Elephant Orphanage. What other words combined can evoke such feelings of warm fuzziness? When I planning a trip to Sri Lanka, I was told that I had to make sure that the Pinnawela elephant orphanage was on my itinerary.

I hired a car that left from Colombo, and on our way to Kandy we took a short little detour to the town to Kegalla and to see this "orphanage" which has been heralded as the biggest number of elephants in captivity in the world.

I found that these 24 acres didn't just host baby elephants. These two elders have been residents for decades. Elephant keepers were loitering around these two giants, and encouraging me to take photos of them. Beware though! When the keepers asked if I wanted to have my photo taken with them I said sure. After the photo was snapped, they demanded $5.00 USD.

It is a tourist attraction that welcomes visitors from abroad, as well as domestic. There were tons of school children who were lined up to watch the baby elephants be fed, as well as being bathed in the river by their mothers.

The view is aboslutely stunning, and definitely worth a visit to come into very close contact with the majestic giants...(and the soon to be baby giants!)