Sri Lanka: Ellies

We were off the ship as soon as the Colombo Port Authorities cleared Insignia. By 2:30p, a promotional photo of our group taken, we were on our way out of the city.

Under normal circumstances, the drive to Kandy — the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818 — is about three hours … at most four. Today wasn’t a normal day, however. It was “Vesak Day” … the day of the first full moon in May … considered the most sacred day to millions of Buddhists around the world. Why? Tradition has it that it was on this day “… in the year 623 B.C., that the Buddha was born. … also on this day, the Buddha attained enlightenment, and it was on the Day of Vesak that the Buddha in his eightieth year passed away.”

What did that mean for us? There would be special celebrations at the temple we were off to visit in Kandy. That was the good news. There would also be far more traffic to contend with to get there. That was the bad news.

Though traffic flowed well at first, the closer we got to Kandy, the worse it became … to the point where we were at a standstill quite a bit. In the end, the drive — accomplished with a light sprinkling of rain most of the way to Kandy — took close to six hours.

We passed through village after village on our way to Kandy. Our guide explained that they all specialize in different products … pineapple, cashews, cane furniture, pottery, carpentry, etc. In each village, we saw long — and I mean really long — queues at the food stalls that lined the road. Turns out that on special festival days such as today, vendors set up stalls to give out free cakes, sweets, rice, ice cream, drinks, and more.

Our tour included a visit with elephants … at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage … established by the Sri Lankan Department of Wildlife Conservation for feeding and providing care and sanctuary to orphaned baby elephants found in the wild.

Unfortunately, by the time we arrived at the turn-off for the sanctuary, we were way behind schedule. We were told that we would never make it to Pinnawala before it closed at 5:00p. Instead, our guide suggested that we go to a closer facility … The Millennium Elephant Foundation [MEF].

The website describes MEF, which was founded in 1979, as an “… organization and charity set up to rescue and care for captive Asian elephants in Sri Lanka. It is situated on a 15-acre estate by the name of Samaragiri …”.

Since its inception, the organization has cared for over 80 elephants. Today, they have 9 animals — ranging in age from 15 to 53 years old. These elephants are cared for by 13 mahouts. They each have a “bed” where they feed and sleep at night. Throughout the day, they are bathed in the river … which is not only play time, but necessary to keep their skins moist. In the afternoon, they partake in enrichment activities and socialize with other elephants in the “free roaming” area.

Our timing got us into MEF, but there wasn’t enough time to do the Elephant Walk, which would have given us a chance to feed the elephants assigned to us and also bathe them in the river. Instead, we paid the basic admission, quickly walked through the museum, and went to the visitor-ellie interaction area.

Here we found an elephant and her mahout waiting for us — Pooja, I believe … identified by her crinkly tail … the first elephant born in captivity in Sri Lanka (now 37 years old). Then we followed the pair down to the river. From an overlook, we watched Pooja go down the steps to enter the river for her bath. She certainly seemed to be enjoying her time in the water.

Next, we went into the forest to meet Tusker … so named for … well, you guessed it … his long tusks. He was at his bed, chomping on the fresh vegetation left for him to feed on. Slowly, the other elephants showed up, each going to his own bed.

A fun encounter with one of our favorite animals … but way too short.Read more