Andrew Pratt Pinawala Elephant Orphanage. Andrew sent us a lot
of feedback during his time in Sri Lanka, but we felt his poem - Ode to
Pinawala, was the pièce de résistance!
An Ode to Pinnawala by Andrew Pratt
If you like your Ali Betty,
And you don’t mind getting sweaty,
Then Pinnawala’s definitely for you,
There’s no better place to be,
And you’ll never feel more free,
Than when you’re covered head-to-toe in elephant poo.
There’s Suranga who is
sleazy,
And Tikiri who’s easy,
And Sumana-Banda with his many ladies,
There’s Pandu with one ear,
And Mega who they fear,
And lots of minging dogs with fleas and rabies.
Sunshine likes her soaps,
And shows you all the ropes,
And Chandiner will cook you lots of food,
Uncle’s a one-man army,
But all the girls like Ghani,
And all the staff are nice and never rude.
So if you have any spare
cash,
Just gather up your stash,
And send it off to Travellers - don’t forget!
It’s the best two-grand you’ll spend,
You’ll not want it to end,
It’s an amazing time away you won’t regret.
The last 3 months have been
absolutely amazing. I have met so many great people, had so many great
experiences and bring back so many great memories. Sri Lanka was an
amazing place to spend 3 months. It’s a beautiful tropical country and
the people are amazingly warm and welcoming. The pace of life is
refreshingly laid back and one that I could (and in fact did) get very
used to. The elephants were fascinating creatures to be around. I am
looking forward to seeing the herd again one day and seeing my favourite
elephants grown up. They say an elephant never forgets - I like to
believe that that’s the case.
It’s great being back home again but I can’t say that I don’t already
miss Sri Lanka. But as Arnold Schwarzenegger once said:
“I’ll be back!”
Kerenza Ghosh -
Pinawala, August 2006
1) What
experience do you feel you gained?
Overall I gained a unique experience and amazing memories. It was a
great opportunity to be so close to the elephants and observe their
behaviour. I cleaned up elephant poop, which is not something I ever
thought I’d do! I was able to experience a new country and culture. I
met some lovely people, including the locals and some of the other
volunteers.
2) What
was the best thing about your placement? It is too hard to choose – I’ll have to write about them
all!
Washing Raja and some of the other elephants – A
surreal experience. An elephant’s skin is not as hard as I expected;
more spongy and hairy. It was wonderful to grab a coconut, wade in
to the river, dodge the floating elephant poop and give the ellies a
scrub. It didn’t matter being half soaked for the rest of the
afternoon, as not many people can say they’ve washed an elephant
before!
Watching the elephants walk down to the river and
then chilling out – It is a special sight to see around 70 elephants
wandering past the shops down to the river. The babies get very
excited and rush ahead. When it rains they enjoy crossing to the
other side to slide down the mud banks. It is also great to see Sama
walking, because even though she has only 3 feet, she is accepted by
the herd and makes it down to the river with the rest of them. I
still find it amazing how the mahouts control the elephants by vocal
command. Working elephants have been trained to put their own chains
on and prepare the food. Sometimes they carry their mahoot’s stick.
I saw one mahout say a command and the elephant bent its front knee
and lifted its foot off the ground so that the mahout could climb up
onto its back. As volunteers we were able to sit very close to the
elephants; they are curious creatures and like to sniff you and say
hello, and it is lovely to watch them interact with each other.
New born babies – Two babies were born whilst I
was at Pinnawala. The first was born on a Saturday, so we saw him
the following Monday; small, for an elephant, and very cute. His mum
didn’t take to motherhood at first and had to be chained to give her
baby a chance to reach the milk, but by the end of the week she
seemed to be getting the hang of it. The second baby surprised us as
it arrived on my penultimate night at 12:30am! We didn’t know that
another elephant had been pregnant, and we saw this baby taking its
first steps, when it was just 12 hours old; that was really special
and such a unique experience. One elephant was pregnant with twins;
she was huge! I wonder if they’ve been born yet.
Making some great friends – This was a bonus; I
was lucky enough to arrive with some great people and we had fun
during the project and at the weekends whilst travelling. Some of
the other volunteers who were just at the end of their stay were
also really helpful and willing to answer any questions. On my final
weekend there were 5 of us (3 girls and 2 guys) who went for a beach
weekend; we were all very excited and knew we’d have fun because we
got on very well. We travelled to Hikkaduwa, on the south coast, and
after a hectic couple of weeks of acclimatising, mucking out and
taking in all the culture, we made the most of relaxing by the pool
with a cocktail or two. This area had been affected by the Tsunami.
It was an emotional experience because the people there are very
brave and are rebuilding their lives as best as they can. They are
glad for the tourism and the south coast is a beautiful place to
visit. We took some pencils and paper and walked down the street
handing them to children – they were so happy and grateful. We also
bought them some toys and jewellery from a near by stall. It reminds
you how lucky we are living in the West and we really admired the
people we met.
Meeting the local people – Praise and credit
should go to the people who looked after us during our placement.
The house boys were very hospitable and smiley. They kept the house
clean and were super cooks. Mandulla, our mini bus driver at the
weekend, was an excellent guide. He knew the best places to sight
see and found us accommodation and places to eat. The roads and high
way code is quite different in Sri Lanka, but I think we always felt
safe when he was driving. Hiruni, our house mother, was brilliant at
her job; she was very helpful and always willing to answer
questions, find out information and arrange trips for us. Hiruni was
able to tell us about the elephants at the orphanage and arranged
for us to wash Raja and go around with the vet. She was very
sociable and enjoyed chatting, playing games and watching scary
movies with us in the evenings.
The elephant shower at the Millenium Elephant
Foundation – An amazing experience. Whenever I’ve seen pictures of
people on elephant rides they’ve always been in a seat, but we rode
bare back and went down to the river for an elephant shower! We got
completely drenched, but it was worth it! Our elephant was
wonderful; her name was Rani, which means Queen, and she had a flat
back so she was comfortable to sit on. She was also not camera shy,
which was good as I have some great photos. There is a small museum
to look in afterwards, which has a lot of interesting information.
The Wild elephant Safari – Whilst Pinnawala is a
haven for orphaned ellies, I was glad to see these creatures in the
wild. Our guides were great and pointed out every single elephant;
solitary males and groups of females with babies. They gave us lots
of information about elephants and also showed us other local
wildlife.
Climbing Sigiriya Rock Fortress – Although it’s
perfectly safe, some steps are narrow and scary! The views on the
way up are stunning and I took some good photos of the frescos (wall
paintings). It is an achievement to reach the top and fun to explore
the ruins and appreciate the view.
3) Would
you recommend this placement to anyone else? Yes, I would definitely recommend this placement to other
people.
4) What
type of person do you think this placement would suit? This placement would suit any one who is looking
for a fun and unique experience. Elephants don’t necessarily have to be
your favourite animal, but you will definitely have a soft spot for them
when you leave. Working as a volunteer and going to the river each day,
you realise how much more you are able to experience than by visiting as
a tourist. Mucking out is like a healthy work out and you always have a
shower and lunch to look forward to. This is an elephant experience, so
be prepared for chilled out, relaxing afternoon. This placement would
suite someone who wishes to experience a new culture and very different
way of life. There is lots of time to socialise and opportunity to
arrange weekend trips, so it suites friendly people who are keen to
explore the country.
7) Can you
describe a typical day? (e.g Start time, morning duties, lunch hours,
afternoon duties, any other duties…. )
Most people
are awake by 7:30am. Breakfast is at 8:00am; alongside bread / toast, we
were always served either pancakes or coconut rottis (a small, round
flat bread, tasty with some jam). The mini bus would collect us at 8:30
for the half hour journey through Kegalle to the orphanage at Pinnawala.
Mucking out usually begins at 9:00 and goes on until 10:30. There are 3
sheds for the volunteers to muck out and you should take water as you
will get hot and sweaty! At 11:00 you arrive back at the house and join
the rapidly moving queue for a much needed cold, refreshing shower!
Lunch is as soon as everyone has finished showers, quite early sometimes
at 11:45, but by then everyone is hungry and the food is so good that
you can’t say no! There is a variety of food; traditional Sri Lankan
rice and curry, noodles, pasta and on some days, sandwiches and chips.
We got delicious deserts too! After lunch you are free to chill out
until 2:00, when the mini bus returns to take you back to Pinnawala.
During this chill out time if you like you can browse around Kegalle to
get a feel of the local atmosphere, or even get a tuk tuk (great fun!)
to Pinnawala in time to see the elephants march down to the river at
2:00pm. The mini bus gets to Pinnawala at 2:30 so the elephants are in
the water by then, and you can sit and watch them or wash some of them
when the tourists have had their photos taken. You can also do some
shopping. At 4:00 – 4:30 the mini bus picks you up to go back to Kegalle
house. There is time for a shower and chilling out before dinner, and
more socialising after dinner and time to reflect on the day. On
Fridays, instead of mucking out you can do litter picking by the river
and in the orphanage, then after lunch travel to your destination for
that weekend.
Carina Rogers Carina experienced both Pinnawala Elephant
Orphanage and the Teaching project.
Wow –
where do I start?? I have just the most amazing experience of my life, the only
bad part was that it had to come to an end. Sitting at my desk, now back in the
boring routine that I once left behind, I ask myself why on earth did I come
back??! I would give anything to be back out in Sri Lanka, playing volleyball
with the orphan-boys, washing the elephants in the river, taking Tony the Chimp
on a walk around the zoo, or even just lying on a paradise beach somewhere –
I’m not fussy, any of them would do. Well for the past three months that was my
life, not something that I wanted to give up and I hold such strong memories of
all the experiences that I came across. I would recommend this experience to
anyone.
I was lucky enough to
have a friend to share the adventure with, as it turned out, we found that
we were extremely compatible travelling partners (three months in each
others pockets and not one argument – pretty impressive ay?!).
All the other people we met out there
had come on their own, but we all soon became one big happy family in the
house. It was so nice to have the support and companionship of the others,
it certainly gives you the confidence to do things you might not feel
comfortable doing on your own.
One
important fact that I learnt from this trip is that the more you put into it,
the more you get out of it. It may sound an old cliché but it is so true. You
can join in as much or as little as you want to. And being the type of people
that Nat and I are – we took full advantage of every opportunity!
We
were both really worried, no I’ll rephrase that, we were both petrified about
teaching to start with, I mean, how am I going to teach English to a bunch of
Sri Lankans when I don’t understand a word they’re saying? Thankfully the fear
disappeared as soon as we stepped into the classroom.
Nat and I ended up taking the
majority of the adult classes, we built up a strong relationship with the
students and their English is amazing – they improve so quickly its
frightening!
We also taught at the schools, which
we enjoyed immensely, it can be daunting at first, as a lot of the schools
have many classes in one hall, so you can imagine the noise, you do need a
loud voice at times! The children are just amazing though and they will
all remember your name for your next visit, which makes you feel kind of
special.
Anyone wanting a taste of the celebrity life style – I highly recommend this to
you. I don’t know how many photos I had to pose for, how many autographs I had
to sign, people will point and stare at you, at first its quite off putting, but
funnily enough you soon get used to it and now that I am back in England, I have
to admit that I miss all the attention!!
The
best part of the whole experience for me had to be working at the
Elephant Orphanage. Oh my god, what an opportunity, those sorts of experiences
don’t come along everyday. Work in the morning was ‘hard-work’, but great fun at
the same time, but you get your reward in the afternoon when the Mahoots let you
go in the river and wash the elephants. They had to drag me out of there
everyday, as I didn’t want to leave. I built up a close bond with one of the
elephants ‘Sapu’ – a seven-year-old female. The Mahoots taught us the commands,
and I was over-the-moon when she actually obeyed me!! It was such a good
feeling.
I
have to mention that one thing I was quite worried about was the choice of food
out there, being a veggie, I was rather worried that I was going to be stuck
with nothing but rice and curry. Don’t get me wrong, I did eat my fair share of
the stuff, and I actually quite like it now, I wasn’t a fan before. One great
thing that happened while we were there, a KFC opened up in Ja Ela, a 10 minute
walk from the house – we couldn’t believe our luck, and they do a wicked veggie
burger and it is just SO cheap – you can get an ice-cream for 5p !
The
general routine out there is that you work during the week and then you have the
weekends free to explore the island. This works out perfectly, so every Friday
afternoon we would venture off to different parts of the island. We did
everything. From the rain forest to the beaches, Adam’s Peak, the Ancient
Cities, the Elephant Orphanage, the Zoo, the tea plantations, the waterfalls, I
could go on! We certainly made the most of the time we had there.
Nat
and I used to play a lot of Basketball, but since we’ve been working, we never
had the opportunity, so it was great for us being able to play everyday. So we
convinced Roshan to buy us some bikes so we could cycle to the school every
morning, it worked out brilliantly, you have to play before the sun comes up –
otherwise it just gets too hot! We always played with some guys from our adult
class and we had an audience of about 300 students watching us, they were
fascinated to see that girls could play physical sport!
It
was just so amazing to be up close with these animals, not many organisations
let you do that these days. So for that, I am eternally grateful.
Now
back at my desk and back into the same old routine that I once left behind, I
cannot wait to go back out there – it has certainly left me hungry for more.
Like I said before, I would recommend this adventure to anyone. I owe a lot to
Travellers, as the knowledge that I gained, cannot be brought, only experienced.
Carina with her favourite elephant
NAME:
Deborah Welham AGE: 42 PROJECT: Pinnawala COUNTRY: Sri Lanka
What experience do you feel you gained?
I feel I have gained confidence in myself just by deciding to take on this
adventure alone! I had never travelled alone before let alone to a country
as far away as Sri-Lanka. I also now have a greater knowledge and
appreciation of elephants. Watching them bathe every afternoon is like
watching mischievous children in the playground and a sight I will never
forget.
What was the best thing about your
placement? Wow! Where do I start? Everything about this particular
placement is amazing. I can honestly say I enjoyed every bit of my elephant
adventure, from cleaning the sheds in the morning to watching the elephants
bathe at the river in the afternoons to the fun and laughter enjoyed by the
volunteers in the evenings.
Would you recommend this placement to
anyone else? I would recommend this placement to anyone of any age.
(over 30’s – don’t think this is just for students, anyone from 18 – 80
would enjoy this project.)
What type of person do you think this
placement would suit? Any person with a love of elephants would find
this project amazing.
Can you describe a typical day? A
typical day starts with all the volunteers meeting round the breakfast table
to a breakfast of either pancakes or rotti’s and toast all provided by the
live-in cook Chandanna (not sure how to spell his name!). The mini-bus
arrives at 8.30, you all pick up your rubber-gloves and put your trainers
on, these are left outside for reasons that will become apparent if you
choose to volunteer for this project! The journey to the orphanage takes
about 20 minutes and the walk to the Philadelphia Sheds is different every
day, sometimes there is 100’s of school children waving and saying hello to
you, often there are some tourists who stop and ask what being a volunteer
involves, sometimes you have a quick chat with the mahoots or just gaze in
wonder at the site of over 70 elephants just roaming around without a care
in the world!
There’s no point in saying the cleaning of the sheds is not hard work. It
is. But it is all worth it, the shed cleaners are all funny and friendly and
if your lucky they might even find you a hair from an elephants tail which
is supposed to be lucky!
Back to the house at Kegalle for a well needed shower and lunch, before
heading back to the orphanage to watch the elephants take their walk to the
river to bathe. This is a sight you will never tire of. The sight of 70
elephants making their way down the road to the river is just awesome.
The Chief Mahoot is an extremely interesting and knowledgeable man and
sometimes you can sit with the mahoots and they will let you wash the
elephants. He taught us all the elephant commands! Not that the ellies took
any notice of us, apparently it takes 15 years or more for an elephant to
learn all the commands.
The option is always there for you to go down to another part of the river
and wash Raja the blind elephant. For me he was the most majestic of all the
elephants at the orphanage. He is gorgeous! He goes down to a different part
of the river with his friend Pondula. When the elephants return to the
orphanage you may get the opportunity to feed the babies at feeding time.
Dinner time at the house is a lively time with all the volunteers regaling
stories of their day. I was initially worried about living on rice and curry
for 3 weeks but I needn’t, the food is fantastic. It’s all healthy and
Chandanna is always open to suggestions.
Evening times at the house are usually quiet but enjoyable affairs, with
volunteers chatting over a glass of wine and eating sweets and crisps bought
from the local supermarket ‘Cargills’ before tucking their mozzy net under
their mattress and drifting off to sleep wondering what adventure the next
day will bring........
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