A directory built from the wrong side of the lens.
srilankawilds.com started after a 2024 trip to Yala that cost too much because the booking went through three middlemen, none of whom had ever seen a leopard.
The jeep guide that morning — Sunil, twenty years in the bush — got 60% of what we paid. The rest went to a comparison site, an aggregator and a re-seller. We asked him why he didn't list direct. He laughed: "I don't know how to build a website."
So we built one. Then six more. Then this directory.
The negative space matters.
We don't take commission.
Flat monthly listing fee. Whatever an operator earns from a booking is the operator's.
We don't sell tours.
We don't hold dates, take deposits, or own a Stripe account. You book the operator. We're a phonebook with a point of view.
We don't list anyone.
Every operator is checked: license number, two reviews from named guests, a phone call. Roughly half of applicants don't make it through.
One curator in Sheffield. A reader in Tissamaharama.
The directory is run from the UK. The verification calls and on-the-ground checks are done by a former park ranger based on the edge of Yala. We split the work and we sign our names to it.