Support Sri Lanka Foundation

Visit Sri Lanka

Supporters Diaries

We welcome anyone's pictures and memories of their visit to Sri Lanka. Please email us with them with a short descriptive and we will feature them here. Unsuitable material will not be published.

Steve's return trip -March and April 2007

Dave and Deb Mar 2006 - Some pictures from Bentota and surrounding area.

Rowans trip Jan 2006 - a extensive diary account of 4 weeks in Sri Lanka as a volunteer at the Millennium Elephant Foundation.

SRI LANKA VISIT - STEVE TURNER – MARCH AND APRIL 2007

I was recently lucky enough to make my second visit to Sri Lanka since the tsunami in December 2004. It was mainly a holiday and a chance to catch up with some of the friends I have made over the years on previous visits, but I was also able to do some visits on behalf of the Support Sri Lanka Foundation and on behalf of my colleagues at the Local Government Ombudsman’s office in Coventry who had contributed to a collection for a local charity in Kandy.

I flew into Bandaranayake International Airport on 22 March, a day before the LTTE decided to carry out their first ever air raid on the Air Force base next to the airport. Sadly this, together with the attack on an oil refinery near Colombo during the World Cup Final, has been another hammer blow to the tourist industry which I was told everywhere had undergone the worst season ever known.

I have to say that, as ever, I felt completely safe throughout my visit. The idea that Sri Lanka is a high risk destination seems farcical when you get there; it is safe and calm, as it was in most places even during the height of the Civil War.

I spent a couple of days in Negombo and I visited the Don Bosco Centre. This is run by a Catholic charity which operates world-wide and it has provided new homes for 204 families left homeless by the tsunami. Some good friends of mine are amongst those and I visited their new flat for the first time. It is in one of seven blocks, four storeys high, and with facilities they never had in their beach shack. Despite that they still wish they were on the beach, where life was quieter and there was space around them.

I took a bus up to Kandy and stayed for 3 days with my oldest friends in Sri Lanka, in their simple house near the station. I visited an organisation called SOFA which stands for Save Our Friends Association. This was set up by two ladies to look after stray dogs in the city which had previously been rounded up every now and then and gassed. Padma is the lady in charge. She managed to persuade a wealthy European visitor to help her buy the city’s dog pound and she then persuaded the Mayor to let her run a “no kill” programme for the dogs, most of which fill a little niche in Kandy’s street life. She now has a team of seven staff who collect dogs off the street, neuter them, give them a rabies course and put them back where they found them with a red collar on. This tells everyone they are not a rabies threat. So far they have treated almost 2,000 dogs. Other unwanted dogs are offered for rehoming, especially puppies, and the old lags that nobody wants are looked after at the centre as long as they live without a care in the world. It was an inspiring visit and I was delighted to present Padma with almost £300 from my work colleagues.

While in Kandy I also spent a fabulous day trekking in the Knuckles Range, north east of the city. These mountains are spectacular and rise to over 5,000 feet but are not on the normal tourist circuit. The views were stunning and we even found leopard footprints on the path we were walking along.

I then moved on to stay with some other friends near a little town called Kitulgale. They live in a bungalow in a forest, ten minutes walk from the road. What a lovely, tranquil spot, wonderful for a birdwatcher like me. I even went white water rafting there, something I never dreamt I’d do as I can’t even swim, but what a thrill! We went through three sets of rapids and also passed the remains of the Bridge on the River Kwai (the film version that is…it was filmed there by David Lean and the bridge was blown up at the end of the film.)

Later that day I travelled to Adam’s Peak, one of the major pilgrimage centres for the Buddhist population. It is 7,300 feet high and it has steps all the way up. Apparently there are 5,200 but I did not count. We started climbing just after midnight and got close to the top by 5 am. During the pilgrimage season (December to April) the path is lit by electric lights and there are several tea stalls on the way up, which are very welcome. At 6:05, along with around 150 pilgrims, we watched the sun rise and then project the shadow of the mountain onto the landscape below – a quite extraordinary experience. We then went into the temple at the summit and made an offering and rang the bell, which you should ring once for each ascent you have made. I’ll settle for one! Then back down again, which was painful. By the time I got back to my friend’s car (he had kindly waited all night for us) I was more exhausted than I have ever been. But I was also bursting with pride at having done the climb. Fittingly my companion was Saminda, who I first met in Kandy in1998 and now regards me as his second father. It was very special that we both made our first climb together.

After a day resting we travelled down to the coast at Hikkaduwa. This is usually a busy resort but it was devastated in the tsunami. Now everywhere in the town is rebuilt and around it are a number of new villages, built by China, Japan, South Korea and all sorts of other countries and organisations. These new settlements are not without problems, as fishing communities have been moved inland and put in houses they are not used to. Community development is a real need now and I met several westerners working over there in that field. Lots of schools down the coast also have signs saying who rebuilt them, and the picture is much better than on my last visit, at Christmas 2005. Nevertheless there are still plenty of people living in shacks and tents, but it is important to realise that this was also the case before the tsunami.

I spent a couple of days with the Hemachandra family in nearby Ambalangoda. The Foundation helped to build them a new house after the tsunami and they have been on the website for a while now. Last time I met them they had no home and no help at all and were ready to give up hope. Now the new house is virtually finished and I took part in a small ceremony with Mr Hemachandra and his three sons to bless the home. It was very emotional for me because last time I was there they had asked me if I could help them and through knowing some generous people I am happy to say I did. It was a very special couple of days.

From there I took the train back to Colombo. Just outside Hikkaduwa Station we passed the ruined train that was caught in the tsunami and in which 1,500 people died. It has been placed there as a memorial, without any restoration or anything. It is a stark and stunning reminder of that terrible day. Last time I had visited the site where it had come to rest and seen the bent and twisted tracks. That had been equally emotional then.

I spent one night in the luxurious Galle Face Hotel in Colombo after ringing to see what deals they could do and being offered a room with breakfast for the equivalent of £25. In contrast I had been staying with friends for nothing and in small hotels and guest houses, none of which cost more than £4.50 a night (for a double room!) I always love to stay at the Galle Face for a night if I can, and I watched Sri Lanka beat England there on the big screen TV. Next morning a crow stole the bacon off my breakfast plate but it did not spoil my stay. The hotel has a big plaque with the names of all the kings, queens, presidents etc who have stayed there. I wonder if they had their bacon stolen.

Then it was back to Negombo for a day and a half with my friends and two more nights at the Silver Sands Hotel, a place that feels like a second home to me (and many other regular visitors that I have met there.) Then sadly I was on the plane home with a lot more memories.

My strongest impression from this trip was that times are hard due to the big drop in tourist numbers, but the country looked stronger in many ways. People seem determined to get by and they seem to be managing. I was amazed at the number of mobile phones around – like here, every teenager has one. But life is still tough for most people. Petrol prices keep going up, jobs are in short supply for young people and the continuing troubles have taken a new turn, making some tourists feel under threat. This has decimated the 2007 tourist season for many people who need the foreign money to survive – yet several luxurious new hotels have opened in the last year, most notably one in Galle, charging $550 a night for a room and doing very nicely.

But most of all, I want to go back. I love the country too much to stay away for long. The Support Sri Lanka Foundation continues to help very poor people in this beautiful country but it relies on the kindness of people like you to do so. Can you spare a donation to help continue the wonderful work that Nicki and Jonathan have started? Please?

Steve Turner

Volunteer worker with SSLF

Steve with a new friend and other dogs at SOFA. See our link page for more details about SOFA

Dave and Deb

Hi,

We have just got back from Sri Lanka a couple of days a go ( March 2006) during our stay we visited Bentota and the tsunami area I have taken many photos of the area and thought we would like to share them with you or use for your web site.

We made many friends on our trip and saw the good work being done for the Sri Lankan people with help by people like yourself keep the good work up.

Dave and Deb

Picture 1 is a little boy who lost his parents we called him little Oliver.

Picture 2 people carry with their every day life.

Picture 3 Turtle farm.

Picture 4 A memorial to the people who lost their lives, which was opened February 2006.

Picture 5 Close up of memorial.

Picture 6 Fishermen on Bentota beach, see one of many donated fishing boats.

Rowen Wilde

This is Rowen Wilde’s account of her volunteering stay at the Millennium Elephant Foundation at Randeniya near Kegalle, during January 2006.

SRI LANKA - PART 1

For those of you that don’t know, I’m here on holiday for 4 wks in Sri Lanka – well maybe ‘holiday’ is not quite the right word…I’m on a volunteer program for 3 weeks working with elephants!

I was met at the airport with the big smiles & friendly face of Ruan – a

guide at The Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF) & my home for 3 weeks. Located in the small village of Randeniya about 2hrs inland from the capital Colombo, the elephant home is set on a 15 acre estate…the beautiful grounds of the home of it’s founders the Samarasinghe family…. coconut trees, palm trees, bushes with colourful exotic flowers…. manicured lawns, swept sandy walkways & the central essential feature -the river & it’s lovely shady banks.

The Foundation is home to 9 elephants…6 females & 3 males – 1 with long tusks known as a tuska & 2 without - known as a tush.

The elephants cared for here are either retired from logging , tourist or

temple work or have been rescued after being orphaned in the wild or rescued because of abuse or poor health or old age.

On arrival I was introduced to the other 2 volunteers – Roger & Becky, both from the UK. Since the tsunami, volunteer numbers here have dropped considerably –usually there’s around 6-8 staying on average 1-2 months. Every volunteer is assigned an elephant & works alongside it’s mahout (elephant handler) throughout their stay. Soon I was to meet my elephant Rani & her mahout Chandana who’s 31 yrs old.

Some info about Rani.

She’s a 23 yr old female who’s been at MEF for 3.5yrs. Her name means

“Queen”, she has long legs & is one of the tallest elephants here at 9ft.

She was orphaned in the jungle at a young age & was rescued & presented by the former President of Sri Lanka as a gift to a Hindu Temple. She was well looked after & not overworked but her owner found it difficult & expensive to look after her. She then joined MEF.

She is friendly & has a good temperament, loves people & is inquisitive & in good health. She is easily identified, as she is the only elephant who sways from side to side….i love when she does this & from the first day I called her the ‘Dancing Queen’!

More about Rani later.

My home at the MEF is very basic, it is a tiny dark wooden ‘cabin’…. Furnished with little more than a bed that isn’t quite long enough, (Sri Lankan folk are tiny!), complete with the essential and ‘much loved by me’ mosquito net, the ‘not much good’ but ‘gratefully appreciated’ squeaky rickety fan that precariously hangs from the ceiling. A few clothes hooks & a rusty old cupboard completes my space!

I share my room with a few cobwebs & resident spiders (thankfully all small & non-poisonous) that come & go (as dinner) thanks to the little brown geckos that silently run around the walls and then there’s the hundreds of ants that trespass on their way to work!

How I dream of the luxury of a Sri Lankan tourist hotel!!

7am- my first morning…the sun is slowly burning the dawn mist…my approach to the river bridge is carpeted with beautiful flowers –orange, purple & white…the gorgeous aroma of my favourite flower –the frangipani scents the air…

7.15am (before breakfast) my working day begins …& Rani’s bed needs

cleaning…first all the remains of her food –coconut tree leaves, sometimes kittel & jack leaves also, are thrown onto an ever-growing mountain that now walls her bed space….then there’s the mountain of ellie pooh!! & to which I’m now an expert!…there’s the brick shaped pooh, the rugby ball shaped ones & the cricket ball pooh…each weighing a large cannon ball!

The past 2 wks has seen me in training for the Olympic shot-put as I hurl it into the river below…an interesting sight when you’re wearing blue

Marigolds!

Next it’s down to the river for her daily bath… the mahout commands her to lie down, creating a mini tsunami when her head hits the water…we splash her with water & scrub her skin really hard for an hour, with a coconut husk. On command she lifts her ears, trunk & feet to be washed.

Meanwhile she sticks her trunk into the stony river bed & blows bubbles.

It’s an incredible experience to be touching her thick strong ‘indescribable’ skin which is surprisingly covered with thick wiry hairs

several inches long.

It’s hard work & breakfast at 8.30 is well earned…scrambled or fried eggs, toast or the volunteers favourite ‘rotis’ –warm round thick doughy pancakes with coconut chunks…topped with pineapple jam makes for a filling start to the day.

We’re fed 3 meals a day at the Foundation’s restaurant Club Concept across the road…the staff are friendly & speak some English, well enough to get us a meal…but getting it right is another story! There’s a good choice of western dishes (thankfully) as well as Sri Lankan food, which is either hot curry or even hotter curries!

After breakfast its Vets Inspection…the elephants here are certainly the

best cared for in the country…each receiving daily vitamin & mineral

supplements appropriate to their individual needs…and western medicine & treatments are always used.

Like our own pets we have to disguise the tablets…in big dough balls….mixing together in a very large bowl, loads of flour, salt & water…but they love them….but not before we have to brush the bottoms of their feet (standing well back!) checking for lodged stones or foot rot… sadly a common & painful problem for elephants that have been worked too hard & not cared for properly.

Their skin is inspected for cuts or wounds & suitably treated……it’s truly

amazing to watch these huge strong beasts that can kill you with a swipe of their trunk, just twitch & sway about when a pair of forceps with ointment soaked cotton wool is stuck deep inside a wound or abscess & which clearly pains them.

Finally their dough ball treat….on command they raise their trunks & open

their surprisingly tiny mouth & take it gently with a big wet pink tongue.

If you’re lucky & they open their mouth wide enough, you can see maybe 2 of their 4 enormous teeth…each the size of 1.5 house bricks & a similar weight!

Fact: elephants only have 4 teeth but will get 6 sets throughout their

lives.

Following Vets inspection on Mon to Weds, it’s off to work in the

Eco-garden.

Established about 18mths ago it now grows fodder for the elephants &

vegetables & herbs for the restaurant that feeds us. The head gardener Mr Karu is an interesting character & I like him a lot…very knowledgeable, speaks excellent English & is very enthusiastic about his garden.

Mr Karu may get us to clear an area of ground & clear the weeds with a large hoe type tool called a ‘mamatee’, or dig & turn over the soil ready for planting.

Some vegetables currently growing are okra, aubergines, & green beans.

After 2hrs in the garden we’re dripping with sweat from the heat of the

noonday sun & humidity of 85%!…..it’s time for lunch but not before the

welcome relief of a cold shower (not that there’s an option for a warm one anyway!)

Most weekday afternoons are our own….lazing or reading on the deck under the shady roof of woven dried coconut leaves & overlooking the river, watching the elephants bathe, play & eat….or a spot of sunbathing…or the tedious task of hand washing your sweaty pooh or mud stained clothes under a cold tap outside the cabins.

There’s also lots of office stuff to get involved with, such as updating

notices for volunteers, downloading your photos, writing an article for the quarterly Newsletter & sending out to members who adopt an elephant to raise funds for the charity etc.

On Tues or Weds afternoon the volunteers can spend time at a local boys orphanage…the dozen boys aged 8-14yrs are all so sweet, loving the volunteer visits… they hold our hands & greet us with gleaming white teeth beaming smiles. Speaking a few words of English we get by with smiles & laughs, they love it when we take our cameras, wanting to take lots of pics of us & each other.

The orphanage is run by a young Buddhist Monk who loves western pop music & plays Madonna & Ricky Martin!

Our parting with the boys is not so special…we’re barely noticed leaving…

they’re all glued to the barely viewable & very fuzzy scenes of the latest

episode of Scooby Doo…the opening soundtrack sung with a Sinhalese voice is hilarious!

Thursdays are dedicated to the elephant census. Initiated here at MEF about a year ago, it’s the first of its kind in Sri Lanka, with the aim of

compiling & maintaining a national list of all the captive elephants in the

country. Hopefully the information when finally collated will attract

funding to initiate a teaching program & aid greater awareness for better

elephant management for owners & handlers across the country.

It’s always a long day as we’re on the road very early & spend most of the day driving & waiting about. First you find the address of the owner & ask lots of questions about their elephant & get permission to take measurements & photos & record the details etc. Often the elephant is kept elsewhere or is working somewhere else so it’s more driving to find the elephant & our journey may then be in vain if the mahout is not about. No elephant is ever approached without it’s mahout.

In my first week we were lucky…observing & recording details of 2 elephants.

One was well looked after but the other had no food about & didn’t look like it had been fed at all that day. It’s not an easy task…seeing an unhealthy, uncared for or badly treated elephant is upsetting.

And after such a busy week, the weekends are own to hang out & relax or go sightseeing or shopping. More about my trip to the town of Kandy next time.

Well that’s the end of my mammoth email…hope you enjoy reading it. For those that would like to find out more about MEF & the elephants here, check out their website www.eureka.lk/elefound.

My apologies for the delay in sending my first email of my adventures so

far, but the computer is oh sooooo slow…and that’s not when the system is crashing frequently or when there’s a power cut – also a regular occurrence in Sri Lanka….or when the computer is not being used by the office staff or other volunteers.

SRI LANKA - PART 2

8am…..torrential rain is flooding through the central atrium in the roof

onto the exotic flowering plants in terracotta pots…I’m seated near the open windows eating rotis with jam for breakfast, listening to the rain &….’I’d like to Teach the World to Sing’ sung in Sinhalese on the radio!

The weather finally turned a few days ago after almost 2 weeks of cloudy days & torrential rain every afternoon & evening…very unusual for this time of year….the other night was the first time I’d seen the stars & a beautiful sight as there’s very little light pollution here.

Despite the rain the air was still very humid & only caused problems in

getting our clothes dry – after a week & still not dry, we resorted to using the ceiling fan!

The rain also increased the mosquito activity & I was a frenzied scratching maniac for weeks…..but the elephants loved all the rain & the river rose by several feet.

The initial shyness of Chandena the mahout has gone & we’re starting to have a laugh. My relationship with Rani is also developing into a nice

friendship….she has taken to recognizing me and she greets me each morning with ‘on cue’ steaming piss & hot bricks of ellie pooh when I’m just about to start cleaning her bed…I’m reliably informed this means she likes me!??

Sometimes when I’m splashing water over her head she thinks its fair game to fill her trunk & give me a jet wash in return!

Rani’s playfulness is kept under control with an ancus – a large stick with

a metal hook at one end – all the mahouts have one & will use on one of the nearly 90 pressure points across their body. It’s not nice watching it being used as sometimes if the mahout is too careless or heavy handed with the ancus, it causes a small wound.

In the river on occasions Rani will freeze as if spooked by something….just a water monitor (like a small harmless crocodile about 3-4ft long) swimming by slowly hugging the bank & keeping their distance.

Shame my relationship with the local fish is not so friendly…the little

silver tiddlers try to suck of bite your legs when I’m washing Rani – I

figured they don’t like my insect repellent now as I’m the only one being

left alone!

But my other new friends here are the 3 dogs who have been adopted by

everyone at the Foundation…there’s Colin the leader of the pack – he’s the cheeky one that this morning stole my socks & ran off with them….the one who chews your boots if you leave them out at night. He’s also the jealous one that pushes his way in, if you’re fussing the others.

Colin’s always getting ticks on his ears as he chases the stray dogs through the long grasses & rice fields that surround the estate.

Then there’s Gwyneth or Winnie or Tuti (no idea how she ended up with 3 names) but she answers to them all – and my favourite of the bunch. She’s so chilled out & loves to be rocked in my arms like a baby!

To complete the pack there’s the adorable Stumpy, alternatively known as ‘3 wheeler’, but despite only having 3 legs after losing one in an accident with bizarrely a tuk-tuk – a 3 wheeler taxi & familiar sight everywhere in Sri Lanka, Stumpy can still outrun the others & loves to be cuddled & rest his only front leg on your lap.

The 3 of them are great mates, always play fighting & are well fed by us the volunteers, the mahouts & the restaurant.

Now, stroking dogs is not a pastime you would consider anywhere else here as rabies is a big problem & it’s so upsetting to see most of the dogs so skinny, unloved & almost hairless with parasites or the disease mange.

Water monitors though are just one of the many wonderful animals & birds I’ve seen here – some for the first time.

A strange sight on the way to the local town, are porcupines on leashes – one local man’s way of earning a living from tourists.

Another cute but quite secretive little fella is the mongoose that darts

across the path & into the bushes too quickly for me to get a closer look or a photo opportunity.

Unfortunately not all my encounters with the wildlife have been so

pleasant…..sitting on the cabin porch with the other volunteers drinking a large bottle of the very nice 3Coins Sri Lankan beer, on one of the many rainy evenings….a scream & a pointed finger was enough for us all to jump up – a 3” long black scorpion….a broom was fetched & we swept it into the small moat that was now surrounding us… to our horror the damn thing glided quite at ease through the water – we didn’t know they could swim!

20 mins later – another scream….something had dropped down Jo’s neck…the most horrendous looking 2” long green bug with big black bulging eyes, weird wings, legs like a grasshopper & a stripy helmet body….we all escorted each other to bed that night armed with torches to search our rooms!

Now if the close encounters the night before unnerved us all , then the

following day was enough for poor Becky, when I spotted a silvery/grey snake that hung about for some time & then slithered up into a palm tree.

With all these creepy rawlies about, also took to wearing my boots in the eco-garden after the others told me about their encounters with leeches – thankfully not seen one myself yet.

Work with Mr Karu revealed a new use for elephant pooh – in the art of

creating a compost heap….we had to pull apart & break up dried ellie pooh bricks & mix it in a bucket of water – making a kind of pooh soup….we poured

this onto layers of weeds, leaves & soil until it was 4ft high…6wks time –

homegrown compost!

Now the vegetable soup at the restaurant although it’s watery as the pooh soup in the garden, it’s pretty good & full of veggies, but sometimes the waiters just don’t get it quite right…if you forget to write ‘not spicy’ – be prepared to have your mouth blown off!

I asked for a plate of vegetables & got a veggie curry with the omelette & chips.

Despite these little communication hiccups the food is good especially their dhal & veggie curries…they also make a gorgeous dish with the aubergines we pick from the garden.

Last week saw the arrival of 2 new volunteers Chloe & Mayla - young students from UK.

They loved meeting the boys at the orphanage – the boys were all playing cricket when we arrived – a game very much loved by most Sri Lankan boys & those of you who are also cricket fans will know that the country is currently playing S. Africa & Australia….the workers & mahouts here are often glued to the TV on the deck, during their breaks.

Anyway the volunteers had chipped in to buy some art materials & we all had fun blowing up balloons & getting sticky & making paper mache sculptures.

Tomorrow we will be painting them.

SRI LANKA - PART 3

Each morning I awake to many different and beautiful birdsongs…there’s the unusual clicking sound of one bird that sounds exactly like it’s tapping it’s beak on a window…but I never see this bird…on the first few days I wondered who was knocking on the window!.....but this morning I was treated to a very funny & captivating scenario….

I was watching a pair of parrots poking their heads out of a hole halfway up a coconut tree & what must be their nest…suddenly I heard a noise ….a large iguana creeping through the undergrowth….then my buddies Stumpy, Colin & Tuti came bounding over to greet me…they spotted the iguana & chased it….the iguana taking refuge in the nearest tree, but unfortunately it picked the wrong tree…the parrots now stressed for the safety of their eggs (a favourite snack for iguanas!)…started squawking & attacking it….a very noisy scene ensued…the poor iguana didn’t know what to do…the dogs at the base of the tree barking & jumping up & the paranoid parrots flying around it’s head!

The tale ended happily when the iguana just made a dash for it down the tree chased by the dogs into the paddy fields!

Now I know I’ve been talking a lot of shit in my emails but pooh really is

almost as special as the elephants here… as well as the uses I’ve already

previously described ellie pooh is also a money spinner….next door to the

Foundation is the pooh paper factory!

Ellie pooh is mixed with paper pulp & water in a concrete type mixer

machine…once broken down it’s tipped into large vats & dye is added. 2

ladies wearing Wellington boots sift the pulp into a silkscreen frame,

turning it over to produce a wet sheet of pooh paper where it’s left to dry in the sun.

The many different coloured handmade papers are turned into notebooks, photoframes & gift boxes & sold all over Sri Lanka & exported to a few countries.

Wednesdays is Orphanage day & all the boys are well…last week we had a lot of fun completing the paper mache models by covering them with paint & glitter.

On my last visit there were smiles all round as I made them balloon animals & swords!

Thursdays at the Foundation are dedicated to compiling the elephant census.

I was very fortunate to be here in January for the full moon or ‘poya day’

in which the 2nd biggest Buddhist religious festival in Sri Lanka takes

place in the town of Kelaniya near the capital Colombo. These festivals are called ‘peraheras’ and involve many elephants sometimes over many days…up to 50 ellies at the biggest perahera in Kandy held in July.

With so many elephants in one place, it’s the ideal opportunity for adding

to the census.

It was to be along day…on the road at 7am with a 3hrs drive ahead of us.

When we arrived we were taken around the temple…this is Colombo’s most important Buddhist shrine …the dagoba temple houses an enormous reclining Buddha & the walls are adorned with stone carvings & inside the walls are beautiful, detailed & elaborate painted murals.

We made offerings of lotus flowers & lit joss sticks beside a large sacred

bo tree. Then we were taken to meet the head monk & informed him of our census plans…he offered us front row seats to watch the perahera

later….lucky us!

Then it was off to start the census…the elephants were kept in the large

grounds surrounding the temple….some arriving by truck! And others having walked with their mahouts for many days or weeks to have the honour of being invited to take part in the procession.

We could see ellies everywhere….unfortunately many of the mahouts were nowhere to be seen….(a perahera is the opportunity for the mahouts to get together & drink themselves stupid with Arrack in the local bars)…..but nonetheless despite all the hanging about we did extremely well in completing 8 elephants for the census. Fortunately most of them are in very good health & well looked after as most are owned by other temples.

We were very lucky to get to complete the forms on an amazing male with tusks almost touching the ground & had grown so long they crossed each other! We had bets on not ‘whether this tuska had killed anyone’ but ‘how many & by what method!’….Death by impaling was 2:1 favourite!.

Despite the seemingly gentle slow & placid nature of these captive trained beasts, we must not forget they are wild & very strong…they can crush your insides to pulp with one swipe of their trunk….many mahouts are killed by the elephant they may have looked after for decades….and yes we were all right – the tuska was a killer!

As the sun started to set we took our seats with thousands of others, to

watch the procession that started at 9.30pm.Lasting almost 3hrs it was

spectacular….the 35 elephants were extravagantly dressed with colourful & glittering head & trunk pieces, body coats with tassels & some with flashing lights (a guy walking behind with a small generator!) and some carried canopied seats carrying up to 3 men…..there were groups of Buddhist monks with pretty tasselled parasols, dancers with elaborately decorated traditional costumes, some wearing masks & others dressed as monkeys….some dances incorporating brilliant acrobatic displays …. talented plate spinners balancing long sticks in their ears…and many drummers keeping a beat…

Very tired we arrived back at the Foundation at 4.30am….2,5 hrs sleep & awake again to throw some pooh at 7am!

My last week here was a busy one with lots of extra ellie care.

One of our ellies Lakshmi was the first captive lady to give birth in Sri

Lanka back in 1986 – her daughter Pooja is also with us here. It’s lovely to see them in the river gently touching each other with their trunks.

Pooja has even adopted her mum’s unusual characteristic of bobbing her head up & down.

Some of you may already know that elephants live in the wild within a

matriarchal society, kicking out of the herd, the young males when they

reach maturity. Now despite there is no definitive matriarchal set-up

amongst the females here, Lakshmi takes on the role of ‘head mama’ & the others are afraid of her….and it’s not only the ellies that are wary of

her…she likes to show us volunteers who’s boss, by throwing coconut bark & leaves at us in the morning.

Despite being a tough lady, she’s a good mother & about 6mths ago she was artificially inseminated with the semen of one of the males here…everyone is very hopeful she is pregnant again & as the gestation period is 22-24mths, it can be a long wait of a year before she may start to show.

Eager to know, the vets were sent for to get a blood sample….now finding a vein & sticking a needle into an elephant is no easy task especially when it’s feisty Lakshmi!...she lay down in the river & the vets found a vein in her ear…but she clearly did not like it….an incredible sight to see her mahout doing a great job to control her with his ancus & 3 men holding her still as possible & the vets unfortunately having to draw blood 3 times before they could get enough….and knowing this elephant could quite easily sweep them all aside like dolls!….needless to say she was in a foul mood the rest of the day, thrusting & splashing her trunk about!

The same week all the ellies were due to be tested for some disease & this involved taking eye swabs….once again jabbing a cotton wool bud soaked in a solution, into the corner of their eyes is a remarkable testimony to the patience & dedication of the MEF staff.

Then there’s the additional care for my 2 favorite ellies here….as much as I love Rani I hold special affections for Baby & Menike.

Baby, the oldest ellie here – in her 80’s, is just like your grandma…she

takes her time in doing everything….we make her dough balls small as she has trouble chewing & swallowing them….her skin is very wrinkled & because it’s papery thin & very dry, it regularly splits & we treat her many cuts.

Baby doesn’t like going into the water now….we think it’s because she fears she may not get back on her feet again….she’s kept in the shade, fed a special diet & she likes to throw dirt & leaves over herself to keep cool…so she always looks messy!

Lately her energy has been low, so every few weeks the vets arrive & she’s very good as the vets find the vein in her ear to give her intravenously 5 bottles of energy boosting saline solution!

Baby is beautifully placid & has deep eyes…I was thrilled to be given the

opportunity to feed her a plate of fruit on my Birthday…I sat on a high wall where she rests her trunk, her single trunk finger gently smelling, touching & checking me out…at times I had to push the fruit right into her mouth feeling her tongue….it was a wonderful experience & I was touched to be so close to her for so long.

Fact: Asian ellies have only one trunk finger but African ellies have 2

fingers.

The finger is the most incredible part of their body & very powerful…they

use it like an eye & is quite comical when they’re lying with their head

under water & they move it about like a submarine periscope….they feel their food, it rips up the coconut leaves- it’s their knife, fork & spoon…..they navigate their way with it, as they feel the edge of the steps to the river & feeling the depth of the stones.

My other favourite is Menike…she’s also getting on in years – now in her

60’s, but unlike Bbay who is reasonably healthy but just old, Menike had

been overworked & not looked after previously. She worked long hours logging & now suffers terribly from foot rot & arthritis. The treatment & care here has improved her arthritis tremendously but foot rot cannot be reversed… so we bathe her feet every few days in a special solution. Her nails are black & rotten as her mahout shows us by sticking his knife right through her hollow rotten nails!.

Over the past month Menike has also developed a large abscess on her knee which is drained and treated daily…she walks awkwardly & painfully slowly but her mahout is patient & she’s very good when her abscess is treated despite clearly indicating she’s in pain.

Jan 24…my Birthday….the restaurant has cooked some delicious pancakes made with coconut & topped with a sweet honey type syrup. It’s my last day with the elephants….

A sad but exciting day as I get to take my first ride on Rani…..

…..climbing onto her from a wall, I sit astride her bare wide back & hold

onto a rope tied round her neck…..her walk is slow & steady… they are such graceful creatures despite their bulk & I feel honoured.

We walk for a while along the road…she’s not distracted by the traffic

passing so close by….up a dirt track & I realize how high I am as I have to duck under some trees…we pass some grazing water buffalo & their faithful friends – the elegant long necked white egrets…as we approach the lower bank of the river crossing, I hang on tightly & lean back as Rani carefully & slowly feels her way down with her trunk….it is pretty scary as I slip down her back towards her neck. Walking up the opposite bank was thankfully much easier. Back through the peaceful MEF gardens & then scarily down the huge stone steps to their bathing area where Rani promptly soaks me by showering me with trunkfuls of water!

My incredible experience came to an end as Rani slowly went down on her knees & lay down on her side allowing me to slide off her.

Chloe & Mayla were so sweet & presented me with a hand made Birthday card made from what else but… ellie pooh paper & showing a photo of Rani & Chandena.

Chandena gave me a very special gift for my birthday…one of Rani’s tail

hairs…they are often made into bracelets here & are expensive to buy…they look like thick plastic wire.

I spent the afternoon relaxing in the shade watching my ellie friends in the river, and the colourful pretty blue & green kingfishers darting from tree to tree along the bank and the green parrots sharing the mahouts’ leftovers on the bird table with the many little stripy tailed Sri Lankan squirrels that look like chipmunks.

My Birthday evening was a quiet affair….we all enjoyed a big food feast of curry, ice-cream & cake, some beer & several glasses of Arrack – the

country’s favourite tipple – made from coconut & tastes a bit like whisky,

but mixed with coke had us giggling like schoolgirls!

SRI LANKA - PART 4

This is my final email about my adventures in Sri Lanka…describing a little

about the country, it’s people & some of the places I’ve visited.

I was really lucky to be working at the Elephant Foundation when 4 Aussie trainee vets arrived for 5 days & a busy program of events was organised for them & involved considerable travel up & down the country.

But our organised trip was not so far away…only a few miles up the road & Sri Lanka’s most popular tourist attraction…..Pinnewala Elephant

Orphanage….the world’s largest collection of captive elephants……run by the government & set up in 1975, it now has about 75 ellies. We were very fortunate to get a private meeting with the head Vet here & it was

fascinating how much we learnt.

The place is run very differently from the Foundation…there is a matriarchal system in place….the top lady is easily recognized as she is the only ellie with chains.

The elephants are all ages & include orphaned & abandoned ones & those

injured in the wild (often in conflict with farmers)…..there’s lots of cute

baby ones…..then there’s Sama – she’s the 3 legged one, losing her leg when she stood on a landmine.

At Pinnewala you can see one of their 3 daily feeding sessions….it’s a big

‘aaaarrrrr’ factor to see a couple of the youngsters guzzling huge

quantities of milk from very big baby bottles!

….you can observe the elephants in the river for a few hours….it’s adorable to watch the young ones hide under their mums & how they play & jump on each other’s heads to duck them under the water.

Sometimes the mahouts will let you come down to the river’s edge & get close to the babies….oh sooooo cute!

Our next excursion was not so local – a day trip to the small village of

Harbarana…on the road at 6.30am….most of the roads here are nothing more than narrow potholed dirt tracks so travel is very slow, bumpy, tiring & hot especially when the van has no air conditioning!

….wooden shacks, ramshackle stalls, shops & concrete houses muddle alongside every inch of the roadside…..scabby & pitifully thin dogs lie asleep in the dust oblivious to the continuous beeping of horns & the rumbling of tyres inches away from them…..the countryside beyond is lush & green…this is a land reminiscent of my travels in Vietnam…of coconut palm & rice fields…of jungles full of small sweet bananas, mangos & pineapples…of trees holding cups in rubber plantations…of water buffaloes & their fly catching shadows –

their white feathered friends – the egrets….

Around 9am as we started to climb, the scenery changed to one of a denser forest….we could feel the air cooling….we stopped for breakfast at one of the many roadside stalls…. small smoking fires cooking corn on the cobs – harder & not as sweet or pleasant as those we’re familiar with….throwing the half eaten ones to the dozens of chattering monkeys in the trees behind us.