Elephant Parade

Hello everyone, we are finally able to have access to the internet. We just arrived at the hotel in Nuwara Eliya. The hotel that we are staying in is actually a former British Governor’s mansion. It is located 6000 feet above sea level and is absolutely beautiful. I am currently using a computer at an internet spot in the city. We did not have internet access in the hotel in which we stayed last night, and we have been traveling for the past three days.

First off, we hope everyone had a happy Independence Day! Ours was unforgettable! It started with a three hour bus ride to the Elephant Orphanage. There, we were able to feed, bathe, and ride the elephants. Many of them were babies who were found sick or hurt and taken to the orphanage to be nursed to health. One adorable baby elephant was missing half of a leg that was blown off by a landmine. It broke our hearts to see.

We all really enjoyed ourselves. We were able to feed them bananas, pet them, take pictures with them and also watch the parade of elephants make there way down to the river to bathe themselves. The baby elephants stuck close by their mothers who used their trunks to bathe them.

We all rushed to the scene with our cameras as Sister Fotine got into the river to help bathe the elephants. She had been looking forward to doing this the entire trip! After bathing and feeding the elephants, we went to another location where many of us rode on the elephants two at a time. It was truly an unforgettable experience!

We also took a guided tour of a spice garden and were able to purchase and try out many natural herbs and spices that all serve different purposes. It was very interesting to think of the way we pop aspirin and other medicines and use costly cosmetic products but the Sri Lankans make use of the things that come straight from the earth.

We arrived back at the hotel in the late evening with enough time to eat dinner and pack up our things. We had to be in the bus at 4 a.m. on Thursday morning for a ten hour drive to Kataragama.