An Orphanage for Elephants

  Elephant with a bent front leg

 Feeding the baby elephant with the bottle we bought

 Stunted elephant

This is where we went last week, to the elephant orphanage at Pinnawala. I had visited this place many many years ago when it was less commercialized and less crowded. My recent visit took me by surprise as it is not the Pinnawala I visited many years ago. I know changes take place and you cant expect it to be the same for years. When I visited this place before there were fewer elephants and a smaller area. Now not only the orphanage but the surroundings have changed too with typical tourist shops all around and people constantly approaching to sell something (which I find annoying). 
Anyway we arrived just in time for the baby elephant feeding time and kids fed them and petted them. Then we went to the river to see them taking a bath and playing in the water. The baby elephants were so cute and it is so nice to see them next to their mother and how the elephants protect their young. 
I love wildlife and as a kid my parents used to go on safari every holiday we got. We used to camp in the thick jungle to see wildlife. So for a person who loves wildlife to see elephants in captivity is a little boring and sad. But most elephants here are either with birth defects, injured or abandoned by their herds. Normally there is a reason that they are being kept here but yet it is definitely not the same when you see them here and not in wild. Specially now that they have made a big business out of it! There is a small video clip which I filmed while they came for a bath. Hope you enjoy.
On the way to Pinnawala we had some really juicy pineapples with chilli powder. Yummy!!!

A mahout 

Cobra charmer with a python 

Juicy pineapples