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TRAVELLERS' TALES: ELEPHANT EXPERIENCE - SRI LANKA
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Carina Rogers / Elephant Experience - Sri Lanka / British

Rajni Kanda / Elephant Experience - Sri Lanka / British

Andrew Pratt / Elephant Experience - Sri Lanka / British

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.

Kerenza Ghosh / Elephant Experience - Sri Lanka / British

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I would definitely recommend this placement to other people. It would suit anyone 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 suit 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 suits friendly people who are keen to explore the country

My favourite parts of the placement:

► 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 highway 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.

Can you describe a typical day? 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.

Lesley Rogers / Elephant Experience - Sri Lanka / British

I have a story to tell. My name is Lesley Rogers, I am the PA to Head of Legal for Virgin Mobile in Trowbridge. I have something amazing to share. Virgin have given me the funding to live a life long dream to wash an elephant. I hope you enjoy the journey too.

 My journey started on the 21^st July 2009 when I boarded the plane at Heathrow to fly 11 hours to the island of Sri Lanka.  I had never been Far East before and had no idea what was waiting for me!  I had to tell myself, I am now on the adventure of a life time, so get a grip and here we go. I arrived at lunch time and was greeted by one of the people who would be looking after me for the next 16 days. The journey to Ja-Ela House was scary they don’t seem to have any rules for the road it was like wacky races. Motorbikes every where, Tuk-Tuk’s all over the place it was quite chaotic. 

 Day 1 - After a very restless night listening to all the strange noises and coping with the heat I awoke about 5.30. It was really quiet except for the noise of crickets, birds and the wild life. Later that day I was taken to Colombo to have a look at the capital of Sri Lanka. It was all so different and quite crazy really the shops seemed so disorganised but interesting. Naranjella (the house mother) asked if I would like to see the main Buddhist temple, of course I would, so off we went. When we arrived I asked if I could take some photo’s and when I was in the main part of the temple a monk approached me and he asked me to follow him. I followed him and outside was the most beautiful elephant. I was over come with emotion he was amazing - my first sight of a real elephant it was awesome.

 Day 2 - Had a quiet day and just rested and lazed around the house, went to the local store did a bit of nibble shopping. Watched the chipmunks playing on the roof of the house, these are the local squirrels. Started my diary because I did not want to miss a minute.

 Day 3/4 - We drove to the Kegalle House where I would be staying for the rest of my time in Sri Lanka. It is nearer to the Elephant Sanctuary in Pinawalla. I was so excited at the prospect of being so close the elephants. I was anxious as well because I was not sure what this would entail. We started by cleaning the elephants sleeping quarters, lots of ellie pooh, ‘Allo Betty’ it is called in Sri Lanka.  We would clear all the leaves and tree trunks into a tractor trailer and off they would go. It would take about 2 hours of intensive labour and in the heat it was hard work, but most rewarding. Other travellers joined in the experience and it was great because all were like minded and adored elephants. It was wonderful.

 Day 5 - I went down to the river and washed an elephant called Raja. What a treat that was! I was amazed at how hairy elephants actually are. I was handed a coconut shell and told to rub. It was so emotional for me I was crying and talking to this elephant like a burbling idiot and can confess so were most of the others, I was in heaven. How amazing this elephant is at 63 years old. Raja is blind, he had been shot by poachers in his head causing the blindness. They can not remove the bullets as they are too close to his brain. He is cared for by the sanctuary and has been with them for a long time. He is very happy there and I think enjoys the attention he gets. Quality of life is paramount. This was what I have dreamed off since I was 8 years old, to have a childhood dream come true is amazing I can not tell it in words JUST AMAZING.

 Day 6, 7, 8, 9 10, 11 - Working with the elephants in the sanctuary made every day an adventure. There was always something going on. We would clean out their night sheds for their arrival after their afternoon bathe. To watch 50 something elephants race back to their bedrooms was amazing.

 I have walked with the elephants, fed babies, cleaned up after them, had an afternoon with the vet to talk about elephants, again I have been to heaven and back. I have watched them play and scratch, watched a baby get to grips with her trunk, it was hard work but when she finally picked up the twig she gave the biggest squeal of delight and went to show her mum.

 To put the icing on the cake I rode an elephant. I am the luckiest lady in the world to have been given the opportunity of living a life’s dream. It was more than I could have imagined and has changed my life completely. I will be going back to Sri Lanka next year, I have left my heart over there and need to go back to pick it up.

 Thank you soooooooo very much Virgin for making it happen and thank you to Travellers Worldwide for making it such a smooth experience with no travel/accommodation and visa problems whatsoever. It was amazing and I recommend it to anyone who wants an adventure.

Deborah Wellam / Elephant Experience - Sri Lanka / British

Can you describe a typical day? A typical day starts with all the volunteers meeting round the 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........