Exploring Sri Lanka: Elephant Orphanage.

One of the things I knew about Sri Lanka before we moved here was that there was an elephant orphanage here.  I have always loved elephants, and this was one of the things I wanted to see.  This weekend, we went out and saw the elephants, and explored Sri Lanka a little more.  Thanks to a great group of people, and an extraordinary tour guide, it was a fabulous weekend. Oh, and the food was fantastic.

On our way to see the elephants, we saw a man with a snake, and tried to charge us nearly $20 for one picture.  Thus began our constant battle with people wanting to charge us for just about everything we did.

The elephants in the river.

We missed a sign that said no tips, but these guys offered to let me touch the elephants, and then they wanted money.  We didn't have any small bills, so instead of giving us change, Ben got in on the action.

The view at the orphanage.  Seriously GORGEOUS!

The baby elephants were my favorite, and the most fun to watch.  It was because they were not chained up.  That part was a little disappointing to me, to see all the elephants in chains, in fact, pretty short chains.  However, the babies were free to roam, and in fact, ran towards a group of kids.  They started running and screaming, and the elephant keepers came running after the runaway.  No one was hurt, so it made me laugh.

We drove down the road from the orphanage, and rode an elephant.  Very cool experience.

Our hotel-the view was incredible, and we made sure our windows and doors were closed securely. 

This was day one.  Just wait for the excitement that happened on day two.