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Staying at the Hotel Elephant Park. A great place by all accounts. Especially being so close to the river and the elephants walk right past the front door about 4 times a day. Man there are some massive bulls!! Jen falls over with emotion at the site of the wee babies playing away by themselves in the river. Jen had her bestest experience ever with one of the wee trackers when she went down into the water and helped wash him or her and then fed it some baby bananas. Such an emotional incredible experience for her! We have been absolutely sweltering in the heat. Ranging from 28 to 33 Celcius we nearly melt. The Sri Lankans don't even break a sweat, how can that be? After the elephant washing we thought that our excitement was over for the day, however that was nothing further from the truth. We timed our stay at Pinnawala well as it coincided with the annual cricket showdown between three of the hotels in the immediate area (the Pinnawala group). The hotels close down for this event. Yes that's right there is no-one on reception to check people in or out! We said that we would love to come and have a look and they said sure. Just before we set off to the cricket, we had the pleasure of draping a snake around our necks. The snake got a little frisky on Jenny...and had to be 'settled' by the handler, but no real dramas. The 'opposition' cricket team joined in our photo shoot with the snake with much hilarity.
We then walked down to the cricket field (about 600 mtrs), melted all the way there, and pulled up outside to watch from the fence. The receptionist came over and said "hey hey you must come over here to our tent." So we obliged and trotted over. She awkwardly moved a couple of locals out of the front row seats for us. It was no use complaining as she would hear nothing of it. We would sit in the front row! Well….what an amazing experience we had. We were part of the local team and man was it a serious match. The teams each had their own flash uniforms and really looked the part. We sat through about 20 minutes of speeches then all stood for the national anthem. Then they were off. Our team the Elephant Park Hotel was on first. Peculiarly they played with a tennis ball, but with good effect. There were some great shots played, a fair few 6's and many 4's. It was only a 10 over per side game and we made 96 runs.The Sri Lankans really get into their game. I have not seen anything like it. On the sidelines dancing and singing with drums a beating and music playing. When a player went out a chap would run out holding a big flag and escort him back to the tent. Our receptionist plied us with water, fresh orange juice and even a little lunch bag of cake, sandwich and banana. Spoilt rotten we were! Sadly the other team came out and beat us. There were many sad faces and lowered heads. I felt the urge to go weez in the middle of the game. I asked one of them where the toilet is. Well...there was much discussion amongst the locals. I almost instantly regretted saying anything. After a minute or two he came back over with another chap and said he will drive me in his Tuk tuk back to the hotel to go weez. Embarrassing! Awkward! I politely declined his offer and decided I would just hold on (I am pleased to say I managed well). We bowed out of the remaining two games and melted our way back to the hotel. Had a lovely tea at the hotel and an early night as the TV had packed it in. Still feeling very jetlagged even after 3 days!
- comments
Frank What a wonderful and memorable experience. It was exciting that you got so close to the elephants and the snakes. I thought as World Cup finalists you might have been invited to participate! Continue to enjoy and drink deeply from the daily surprises. Our love to you both
Glenda What a great day! Both things sound really special. I look forward to seeing all the photos!! Think of you heaps. X