An Elephant Experience at the Elephant Orphanage

ACCOMMODATION and SUPPORT & BACKUP:
You will live in a lovely house in the nearby town of Kegalle. The house is typical of the Sri Lankan style and you will have all necessary facilities such as a washing machine and a comfortable communal living area to socialise in. There is a TV and DVD player currently on site (Sri Lanka is a great place to buy DVD’s, costing about a pound to buy in the cities of Colombo and Kandy). Food and Transport A live-in chef will cook all your meals for you and our current volunteers say that the food is delicious!! Transport will be provided for the 25-30-minute journey to and from the Pinawala Elephant Orphanage. You will be met at Colombo airport and taken, usually by car, to Kegalle. You will have the same high level of support provided in all our programmes. You can also combine a one-month placement in the Elephant Orphanage with two months in a teaching placement in Ja-Ela - this way you get the best of both worlds! To read about the extensive Support & Backup we provide in our countries, please click here. Communication There are internet facilities in Kegalle during the day. There is also a phone in the house that your family and friends can call you on. With a phone card that you can buy locally, you can make international calls home. Kegalle During the day Kegalle bustles with people and street markets. The evenings are quiet with the Sri Lankan culture favouring early mornings and early nights. There are always a few volunteers on this placement together, so there is a very sociable atmosphere in the house. However, do keep the quietness in mind and be prepared for slow-paced evenings. Support We have Travellers staff in Sri Lanka to give you help and support during your placemen. If you’re unfortunate enough to fall ill at any time, our local representative Madusha – who is based in Pinawala - will be there to help you and, of course, our Sri Lanka Manager, Roshan Perera, will immediately respond to any request from you for assistance. Remember, though, Sri Lanka is hot and humid so endurance and stamina will be a requirement for this facility!! Climate: In the lowlands the climate is typically tropical with an average temperature of 27^OC in Colombo. In the higher elevations it can be quite cool with temperatures going down to 16^OC at an altitude of nearly 2,000 metres. Bright, sunny warm days are the rule and are common even during the height of the monsoon - climatically Sri Lanka has no off-season. If you’d like us to arrange a placement for you on this programme, please fill in the application form as soon as possible because it is a very popular choice and fills up extremely quickly! "Pinawala is great. Yesterday I spent ages in the river helping throw water at the elephants (though I also got quite a lot thrown at me!) and today I got to play with the babies!" Jennifer Rowe Current Weather in Colombo Click for MAP of Sri Lanka		Warsina - cute, even with her head in a bucket!
MORE ELEPHANT NEWS:
Waiting to take the elephants back after their trip to the river to bathe	MORE NEWS - Sri Lanka elephant population grew within last 50 years Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 13:55 GMT, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka. The Colombo University Senior Professor on Ecology Sarath Kotagama says that through the estimates in the past 100 years and the records on man – elephant conflicts, he can prove that the country’s elephant population grew despite the popular belief of decline. He points out that the elephant population was less than 1,000 according to 1953 estimations. The 1973 estimates accounted the elephant population between 1600 – 2200. According to an estimate conducted by Dr. Nandana Athapattu and Mangala Silva in 1993, the elephant population was between 3,000 and 4,000. According to current figures, 1,500 elephants live in Northwestern wildlife zone. There are 300 elephants in Udawalawe and 400 in Minneriya. In addition, 350 elephants were chased to Lunugamwehera in the Walawe wild elephant management operation. Scientists point out that there are around 1500 more elephants in other areas. The majority of the elephants live in wetlands, discarded cultivation lands and small jungles where their natural food, short shrubs are found in abandon. Around 50% of the elephants are believed to live outside the national parks.

TRAVEL:

You will fly into Sri Lanka where you'll be met at Colombo Airport by our Sri Lanka Manager, Roshan Perera, and taken to your placement. Roshan will make you feel welcome from the first moment you meet; he is a delightful person, laid back yet extremely efficient, and has become a friend-for-life to many of our volunteers!

You have the option to arrange your own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Limited, ATOL No. 6856. Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up before leaving for your placement.

VISAS: In countries where visas are required, we'll send you all the necessary forms and information and make the process very easy for you.

Where possible, all flights we arrange for you have changeable return tickets because many of our volunteers choose to extend their stay once they are in their destination country. Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa and the level of your air ticket, of course. If you choose to book your own flights, you should endeavour to get a changeable ticket.

To read about the excellent Support & Backup we provide before you leave and during your programme, please click here.

We can also arrange your flight dates to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling around and sightseeing - this is a fascinating and wondrous country!