Elephants in Minneriya

I was first drawn to vacationing in Sri Lanka when I flipped open an airplane magazine on board a flight and saw pictures of leopards in the wild . Instead of heading to Africa for the famed safaris, I decided on Sri Lanka.

Instead of seeing leopards, I set my sights on the elephants of Minneriya National Park. This decision was easily reached after reading about the elephant "gathering" every August. And well, the experience really lived up to my own expectations of seeing the majestic creatures in the wild. Minneriya is such a beautiful and peaceful place. 

Our jeep driver was amazing and frequently pointed out any wildlife that he spotted to us, although we seemed only interested to witness the gathering.

And boy can these elephants eat! 

We were so engrossed in them that we decided to head to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage to spend more time with those beasts. Well, all I can say is that nothing beats seeing them in the wild and that was a disappointing detour in our trip.