The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is a must-stop detour along the Colombo-Kandy Road. Pinnawala Village is 13 km northwest of Kegalle town off the Kegalle-Rambukkana Road. Here at the orphanage cum captive breeding grounds you get to see these beautiful large creatures (about sixty or more of them I'm told) go about freely under the watchful eyes of their mahouts. A few of them are in chains though. We reasoned they must be the more 'difficult' ones.
It was feeding time when we got there. The adults eat mostly foliage brought in from the jungles around the area while the little ones are bottle-fed with milk. It was fun watching the antics of the two 'babies' that were on exhibit that morning we were there. Oh, you can 'feed' the little pachyderms for a fee, if you are so inclined.
These sixty elephants at Pinnawala have a bath in the nearby river twice a day, at 10 am in the morning and 2 pm in the afternoon. Watching them approach the river under the guidance of their mahouts and with some fanfare provided by 'security men' with megaphones, is just so surreal... and unforgettable.
In the river, these large mammals seem to love being there. Under the caring eyes of their mahouts, they seem to frolic with each other in the brown flowing waters. (If you are so inclined again, you can help bathe an elephant for a fee).
After the wonderful spectacle of elephants in the river, what is the best souvenir from Pinnawala? Definitely the elephant poo products. Poo? Eeeuww! Not to worry, elephants are herbivores, and its all been thoroughly cleaned and processed naturally and there are no smells lingering in the end product! So go ahead and get something. We got fridge magnets. Elephant poo fridge magnets!
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