feldmanlarry

Today was dedicated almost entirely to seeing Elephants. It was a tough 2.5 hour drive each way through crazy traffic but definitely worth the trip. According to my itinerary the Pinnawala orphanage “rescues the elephants that were lost to their herds by human-elephant conflict and/or by falling into pits. The elephants at the Orphanage aren’t subjected to any form of stress, abuse or threat at all and are supported by a team of employees numbering over 100 including a group of mahouts who are the caretakers, feeders and trainers. The free movement of the herd within the enclosed land of the orphanage affords the elephants opportunities to mate.”

Before the orphanage, we stopped so I could ride an elephant. I had done this in Laos as described in my blog but this was different. The setup was more primitive. Instead of a covered bench like in Laos, they just slapped on a thin mat and told me to hold on to the rope. The ride was smoother than the ride on the camel a couple of days ago. I felt deep respect for this beautiful animal and her “mahout” (trainer and companion).

I’m ready to take over as mahout.

We had to stop for her to pee. I could have drowned in it.

Hopefully, it’s nothing I said that made her stand up like this.

We moved on to the orphanage itself where we were in time for feeding the babies.

This elephant was destroying pieces of wood then eating them. I had no idea elephants eat wood.

I had lunch overlooking a river bed with probably 50 elephants sunning and relaxing. It would be fun to be one of these elephants for a while.

The way back seemed really long. Here’s my guide about to pass a truck with a car coming the other way. The truck is supposed to move to the left and the car is also supposed to go off on the side so we can sneak through. Three lanes are created temporarily on a two lane road. This is the common practice and everyone seems to know what to do to avoid the accident that would be occurring all the time if people tried this at home.

I loved this stop for coconut water. I’m glad she was using her machete on the coconut and not on my head.

When I was drinking the water, she cut a wedge out to create a spoon made out of coconut. She showed me how to scrape off some of the coconut meat to create coconut milk.

Although I’m not fanatic about animals, it’s hard not to be impressed with the elephants. They seem like such gentle creatures but so overwhelming with their size. I’m sure their non-gentle side could easily come out if provoked though.

I got back around 5:30 and was unable to do anything else. I had a granola bar for dinner and crashed.