Colombo, Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka
March 13th
We knew that our day in Colombo would be a busy one - we had a trip planned to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Now, the fact that it was Friday, the 13th and we were put on bus #4 (we have learned that the number 4 is unlucky in Hong Kong) didn’t bother us too much. We decided that the 2 bad numbers cancelled each other out and it really meant good luck - that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
We took a train ride out of Colombo heading for the mountains. We had been warned that there were would be a lot of additional security around since the prime minister of India was visiting Colombo that day - something that hasn’t happened in over 30 years. There have been quite a few changes in Sri Lanka politics recently, but we really didn’t notice too much of anything.
The train did come to a jolting stop at one point and we were informed that there had been a “little derailment” of the train ahead of us, but they thought it would be “mended” quickly. Hmmm... Indeed, we were on our way fairly soon.
The elephant orphanage has been in operation for 40 years and cares for orphaned and abandoned baby elephants. They started with a small number of elephants and are now caring for about 60 through breeding. Most of the elephants are there for life since they are unable to survive in the wild without learning from their parents. We were able to see some feeding, but the highlight was when they brought 34 elephants down to the river that we were overlooking and turned them loose to play and bathe. They were having a great time splashing and interacting. A couple of them just laid down in the water and lounged.
A highlight for Jeff was the train ride back in a 1930’s vintage train. It was hard to keep him contained and he roamed the cars enjoying the decor.
We spent the night docked in Colombo and left at 6am for the Maldives. We will be sailing in the Indian Ocean in the high-risk piracy zone for the next 7 days. Jeff will provide his briefing on that next post. Stay tuned.
The first photo in the interior of the train.
The second photo is the elephants.
The third photo is the dancers and singers as we walked in - by the way, Nancy and I both missed the elephant that we walked within 2' of.Read more