Today I got my elephant ride! All the volunteers get one on their last day. Unfortunately due to his leg injury we can't ride Raja, so I settled for Lakshmi instead. Riding an elephant is, um...different. First of all, you are riding bareback so you have to grip with your legs to stay on, secondly contrary to what you might believe, elephants are not smooth skinned, well they might be underneath all the prickly hair they have all over them. And third, they have very broad backs so its hard to get a good grip. So off we went, Lakshmi and I on our little adventure, me alternately clinging on for dear life, and waving my hands in the air saying "look ma no hands". We crossed the bridge as I precariously rocked violently from side to side as Lakshmi meandered across the 5 foot wide bridge. My life may have flashed before my eyes. After our walk around the area, we ride down to the river. This entails the elephant walking down extremely steep steps, with you hanging on with all your strength so you don't flip over their heads. Very exhilarating. Once in the river you have to lean forward on the elephants back and then they proceed to douse you in water. Yup, you get a trunkful of river water in your face. That's my shower for the day. All in all, an amazing experience, one of the coolest things I've ever done.
Today is my last day at MEF. Tomorrow I take the train back down to Galle to spend my last couple of days with Jen and Linzi and the other volunteers from Michael's. It's time to have our last arrack fueled night at the disco at Unawatuna. Then Saturday I take the train to Negombo and fly to England. How did 6 weeks go by so fast?
No comments:
Post a Comment