It was another beautiful arrival into the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka. We hired a driver for the day through tours by locals. We met Suneth at the entrance to the port which was a bit of a walk from the ship. Our first stop was at a post office to mail some postcards.
We had arranged a day trip to go to the pinwalla elephant orphanage. The facility is no longer used as an orphanage but is more of a government run captive breeding facility.
On arrival we went down to the river to see the elephants bathing.
We got a table at a riverside restaurant and enjoyed a curry buffet watching the elephants
The elephants were marched up the center of the street back to the facility where they live
We then did some shopping and saw a demonstration of making paper from 🐘 💩
We toured the elephant facilities
We also made a quick stop for a king coconut. Where the woman tending the stand chopped off the top of the 🥥 and put a triangular whole in it with the tip of a machete. She handled it to us with a straw. Yum!
Next was a stop at a roadside stand to see wood carved masks that drive away the evil spirits in the native culture.
Next was the spice gardens. Here a local guy explained all of the plants they grow and how they are turned into oils and creams for aravedic medicine. It was fascinating
Our last stop on the 2.5 hour ride back to the ship was at a department store where the locals shop. The guard bowed as we entered. It was clear tourists do not come here as we were the only white people in the store of hundreds. We caused a bit of a stir as woman giggled and children stared.
Even so the people in the store could not have been nicer and everywhere we have been in Sri Lanka people go out of their way to say hi and talk to us.
