surf-matic

A baby elephant chomps on some palm leaves, a favorite food for elephants.

We went to the elephant orphanage on Saturday before going to Kandy to have lunch. To be honest, I was a bit saddened by the “orphanage,” for it seemed to be more of a zoo. The elephants were constantly watched over by men with sticks that would poke them if they crossed a certain line. And when the elephants were eating, the big ones had a leg tied so that their movement was restricted. Though, the representatives of the orphanage said that this was so the bigger elephants didn’t steal the food from the smaller ones– I guess that’s valid. But still, I would rather have seen their trying to mimic the wild.

An interesting note, any female will suckle the babies. So often, a baby elephant doesn’t have a mother but will be cared for by another adult female. Pretty cool.

Here are some photos. (I’m not happy with my framing, but at least you can see the elephants.)

A baby elephant stands by a pregnant soon-to-be mother.

Yes, this sign says what you think it says. They make paper out of elephant dung.

These elephants walk across the rocks.

Then on Sunday, David and I went to the Ezzy Sails team cricket match. The team played well, but unfortunately were bested by the opponent. They’ve got a practice pitch out back behind the factory, so they’ll be training to get better.

The team watches the two batters up to bat at the wickets.

The Ezzy team rests after the game.

Team photo!