For Pachyderms of All Sizes
Visiting the Pinnawalla Elephant
Orphanage
I was picked up at 7 am this morning by Sanath, a
driver I hired via Asian Adventures. Marwaan's cousin Bilal works for that
travel agency and helped arrange everything. Sanath was a very good guide and
nice man. He spent several years in Egypt to make some money. It is common for
Sri Lankans to go abroad to earn more money than they can possibly make back
home.
The road to Kandy and Pinnawala was packed with traffic. It took us two and a half hours to get to Pinnawala alone. The road to Kandy was as crazy as the road to Galle--tons of slow-moving tuk-tuks and buses overtaking everyone and practically forcing you off your side of the road in the process. I also slept a lot on this car trip.
We got to Pinnawala too late to see the bottle feeding of the elephants. Sanath warned me away from elephants with lazy or unwatchful mahouts (elephant guides). We did get to go to the river and see the elephants bathing time. For 300 rupees ($3) I got to scramble down the rocks and pet an elephant and toss water on her head while she sat on her side in the water, apart from the herd. Officially, I don't think we're allowed to touch the elephants. The waiter at the adjacent restaurant was all over me for the final tip. This is a poor country and when a fat American like me shows up, they probably assume I am rich. In the third world, only fat people are rich--it means you can eat to excess. Years ago, Marwaan commented that America's the only place in the world where poor people on welfare are obese.
The elephant orphanage has pachyderms of all sizes and has on the premises a blind elephant, a pregnant one, and one with an amputated leg--the legacy of hitting a landmine in its travels. But it hobbled down to the water with all the other elephants. They seemed thrilled to be going to the water. They waved their trunks and flapped their ears en route to the river. Aliya (Singhalese for elephant) here have a faded pigment on the trunk that is peculiar to the Sri Lankan elephant alone.
There is also a shop that sells paper goods made from elephant dung. Like I said, in Sri Lanka, nothing is wasted.
Click here to see the photos , or here to see video .
The road to Kandy and Pinnawala was packed with traffic. It took us two and a half hours to get to Pinnawala alone. The road to Kandy was as crazy as the road to Galle--tons of slow-moving tuk-tuks and buses overtaking everyone and practically forcing you off your side of the road in the process. I also slept a lot on this car trip.
We got to Pinnawala too late to see the bottle feeding of the elephants. Sanath warned me away from elephants with lazy or unwatchful mahouts (elephant guides). We did get to go to the river and see the elephants bathing time. For 300 rupees ($3) I got to scramble down the rocks and pet an elephant and toss water on her head while she sat on her side in the water, apart from the herd. Officially, I don't think we're allowed to touch the elephants. The waiter at the adjacent restaurant was all over me for the final tip. This is a poor country and when a fat American like me shows up, they probably assume I am rich. In the third world, only fat people are rich--it means you can eat to excess. Years ago, Marwaan commented that America's the only place in the world where poor people on welfare are obese.
The elephant orphanage has pachyderms of all sizes and has on the premises a blind elephant, a pregnant one, and one with an amputated leg--the legacy of hitting a landmine in its travels. But it hobbled down to the water with all the other elephants. They seemed thrilled to be going to the water. They waved their trunks and flapped their ears en route to the river. Aliya (Singhalese for elephant) here have a faded pigment on the trunk that is peculiar to the Sri Lankan elephant alone.
There is also a shop that sells paper goods made from elephant dung. Like I said, in Sri Lanka, nothing is wasted.
Click here to see the photos , or here to see video .
Posted: Tue - March 22, 2005 at 03:00 PM
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