Pinnawala Things to Do

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You have to be in place when the elephants start coming down the alley to take a bath in the river. It's just amazing how close you get to so many elephants. It's quite a sight when they all but stampede down to the river.

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This elephant orphanage is one of the cutest places I've ever been to. So many elephants at such close range is hard to find, except maybe in Chobe National Park in Botswana. Anyway, there is an entrance fee to the orphanage and if you want to take your picture with an elephant then you have to pay a hefty extra fee again directly to the mahout. And you get asked all the time whether you want to have your picture taken...

There is a separate building for baby elephants where they get fed and played with (picture no. 5). Also we were told that there were not so many orphan elephants coming in anymore but that most of the young elephants were actually born there. Whichever way it is, it seems to be a thriving business - but what a cute one!

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There are 3 elephant bathing time. The first one is around 11am. Then you can stroll around the open area where you can take pictures with the elephants. After that, you can proceed to the riverside for viewing the elephants to bath. Admission is Rs500.

My driver knows a good place to get me to view the elephants. I enjoyed my tea there as well.

All these young men collect up all the Elephant dung and it gets recycled into paper,envelopes etc.you can buy the gifts at the shop at the Elephant orphanage,dont worry it dosnt smell they eat only natural vegitation

This is a goverment run orphanage,there are elephants young and old,we saw one elephant which had its foot blown off by a mine.some of the babys had been abandoned,this was one of my highlights of our trip.

Best to keep out of the way, or you could get sprayed in mud!

To dispel popular belief elephants do not actually drink through their trunks, they suck up and fill the trunks full of water & then use the trunk as a hose to pour the water in to their mouths.

All the babys have supplimentary milk from huge bottles. They are only brought to this covered area to feed, the rest of the time they can roam freely within the orphanage.

Sri Lankan elephants are slightly larger than mainland Asian and Sumatran breeds.

As you can see I got rather too close when the elephants went marching home! I looked around me & saw everyone else apart from me, had retreated up the slip way including my husband!!

(~_~)