Block 1 is the most famous part of Yala, particularly for its leopards, and there is a good reason for that. It has one of the highest leopard densities in the world and generally gives visitors a better opportunity to see one.

But Yala is much bigger than Block 1.

Yala Block 5 is a 6,656-hectare section of the wider Yala ecosystem. It was added to Yala National Park in 1973, several decades after the original park was established in 1938. When Yala National Park was first established, what we now know as Block 1 was the original protected area. Over the following decades, more forests and wildlife habitats around the region came under protection and became part of the wider Yala system. Today, the different blocks are managed as separate areas, but wildlife does not see these boundaries in quite the same way we do.

There are no fences telling an elephant that it has reached the end of Block 5. A leopard can move through different habitats. Other animals move according to water, food, shelter and the seasons. This is one reason we find it useful to think of Block 5 as part of a much larger connected wilderness rather than an isolated safari area.

One of the defining features of Block 5 today is the Weheragala Reservoir. The project was started in 2005, and construction of the reservoir and its conveyance system was completed in 2009. The reservoir has a capacity of around 64 million cubic metres and forms part of the wider Menik Ganga and Lunugamwehera irrigation system (Irrigation Ministry of Sri Lanka). Since then, it has become an important part of the landscape around Block 5. During the drier periods, the water is particularly important to wildlife, while the open water, flooded forest and standing dead trees have also created a landscape that looks quite different from many other parts of Yala.

For photographers, these surroundings can become part of the photograph. You have forest backgrounds, rocky areas, reservoirs and open landscapes where the habitat around the animal becomes part of the story rather than simply a background.

You can also come across old temple ruins inside the wider landscape, which is another reminder that this area has a long human history as well as its importance for wildlife.

But for most visitors, the first thing they notice when they actually enter Block 5 isn't the history.

It's the pace.

The biggest difference is the number of safari vehicles.

Block 1 attracts the vast majority of Yala's safari traffic. Based on what we regularly see, around 400 safari vehicles can enter on an average day, while during particularly busy holiday periods the number can rise to more than 600.

Block 5 is very different. On a normal day, we would expect around 10 to 15 safari vehicles in the area, although on very busy days this can rise to around 20 to 30. These are approximate figures based on our experience in the field rather than an official daily vehicle count, and they can change depending on the season, holidays and wildlife sightings.

The numbers are useful, but they don't tell the whole story. The important difference isn't simply that you might see ten jeeps instead of hundreds. It is what happens when something exciting is found.

If a leopard or sloth bear is spotted in Block 5, the information can still travel between guides and drivers. Other vehicles may come. Sometimes you might find yourself with one or two other jeeps around a sighting, and on an unusually busy occasion there can be considerably more. Block 5 is not an empty private reserve.

The difference is the scale and how often you experience that pressure. In Block 1, a major leopard sighting can attract a very large gathering in a short period. In Block 5, a gathering of 20 or 30 vehicles would already be an unusually busy situation. On many days, you can spend long periods seeing very few other vehicles.

And that changes the feeling of the day. You don't have to spend the entire safari wondering where the next radio report is coming from. You can stop because there are interesting birds around a reservoir. You can spend another few minutes with an elephant herd because they are doing something interesting. You can watch a deer herd and notice how it suddenly becomes alert without immediately needing to drive away.

We think this is one of the most important things to explain honestly.

You are accepting a lower chance of seeing a leopard in exchange for generally lower vehicle pressure.

Leopards are present in Block 5, but sightings are less common and unpredictable compared with Block 1. Sloth bears are also present, and a sighting can be incredibly special, but they are difficult animals to find and we would never plan a safari around the assumption that one will appear.

So if your main reason for visiting Yala is, "I really want to see a leopard," we would tell you to seriously consider Block 1.

We don't want to make Block 5 sound like a secret version of Block 1 where you get the same leopard opportunities without the crowds. That would not be honest.

What Block 5 offers is something different. You may spend hours exploring without seeing a leopard at all, but during that time you are still inside a huge wildlife landscape with elephants, spotted deer, sambar, crocodiles, wild buffalo, birds of prey, wetland birds, monkeys and many other species.

And sometimes, if luck happens to be on your side, something much rarer appears.

A sloth bear quietly moving through the scrub. A leopard crossing the track. A herd of elephants appearing near the water.

Those moments feel special partly because you haven't spent the entire day chasing them.

Elephants are present in Block 5, but we would describe sightings as occasional and variable. Some days can be very good, while on other days they may spend their time somewhere else. Block 6 generally gives us a better chance of finding elephants, which is one reason we often combine the two areas rather than treating Block 5 on its own.

Leopards are possible in Block 5, but less common than in Block 1. We don't use the presence of leopards as a reason to promise a sighting. They are wild animals, and whether one crosses your route on a particular day is something nobody can control.

Sloth bears are another animal that makes Block 5 particularly interesting to us. They are naturally secretive and difficult to predict, but certain conditions can give us more reason to search particular areas. During May and June, for example, Palu trees can produce fruit, and those fruits are attractive to a number of animals, including sloth bears. Rain can also soften the ground around termite mounds, giving bears easier access to another important food source. Those are clues, not guarantees.

Then there are the animals that people sometimes overlook because they are waiting for something bigger. Spotted deer can be found throughout the area, sambar are present, crocodiles can be seen around water, wild buffalo move through the landscape and monkeys are often active around the forest.

Wild boar were once a much more familiar sight in Yala, but their numbers have been affected by disease outbreaks in recent years. Today, we would consider them a rare sighting compared with how common they once were. Golden jackals are also present, but they are not something we would describe as a regular sighting.

And then there are the birds. For anyone interested in birdwatching or photography, it is easy to spend much more time looking at the smaller details of Block 5 than you originally planned. Reservoirs, waterholes, forest edges and open grassland bring together different habitats, and species such as painted storks, pelicans, herons, egrets, raptors, bee-eaters, rollers and many other birds can become part of the safari. Sometimes the bird you stop for turns out to be the most memorable part of the day.

For us, this is not simply about using the word "ethical" because it sounds good. We think the word only means something if it describes what we actually do once we are inside the park.

And we also want to be honest about something that sometimes gets lost when people talk about ethical safaris. We are still here because we love wildlife. Our guests have travelled a long way to experience Yala, and of course we want to give them the best chance we reasonably can to see the animals they have come hoping for.

So if a leopard is genuinely confirmed nearby, we will usually pick up the pace a little and try to reach the area while there is still a realistic chance of seeing it. We don't want to hide that part of our safari behind the word "ethical". If there is a real opportunity, we will make a sensible effort.

But picking up the pace is not the same as racing. We stay on permitted roads, follow the park rules and never drive off the track or take unnecessary risks just to reach an animal faster. There is a difference between trying to reach a confirmed sighting and turning the whole safari into a race.

We are quite comfortable being open about this because we don't believe an ethical safari means pretending that we don't care about seeing wildlife. We do care. A lot. What matters to us is knowing when that effort to find an animal starts becoming pressure on the animal itself.

And this is particularly important with leopards in Block 5. They are difficult to find. Actually, finding a wild leopard is difficult anywhere in the world. It takes patience, many hours in the field and a fair amount of luck. The part you don't always see online is everything that happened before that one beautiful photograph appeared on Instagram. You see the leopard sitting perfectly in the morning light, but you don't see the many hours and sometimes many safaris when nobody saw a leopard at all.

We don't want to give you only the exciting part of the story and make it sound as though a leopard is waiting somewhere in Block 5 if your guide simply knows the right place. It doesn't work that way. Even when we know a leopard has been seen recently, there is no guarantee it will still be there when we arrive.

So yes, if a confirmed leopard report comes through nearby, we will try a little harder to reach it. But we won't let the entire day become a rat race from one radio report to another. If we arrive and the animal is already moving away, we won't block its path just to keep the sighting going or get a better photograph. If an elephant wants to cross the road, we give it space. If an animal becomes uncomfortable because of the vehicles around it, sometimes the right decision is simply to move back and let it continue.

These decisions can seem very small when you look at them individually. Wait instead of pushing forward. Give the animal another few metres. Switch off the engine. Move aside when something wants to pass. Accept that sometimes the better decision for the animal means we may get a less dramatic photograph.

But over the course of a whole safari, there can be dozens of these little decisions. For us, that's where the word "ethical" actually starts to mean something.

The lower vehicle pressure in Block 5 helps with this too. When you aren't surrounded by a large group of jeeps competing for the same sighting, there is generally more room to slow down, observe what is happening and make a calm decision instead of feeling that you have to keep moving because another vehicle is waiting behind you.

And responsible tourism goes beyond what happens inside the jeep. The people living around these protected areas also need ways to earn a living. Guides, drivers, accommodation providers, restaurants and many other local businesses depend partly on visitors. When tourism is managed responsibly, it can give people more reasons to earn from keeping wildlife and natural areas valuable rather than depending as heavily on clearing forests for cultivation or hunting wildlife for trade. Tourism can also help create support for local education and conservation efforts.

It doesn't solve every problem, and we don't want to pretend that it does. But when people can make a living because a forest, a national park and its wildlife are worth protecting, tourism can become one part of keeping those places alive for the future.

If you are searching for Yala Block 5, one of the first practical questions is where you actually enter.

The main access associated with Block 5 is the Galge Entrance, approached from the western side of the wider Yala area. The route is connected with the Buttala and Kataragama side, making it quite different from the access most visitors associate with Block 1.

From Kataragama, the Galge side is roughly 18 km away, while from Tissamaharama it is roughly 36 km. Actual travel distances and times can vary depending on your starting point and road conditions.

You may also come across the name Katagamuwa when researching Yala access, particularly in older information, so it is worth knowing that this name can also appear in information about this side of the park.

The park generally operates from around 6:00 am until 6:00 pm, although temporary restrictions can happen when heavy rain affects roads or access.

This is one of the reasons we particularly like combining Block 5 and Block 6 on the same safari.

The Block 6 entrance is near Thanamalwila, and its location is especially convenient for travellers moving between Ella and Sri Lanka's south coast. Instead of making a separate journey towards the more familiar Yala accommodation areas, you can sometimes build the safari into the route you are already travelling.

Our combined safaris usually start around 1:00 pm from the Block 6 side. We spend time exploring Block 6 first and then gradually continue towards Block 5 later in the afternoon.

There is a practical reason for doing it this way as well. From Thanamalwila towards the Galge side of Block 5, the direct road journey is roughly 50 km. By entering through Block 6 first and continuing through the park towards Block 5, the route is roughly 35 km. That makes it much more practical to experience both areas during the same safari rather than treating them as two completely separate destinations.

Starting around 1:00 pm also brings us naturally into the later afternoon, when temperatures begin to fall and many animals become more active again. Leopards are predominantly nocturnal but can be active around dawn and dusk, and sloth bears also tend to become more active during cooler periods. This is based partly on our own experience of guiding and observing these animals, rather than something we would present as a guarantee of sightings.

Although Block 5 and Block 6 are managed as separate sections, you do not need to buy two separate national park entrance tickets simply because your safari moves between the two areas.

If you enter through the Block 5 side and continue into Block 6, the same park admission applies. Likewise, if you enter through Block 6 and continue into Block 5, you do not need to purchase another park ticket when moving between the two areas.

This is one of the practical reasons we can combine Block 6 and Block 5 in the same safari. You can enter from the Thanamalwila side, explore Block 6 first and gradually work towards Block 5 later in the afternoon, without treating them as two separate park visits.

If you are travelling from Ella towards the south coast, or from the south coast towards Ella, the Block 6 entrance near Thanamalwila is already along the main route between those two areas.

That means you don't necessarily have to make a separate trip to Yala, stay overnight around Tissamaharama and then travel back again simply to do a safari. You can arrange to meet us around the Block 6 entrance, spend the afternoon and evening exploring Blocks 6 and 5, and then continue towards your next destination afterwards. Depending on your itinerary, we can arrange the pickup and drop-off around a suitable point so you can continue towards Ella or the south coast.

For someone travelling on a tight schedule, this can mean less backtracking, less time in a taxi and lower transport costs. It can also mean avoiding an extra night's accommodation simply to make the safari fit into the journey.

Of course, if you have plenty of time and want to stay around Yala for a few nights, there is nothing wrong with that. But if you're already travelling between Ella and the south coast, it is worth knowing that a Yala Block 5 and Block 6 safari can sometimes fit naturally into the journey you are already making.

Block 1 has a midday break, while Block 5 and Block 6 can continue operating through those hours. Wildlife activity is usually slower around the hottest part of the day, so we wouldn't tell you that midday is the best time to look for animals.

But those hours are still available.

On a longer safari, this means you don't necessarily have to leave the park simply because the morning session has finished. You can take the middle of the day at a slower pace, perhaps spending time around water, watching birds or resting while the heat is strongest, and then continue exploring as the afternoon becomes cooler.

There can also be an interesting change in vehicle numbers during this period. Morning groups may already have left while afternoon visitors have not yet fully arrived, which can sometimes give you an especially quiet part of the day.

Again, nothing is guaranteed. It is simply another difference between the experience here and the way many visitors experience Block 1.

If you are specifically planning to visit Block 5 or combine Block 5 and Block 6, Thanamalwila is one of the most practical places to stay because of its proximity to the Block 6 entrance and the route towards Ella.

Kataragama is another useful option, particularly if you are approaching from the southern side.

Tissamaharama, Weerawila and the accommodation areas around the more familiar Block 1 routes are also possible, but they generally involve more driving to reach the Block 5 side.

This is another reason we ask guests about their wider Sri Lanka itinerary before simply telling them where to stay. The best place depends on where you are coming from and where you are going next. If you are travelling Ella to Yala to the south coast, for example, your accommodation and safari entrance can be planned very differently from someone staying around Tissamaharama for several nights.

There isn't one month that we would call the perfect time.

January to March are generally relatively dry, although occasional rain is still possible. These drier conditions can make water sources more important to wildlife and can sometimes make animals easier to locate around dependable water.

April is more of a transition period, with conditions becoming less predictable.

May and June are generally wetter under the influence of the southwest monsoon. These months can be particularly interesting in Block 5 when Palu trees are fruiting, which gives us another reason to pay attention when looking for sloth bears. But we would never tell you that May or June means you will see a bear.

July and August are generally drier again.

September to November can bring another wetter period, influenced by the northeast monsoon.

The word "monsoon" can sound quite frightening if you are researching Sri Lanka from another country. It doesn't necessarily mean that it rains continuously from morning until evening for months. Rain can arrive in showers, sometimes very heavily, and then clear again. You can have a wet afternoon and a perfectly usable morning. We have done many morning safaris during wetter periods ourselves. Sometimes the whole safari is dry. Sometimes we get caught in a shower for a while. Sometimes the rain passes and the park feels completely different afterwards. So we don't automatically look at a rainy-season forecast and assume the safari cannot happen. We look at the actual conditions. If heavy rain makes the roads unsuitable, access can be affected. But if the rain passes and conditions are good, a safari can still be perfectly possible.

The national park entrance fee is separate from our safari price. It is paid at the park entrance and is set by the Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation.

We show the entrance fee separately because it is not money paid to us for the safari. Your total cost therefore has two parts: the safari package you book with us and the national park admission paid separately at the gate.

The current ticket calculation shown below includes the applicable service charge, jeep entry fee and 18% VAT.

Figures are approximate and based on tourist-season foreign visitor rates for Category I national parks in Sri Lanka. Fees are subject to change by the Department of Wildlife Conservation. We will confirm exact amounts before entry.

Honestly, no.

If you have travelled to Sri Lanka with one main goal and that goal is to maximise your chances of seeing a leopard, we would tell you to consider Block 1.

If you want a safari where every hour is focused on finding the next major sighting, Block 5 may also feel too slow for you.

But if you enjoy wildlife as a whole, if you like photography, birdwatching, landscapes and watching animal behaviour, or if you simply don't enjoy being surrounded by large numbers of vehicles, then Block 5 may suit you very well.

You have to accept the trade-off. There may be a day when you spend six hours in the park and never see a leopard. There may be another day when you suddenly find yourself watching one quietly crossing the road.

We cannot decide which day you will get. What we can decide is how we spend the hours in between. And that is really what Block 5 means to us.

We didn't choose Block 5 because we think it is better than Block 1.

We chose it because we like being there.

We like having enough time to stop beside a reservoir because the birds are interesting. We like watching an elephant herd for another ten minutes when there is no reason to rush away. We like listening to deer alarm calls and trying to understand what they have noticed. We like the possibility that a sloth bear might appear from the scrub or that a leopard might quietly cross the road, but we don't want the entire day to become a race to find one.

There is something quite satisfying about finishing a safari and realising that you spent most of the day actually looking at the park rather than looking for the next radio report.

Sometimes the best memory is the animal you never expected to see. Sometimes it is an elephant feeding beside the road. Sometimes it is a crocodile that looked like a log until you noticed its eyes. Sometimes it is a bird you had never seen before. And sometimes, if you are very lucky, a leopard appears for a few seconds and suddenly the whole jeep goes completely silent.

That's the kind of safari we want to offer in Yala Block 5. A safari where we still take every sensible opportunity to find wildlife, but where the experience does not depend entirely on chasing it.