We visited the government-run Pinnewala Elephant Orphange near Kandy in the Hill Country in the center of the country. We were very pressed for time to catch a train so we only had about 20 minutes to visit. We would have loved to have stayed longer. From the entrance, we climbed a dusty brown rounded hill into the property. Just over the crest, dozens of elephants came into view. They were standing around in small groups, looking like they were at a cocktail party. A mahout, or trainer, motioned us to approach and let us pet and pose with the elephants. The orphanage rescues elephants. Some have been mutilated by having their tusks removed. One elephant is seventy years old and blind. About 90 elephants live there. Since the orphanage was founded, about 49 baby elephants have been born there. We later read in the Lonely Planet guidebook that some people criticize the orphanage for allowing too much human contact and for breeding them.
The orphanage produces paper out of elephant dung, which they fashion into notepaper and stationery for sale in the gift shop. As one might imagine, the paper is thick and fibrous. All those reedy plants in the elephant's diet make for a pulpy paper. We did our bit for Earth Day by buying some luxury dung products.