Cheshire folk are famous for one-upmanship – so it is hardly surprising that when Bowdon resident and writer, Charlotte Cory, decided to take up polo, she did so on an elephant. Upmarket Chester-based travel company, ITC Classics, who have recently launched deluxe tours to Sri Lanka happily sponsored her first attempt at the game.
I timed my trip to coincide with the Ceylon Elephant Polo Association match in Galle, one of the most beautiful places on the Serendib Riviera. The match took place just beneath the ancient Dutch ramparts of the old Galle Fort, on a pitch sandwiched between the sea and the world famous cricket ground. It was only as I was climbing out of the commentary box, which doubles as the players’ launching block, dangling mid-air from a pair of ropes and trying to find my footing on the back of Rajah, the size of a double decker bus, I remembered my travel insurance. I could not recall any mention of elephant polo…
Luckily all went well. Rajah was extremely docile and I don’t think he
understood what was going on any more than I did. It was a nice day out for
him and a pleasant change from logging in the jungle. There was another elephant
there called Gerald who scored all the goals. He made a terrifying spectacle
as he charged full pelt after the ball. He was often too fast for his own good
and went offside, giving the other team a sporting chance.
International Elephant Polo is not for the faint hearted. With annual fixtures
in Nepal, Thailand and Sri Lanka it is the sport of dukes and maharajahs. At
the Players’ Dinner on the first night, I sat next to Torquil, the 13th
Duke of Argyll. His family have colonial connections with Ceylon, including
a tea-bush named after them but tea was not the drink in evidence at the polo.
A keen exponent, the Duke plays for the Chivas Regal team who sponsor the event.
Elephants need 200 kilos of food and 200 litres of water each a day. Out of
130 domesticated elephants (and 5000 wild elephants) in Sri Lanka, 16 attended
the match. This line up of over 10% of the country’s tame elephants was
well-worth travelling across the globe for.
Elephant polo is fiercely competitive but good-humoured. There were teams from
Hong Kong and Singapore, ex-pat bankers and businessmen, a Thai Princess, a
doctor from Edinburgh who owns her own elephant, hotshot British Ghurka officers
from Nepal, including a dead-ringer for Johnnie Wilkinson, Captain Johnnie Williams
(who caused much merriment when locals jostled for his autograph). There are
strict rules governing the game although you often would not think so. Elephants
may not pick up the ball with their trunks during play or lie down in front
of the goalmouth. Sugar cane, bananas or rice balls packed with molasses and
rocksalt are given to the elephants at the end of each match and a cold beer
or soft drink to the mahouts “but not vice versa”. Gentlemen may
only play the stick with the right hand, ladies may use both. “In a dispute
the umpire shall decide the player’s sex.”
With two chukkas of seven minutes each and a fourteen minute interval, teams
engage in avid pre-match tactical discussions. Apres-polo is probably the most
lively part of the game. While the elephants take to the water tanks and sluice
themselves energetically, players engage in loud post-mortems which often continue
long into the night. “A certain sort of person is attracted to elephant
polo,” says Geoffrey Dobbs, President of the Ceylon Elephant Polo Association
and owner of some of the best hotels in Sri Lanka including Taprobane Island
and the Dutch House and Sun House in Galle. “Ambitious, go-getting, up-for-anything
people who enjoy the hard-working, hard-living jetsetting lifestyle. At the
Mahout’s Ball afterwards we raised 6000US$ in five minutes for local charities.
This generosity and spontaneity is typical of the elephant polo circuit.”
It sounds pretty typical of Cheshire too. Perhaps ITC
Classics should get up a team for next year. The Cheshire Tuskers has a
certain ring.
Enquiries about Ceylon Elephant Polo: tel: 00-94-91 2242730 or email: taproban@srilanka.net