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Published: January 14th 2006
It has been difficult to find time to write in my journal lately. We were on the road a couple of days ago and did not have too much time for internet access. For those of you who are waiting for pictures, I'm afraid you will just have to wait until I get back because the file sizes are too large for me to post on this website without some manipulation of the photos. Since a couple of days have passed, I will just summarize the exciting stuff =)
On Monday Jan. 9th, we visited the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage where approximately 70 elephants which have been rescued for various reasons live. We got there just in time to watch the elephants bathe. We also had an opportunity to help bathe one of the elephants (thanks to Dr. Pearce who tipped the Mahouts for the group). While me and Allegra posed for a picture, something unexpected happened. It was scary at the time, but we can laugh about it now. The elephant was laying in the water while we were splashing water onto it (I don't know if it was a him or her). The elephant decided to explore us and
like felt our legs and bodies. The elephant grabbed Allegra's arm and i didn't realize how strong the elephant had a hold of her hand until I saw her struggle to pull her arm away. After she got her arm free, the elephant proceeded to grab her leg and it sort of looked like it was going to pull her under! With a little bit of panic, she grabbed onto me, but the elephant did not pull her under and it let go. We got out of the water after that. How cool was that!!
It seems like rain follows us everywhere we try to go. We went to the "Dry Zone" on Wednesday (Jan 11th). It was merely sprinkling on our drive there, but after we arrived at our destination it started pouring rain again!!! Our objective was to see some wild elephants, but after it started to rain so hard the chances of seeing them became very slim. After lunch, we went to Minneriya National Park in search of the wild elephants. We rented a couple of 4x4s and four wheeled through the forest. We drove around the forest for like an hour or so and went
elephant bath
The elephant was feeling me up =pto the water hole where the elephants go but they weren't there. The ride was still fun though because the rain created rivers of water and mud that we had to four wheel through. Some spots were as deep as 3 feet of muddy water. We were getting soaking wet because it was still raining like crazy. We saw a lot of wild animals including a boar, owl, spotted dear, jackal, and lots of birds. Right when were about to give up, the driver received a phone call telling him the elephants were out, so we were able to see some wild elephants after all.
The next day, we visited an ancient excavated city called Polonnaruwa. The size of the city is huge, considering the technology available to build such a huge city in the ancient times. The city included a big stupa, many large temples, a large monastery where 3000 monks lived and studied, a palace that even included an area where the king housed 300 concubines and was seven stories tall, and very impressive statues of Buddha carved into the mountain. I would estimate the statues to be several hundred feet tall. We also encountered a small
elephant bath
Don't get too close, Allegra! kitten who seemed abandoned in the pouring rain. Nora went to the little kitty to look at her and the cute little thing came right up to her and took shelter beneath her legs. It was so cute! We felt sorry for the kitty so we took her with us. We decided we would try to take her back to the states with us, and I told the girls that I would take the kitty in if we couldn't find a home (I think my roomie Dez would be happy with that).
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Dana
non-member comment
Ahhhh
Thanks for the update, even without the pics. Look forward to hearing EVERYTHING when you get back. What an awesome trip! Going with a school program definitely has its perks. Hope bringing the kitty back is an option. Thought the US was really strict with quarantines, etc. Would love to meet the furry trooper.