A Day with Gentle Giants
Destination : Pinnawala / Colombo Duration : 1 Day
Day 01
Start your journey at 5.30AM. Pickup from your breakfast from your hotel or en-route(at own cost), and head to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is situated 13 km northwest of the town of Kegalle, in the village of Pinnawala, halfway between the present capital ofColombo and the ancient royal city of Kandy. It was established in 1975 by the Sri Lanka wildlife department in a 25 acre coconut property adjoining the Ma Oya River.
Pinnawala is one of the largest Elephant Orphanages where they rear Elephants who were lost to their herds due to the human-elephant conflict and other such reasons.
Early in the morning you will witness the bottle feeding of the baby elephants. Afterwards you can be witness to the beautiful sight of seeing all the elephants (babies and adults) joyously walking up to the river for a bath. Watching them lying down in the cool waters of the river, as they play and enjoy themselves is a treat for the eyes. You also have the rare opportunity to enjoy a ride on top of one of these gentle giants.
Then enjoy your lunch at 12:00pm (at own cost).
Start your return journey from Pinnawala at 6pm. You will reach Colombo in approximately 2 hours, depending on the traffic condition and weather.
The schedule for the Elephant Activities are as below
08:30 a.m – Opening of Elephant orpahange (possible Elepahnt ride can be arranged for this time)
09:15 a.m – Bottle feeding
10:00 a.m – Herd goes to the river
12:00 p.m – Return from the river
01:15 p.m – Bottle feeding
02:00 p.m – Herd goes to the river
04:00 p.m – Return from the river
05:15 p.m – Bottle feeding
05:30 p.m – Ticket counter closes
06:00 p.m – Closing of Orphanage
Entry Ticket Rates
Citizens of SAARC Countries – USD 6.00 per Adult / USD 3.00 per Child Citizens of all other Countries – USD 20.00 per Adult / USD 10.00 per Child
Note: The above given rates are accurate at the time of writing but subject to change without prior notice.