Hi, Dinner for our night in port in Colombo was a buffet of foods traditional to the country plus standard western fare. After dinner there was a performance by Sri Lankan folk dancers.
The next morning we were off for a shore excursion to an elephant orphanage. Our trip to the orphanage was by train with a bus return. I have posted images from our train ride in May under Sri Lanka and India.
These are two bull elephants in must. Therefore, they are kept separate from the females and we were warned to stay well away from them as in this state they are focused on mating and are highly dangerous. Indian elephants are smaller than African elephants and only the males have tusks.
This female was demonstrating how the animals are used to work. There is a mahout out of the photo to the right. Mahouts are assigned to an elephant as a boy and work with the elephant throughout their lives. However, he does not own the elephant as they are very expensive; about $10,000.
Every day a large group of elephants are brought down to the river to bathe. We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the area where they were brought.
While we were eating lunch some of the elephants were taken through the streets of town back to the orphanage as shown in this photo by Ruthe.
A few remained in the river, including this affectionate pair.
The remaining elephants got a thorough dousing.
On our way to the bus pick up point we walked through town past many shops with merchandise catering to tourists.
I hope you enjoyed the photos.
These are two bull elephants in must. Therefore, they are kept separate from the females and we were warned to stay well away from them as in this state they are focused on mating and are highly dangerous. Indian elephants are smaller than African elephants and only the males have tusks.
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