About this experience
Pick-up from your Kalutara hotel at 06:00 in an air-conditioned vehicle with your English-speaking chauffeur guide. The three-hour drive brings you to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage by around 09:00, just in time for the 09:15 feeding session. Watch mahouts hand-feed baby elephants oversized bottles of milk, then follow the herd down to the river for their morning bath — a chance to see over 90 elephants up close in a relaxed, unhurried setting. Your bottled water is included; entrance fees and any food are at your own expense.
You spend roughly three hours exploring the orphanage, learning how it has cared for orphaned and injured elephants since 1975, and observing the daily routines that keep this herd — one of the largest captive groups in the world — healthy. Lakpura arranges the return journey by 12:00, with the option to stop for lunch en route, getting you back to your Kalutara hotel by approximately 16:00. Minimum age is 7; this is a private tour.