Pinnawala, Sri Lanka and the peer pressure

Have you ever had that feeling of not wanting to do something but because everybody is doing it, you did it anyhow? that’s called peer pressure! Well that was exactly what I went through during our visit to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. In my eyes the elephant is such a wise and rational creature. I had been in close encounters with elephants in many occasions and in different environments. Every time I’ve stood near an elephant, I felt the magnificence of this creature.

Elephant Orphanage, a tourist attraction

We entered the gate of the orphanage and after a short walk into the gathering area, we saw a herd of elephants guided toward us. When we asked some of the orphanage guards, we understood that these elephants were to be guided to a nearby river to bath in almost an hour from our arrival. It appeared that it was the daily routine. Most of the visitors and locals had been anticipating and waiting for that moment.

Sad but true

We knew it was a bit early for the elephant bath, so we followed the tourists into a fenced type of balcony and we were asked to purchase some fruits, an overpriced basket of melons, pineapple and bananas. We waited in the queue. At first glance, the elephant looked to be in good shape, but when we got closer I noticed the marks on his feet. This elephant looked smaller and younger than the rest with two small tusks barely apparent on the sides of his trunk.

Unfortunately, these elephants are kept captive at the orphanage. The calves are taken from their parents at a young age to be conditioned. Conditioning is one of the cruelest acts that men can do to a wild animal such as an elephant. The small calves are taken from their parents and restrained with heavy chains. At first, the calves fight the chains and try to break loose, but as they grow up, these elephants surrender to the fact that they can never remove these chains. At a certain age, the owners remove the heavy chains and replace them with lighter rope. Although the elephant has the strength to cut loose at any time, he sadly won’t because the elephant has been totally conditioned.

In seconds this relatively small elephant consumed 3 baskets of fruit that we purchased.

I do not wish to spread rumors about mistreated elephants at the orphanage, but some of the large size elephants had chains across their feet restraining their movement. When we asked around about the reason, some answered us that that elephant had a bad temper and he was the leader of the herd, so to avoid any unexpected behavior from him and his herd, they had to use these cuffs and chains.

Elephants bathing at the Oya river

It was captivating to watch dozens of elephants guided freely to the Oya river directly opposite to the orphanage. Watching these elephants bathing and cooling their thick-skinned bodies was a must-see. It’s not usual for middle eastern people like us to come across bathing elephants, but to me, it was a phenomenon that I felt lucky to attend.

An elephant ride

In the afternoon a local unofficial guide sold us the experience of riding and bathing an elephant in the same river but in a more private location. It had already started drizzling when we arrived.

Nathaly, who was the most excited to take that elephant ride, took off first along with Ronnie. By that time, we were soaking wet from the rain so we didn’t mind getting splashed by the river. Layal and Edmond went second.

Our turn came and I detested every single moment of the ride. The elephant was calm and obedient. His trainer stayed on the shore and shouted to him some sounds that he and only he could understand. He knew when to start the ride, where to stop and pose for a photo and where to turn back.

Admiration ended with a revenge

I admire this animal but not while I am on his back. I really didn’t want to ride him and it was obvious. As a prank, the elephant trainer spoke some words to this giant animal, and without any warning, the elephant plunged his trunk in the water, raised it high above his head and splashed us back with an enormous amount of warm water, what a delight! Damn it!

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage -elephant ride

Although the experience was amusing and not dreadful as I meant to exaggerate while describing it, I personally wouldn’t recommend it especially after what we read on our way to Nuwara Eliya in the minivan about the cruelty that these animals submit to. That would be the last time that any of us would take an elephant ride, no matter how tempting it may look.

Chantal & Nathaly bathing the elephant under the rain

Leaving to Nuwara Eliya

That same afternoon, we drove through rain, mist and we reach the Villa that we booked through AirBnB when it was just about to start getting thicker. Fortunately, with the owner guidance over the phone, we were able to find our way through the darkness of those misty roads to Nuwara Eliya. I still remember the cold and wet breeze that tingled our tired eyes, the moment we stepped out of the mini-van. After a hot shower, we had a delicious pot of creamy spinach soup prepared by the resident family and went straight to bed. We had a long day waiting for us with several destinations to explore. The Tea Factory is expected to be the highlight at Nuwara Eliya.

More about our mini-van tour across Sri Lanka on the following links:

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