Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage from Kandy

Your tour starts at 0630 hrs when you get picked up from your hotel in Kandy. Ensure that you bring a packed breakfast with you if you are unable to have your meal at the hotel. It will take you till 0900 hrs to get to the Pinnawala Elephant orphanage. The orphanage was created in 1975 to house orphaned or injured elephants.

Currently home to a herd of over 90 elephants. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is the home for young Elephants who have been displaced or lost from their natural habitat, located at Pinnawala village in Sabaragamuwa province of Sri Lanka. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is the best place for an up-close and personal experience with the world’s largest land mammals! Today with 70 elephants herein, Pinnawala has become the home to the largest captive group of elephants in the world. Feeding time at 0915 hrs.

The Orphanage is open from 0830 hrs to 1745 hrs and visitors can interact a little with the elephants during the regulated bathing and feeding times. The baby elephants gulp down several huge bottles of milk, fed to them by their mahouts, and then it’s off to the river for a bath. The inherent gentleness of the animals is most obvious during this time. Most of the elephants eventually become ‘working’ elephants, and some older females occasionally add a baby to the herd. You will be spending approximately three hours at Pinnawala. Shortly after you arrive you will be able to experience the feeding session and later watch them bathe.

You will also be walking around the orphanage seeing the facility and learning more about the place. You will be finishing the tour at 1100 hrs and returning to your hotel in Kandy by 1500 hrs You may stop for lunch on your way back to Kandy or even have lunch during your time in Pinnawala.