The land of smiles

I visited this project and not only was the project fantastic - you really do get up close and personal with the beautiful elephants that live on the safari - but, having visited maybe 25 countries over the years, Sri Lanka was by far the friendliest I have visited. Everyone smiled. They didn't stop smiling. Wherever I went, whoever I spoke to, everyone smiled!
I loved working with the elephants and getting to know the mahouts - even though they don't speak English, it was easy to interact and it was great to see how much they care about their elephants. The work was varied - mucking out, tidying the elephants' beds, planting food for them, washing them in the river, helping to entertain the tourists who come to ride them. And the community work was so rewarding. Again too many smiles to remember and really lovely kids enthusiastic to learn English. I loved it and would recommend it. Rosiee the coordinator made this trip - so warm, motherly and funny!