The orphanage occupies a shaded compound on the edge of the village, with a feeding yard, a nursery enclosure for the youngest calves, and a path that leads down to the Maha Oya river where the herd is walked twice a day for a bath. The river-bath sessions, at roughly 10:00 and 14:00, are the visit's set piece — sixty or seventy elephants strung out along a wide, shallow stretch of water, splashing, rolling, and squirting one another while visitors watch from the riverside terraces of the cafes opposite. Calf feeding takes place at 08:00 and 13:00 in the main compound and is the other moment most people time their visit around.
Pinnawela has a complicated reputation. It has been genuinely successful as a captive-breeding programme and as a place to see Asian elephants at close quarters, but international animal-welfare organisations have repeatedly criticised the use of chains on adult bulls, the practice of selling elephants on to private owners and temples, and the cramped conditions between the river walks. It is still worth a visit if you want to see elephants in numbers, but go with eyes open — and consider pairing the visit with the smaller, more hands-on Millennium Elephant Foundation a couple of kilometres down the road. Foreigner admission is several times the local rate and is posted at the gate.