Hambantota, Sri Lanka

The Elephant Orphanage of Uda Walawe

Unfortunately, I could not cancel my booked trip through TUI for technical reasons. Therefore, I had to take the tour to the Elephant Park 'alone'. A total of 8 buses departed from the Cruise Terminal. Of course, there was someone again who didn't like that a bus was full......

The journey there was already interesting. We drove on small paths past rice fields and a large lake. The water buffaloes were bathing here. We saw 2 elephants on the roadside. Presumably, the area already belonged to the park, as an electric fence separated the animals from the road.

Before the park, we then switched to off-road vehicles with 6 or 5 people each on a huge square. But before that, I handed over my provisions, which I had brought with me, to a small family.

Since it had rained before, not many animals were visible. They weren't thirsty. We only saw a sluggish crocodile in a watercourse, some beautiful birds, and several elephants on the other side of a lake. There were also plenty of water buffaloes to see here.

At noon, we were driven to a hotel nearby for lunch. A buffet with local dishes was set up for us. An hour later, we went back to the park to a small area where the baby elephants are fed, who have somehow been separated from their parents.

The elephants always came in groups of 2 or 3 to the milk distribution. The first ones ran to the feeding trough, some went very leisurely. There were also some who preferred dry food in the form of twigs.

Finally, a big elephant with a broken leg also came, of course, he was also served milk.

Since we were the first visitors to the park again, the staff took photos of us this time.

On the way back, the driver took the upgraded road, which was slightly faster and more comfortable. Water buffaloes were running on the streets, and dogs were sleeping on the warm asphalt. The bus had to swerve several times.

The guide who accompanied us used to be a flyweight wrestler in Düsseldorf and spoke very good German. He was 71 years old and very fit.

He explained to us that the prices of eggs there have skyrocketed. (I still had eggs with me). Since Sri Lanka is bankrupt, everything has become much more expensive. The petrol is rationed, tuk-tuks receive 5 liters per week, normal cars 20 liters, and minibusses 40 liters. That is by no means enough.

On the ship, the White Night began at 9:30 p.m. with a large fruit buffet. A band played oldies, but the voice was not convincing, so we didn't stay long and met, as usual, at the Außenalster.

Our Pit was very angry because 2 people canceled his privately organized and already paid tour. They, of course, did not pay, so Pit had to pay the 50 EUR for the safari jeeps out of his own pocket. Pit then didn't want to organize anything anymore.
He eventually got his money after some back and forth, as these people were addressed. They didn't even belong to our 'group'. Pit went with his people to another park where they saw a lot of elephants up close.