So Week One of our elephant orphanage volunteering experience is done & dusted, and it’s been a great first half. I’m well rehearsed in my routine of waking up at 7am, having a coffee in bed before heading up to the elephant’s beds to greet my adorable elephant Pooja and her cheeky mahout, Nuan. I watch on as Nuan prepares Pooja for the day, singing lovingly to her and giving her orders in their special elephant-mahout language, which she always obeys (unless she’s in one of her moods). When they’re all ready to go, Nuan leads Pooja out of her bed and down to the river to start her morning bath, whilst myself and two other volunteers swoop in to count and then remove her large dung balls, and clear away any sharp sticks which may hurt Pooja’s feet. Then we head down to the river to help with scrubbing clean our cheeky little Pooja, and hope she doesn’t feel like giving us an “elephant shower” for our efforts.
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After our elephant is clean, she starts her day giving tourists rides around the orphanage and being fed plates of fruit all day. I set off to prepare her vitamin ball, have breakfast and then return to Pooja to do a quick check of her feet and skin for any cuts or sores. Once she’s been given the all clear, I start my volunteering duties – either working in the fruit shop selling fruit to tourists to feed to the elephants, or helping out by painting murals on the walls – anything I feel inspired to do. Staff and volunteers are dedicated to improving the quality of life for the elephants here, so we are encouraged to come up with toys or games for them to play which will stimulate their brains. I had a great idea for a toy for Pooja, a ball made from bamboo which I labored over for almost 2 days, at which time I realized it wasn’t really shaping into a ball the way I’d hoped – I gave it to Pooja anyway, and as expected, it took her no time at all to rip the ball to pieces and try to eat it (she was disappointed when she finally got it in her mouth – evidentially she doesn’t like bamboo).
Weekends are free-time for Volunteers, so Brett & I took the bus to the nearby city of Kandy for a weekend getaway. We visited the Temple of the Sacred Tooth, which is famed for being home to Buddha’s tooth and is of particular significance to Sri Lankan Buddhists – many will strive to make the trip to visit this temple at least once in their lifetime as it is said to greatly improve your karma. At meal time we satisfied our 6-month craving for meat by ordering a mixed grill platter of every type of meat available, and sampled tasty Sri Lankan sweets and pastries. Heaven.
Sunday it was back to the orphanage for a lazy afternoon of watching movies, reading books and enjoying the peace and quiet. Another day in Paradise!
- Belle
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