Elephant’s Spa

Napping in the River
Pinnawala, Sri Lanka

The Elephant is known as the Sri Lankan Tractor.
I visited the Elephant Orphanage near Kandy.
The Highlight of their day is the bath in the Kelani River They stick the tip of their trunks
out of the water, take a breath, then flop it back down, and continue with their snooze.

From the unbelievable chaos of the Tsunami Disaster
comes an incredible tale…

At a resort on Phuket, Thailand one of the most popular attractions is (was) the elephant rides. As many as eight people on one elephant, first into the surrounding forest, then down to the beach, to lunch at a fresh water lagoon,
then back to the hotel.

The elephants (nine) were kept chained to in-ground posts, not because they needed to be, but because it made the mothers feel better and their children seemed safe from tromping feet when feeding the beasts.

About twenty minutes before the first wave hit, the elephants became extremely agitated and unruly. Four had just returned from a trip and their handlers had not yet chained them. They helped the other five tear free from their chains.

They all then climbed a hill and started bellowing.
Many people followed them up the hill.
Then the waves hit.

After the waves subsided, the elephants charged down from the hill, and started picking up children with their trunks and running them back up the hill;
when all the children were taken care of, they started helping the adults.

They rescued forty- two people. Then, they returned to the beach
and carried up four dead bodies, one of a child.
Not until the task was done would they allow their handlers to mount them.
Then with handlers atop, they began moving wreckage.