Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Sri Lanka

The elephants playing in the river at the Elephant Orphanage
At the time I was travelling from Colombo to Kandy in Sri Lanka, I didn't even know the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage existed. I saw a few signs and my driver asked if I wanted to stop by; I love elephants so of course I did. Not sure what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't really as much of a zoo-type facility as I presumed. For the 2 hours I was there the elephants (most of them) were free to roam around and play in the river as they pleased.