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Waking up early had become a routine as we sprung out of bed at 5.30 am, collected our breakfast parcels and went to the bus station. We were becoming locals being able to take public buses with the locals to where we wanted to go. We took the bus to Kegalle and then Tuktuk to the Elephant Freedom Project. It was close to Pinnawala elephant orphanage. We made such great timing it was only 7 am and the day wasn't meant to start till 8.30. Despite this the owner of the house Mali welcomed us in and gave us tea and breakfast. She was so kind and friendly. Slowly the house guests woke and we enjoyed a big breakfast with Vegemite on toast with some curries as well. As we were Australian she gave us vegemite especially. So lovely!! We learnt from one of the guest who was staying doing zoo studies/ placements so many interesting things. She was such an engaging person. She educated us on the ethical issues and the problems associated with elephants in Sri Lanka and also Asia. The first scheduled activity was cleaning out the elephant enclosure. We put on gloves and had to move pieces of dung. Straight into it. We moved logs and branches as well. It was then time for the elephant walk. We walked behind the animals and there mahaha ...... The project had two elephants one called Se and mi. We walked for about an hour all up but had breaks with the elephants playing and eating. We were able to feed the elephants some cucumber. Elephants are so amazing and it was so cool feeding them. We then went back to the house for a juice and relax. It was then time to cook. We made four curries including Dahl. We even made coconut milk from scratch scrapping out the inside of the coconut and squeezing the flakes mixed with water. When we had finished making the curries we had some relax time while they cooked. We enjoyed eating our creation with the addition of rice and spicy Frankfurt's. After lunch we went straight to the river to bath the elephants. One of the elephants was already in the water laying down and looking like she was asleep. We watched the other elephant go into the water and lay down. It was so slow but she was very graceful. We scrubbed the elephants with the outside of a coconut it looked like a shell. The elephants were so relaxed as we splashed water and scrubbed. It was such an amazing experience. The water was a perfect temperature. We bathed the elephants for an hour before heading back to the guest house to dry and to change into long pants and a t-shirt as we were going to visit the school. We took the local bus and it was the busiest bus I have ever been on. So squishy and hot! We arrived at the school which is additional for students who wish to learn english. Apparently it cost 600rs per month ($6) to attend from 3-5pm. The students range in age from 6 years old to 22 years. It was a little bit of what I imagine speed dating to be like. Chatting and asking questions for a set time then moving on and doing the same with a new group. You could tell how much the students enjoyed being able to practice English. Most were very impressive and were able to communicate effectively. We then took Tuktuk back to guest house packing our things and saying/ showing our appreciation to the hosts for such a magical day. We caught a bus back to Kandy which was again an experience as the driver gave us a special seat next to him sitting on the engine in front of the windscreen. We held onto the rails tightly thinking about how dangerous it was. However we made it back safely without any injuries. We went straight to dinner to a small restaurant. The food once again in Kandy was disappointing. But cheap so I guess you can't expect much more. We went back to Clock Inn pretty exhausted from the day and with one less person as Claire had already left us to go back to Australia.
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