Day 7: Pinnawala and back to Colombo

Regrettably it was time to leave Kandy. No more cool evenings, jacuzzi's at the hotel, post match massages or haggling in the markets. Oscar's wardrobe has increased dramatically and many others, including Andrew, purchased cricket shirts at bargain prices. The greatest challenge has been purchasing gifts for mum and dad and many are using the strategy of buying something they would like in the hope that mum and dad will say " oh that's lovely dear why don't you keep it". Time will tell how successful this is.
Back to today. We had a relatively short bus trip to the Pinnawala elephant orphanage and as soon as we climbed off the bus we were hit by the heat and the spectacle of elephants wandering along the main street. We then negotiated the markets as we made our way down to the river where a dozen or so elephants were standing or playing in the water. Tourists were allowed onto the river bank to get close up to the elephants and for a small fee you could pat an elephant and have your photo taken.

After a quick lunch to make time for some more shopping we walked back up the street to the elephant sanctuary to see some elephants being fed and to have further close-up experiences with them. It is amazing that you can get so close to these magnificent creatures and they seem to be comfortable, relaxed and enjoying the interaction with humans. It was truly a very special experience for everyone.

The short 81km to Colombo took two and a half hours as the roads are so clogged with tuk tuks, buses and motorbikes and there is only one lane going each way. The first observation made on arriving at the Ramada in Colombo was that there was a coffee shop serving real coffee - very important for Thommo and Bindog. The boys headed to their rooms and either chilled watching TV or were drawn to the well equipped gym for a workout. Jack, Oli, Tom M, Thommo and others all worked on their guns in preparation for tomorrow's game. Today was awesome and will stay in everyone's memories for a long time.