Advertisement
Published: March 19th 2007
Edit Blog Post
We had discussed whether to opt for the 30 minute elephant ride or to push the boat out and go for the 2 hour package. I had coerced Sachi into the 2 hour deal despite her concerns about not being able to walk for a week!
One of the best decisions I made I think! And importantly, Sachi more than agreed.
We were introduced to our new friend for the next 2 hours, a female, 30 year old, Indian elephant from north India called Meera. I’ve obviously seen many elephants in zoos over the years but to get up close and personal is an experience that I will never forget.
Our time started by helping the Mahut (elephant master) and his apprentice, in giving Meera her daily bath. There were no barriers, no safety precautions just me, Sachi, a hose pipe, 2 buckets and some coconut husk brushes and 3.5 tons of Meera! The trust relationship between an elephant and its Mahut is very special and many elephants can only be controlled by their own Mahut. Apprentiship takes several years.
Meera was incredibly gentle and quickly seemed to grant Sachi and myself her trust. After a quick
hose down and drinking several gallons of water she lay down to allow us to start washing her. Washing is a critical part of keeping the animals healthy as well as appearing to be thoroughly enjoyable for her. At several points over the next hour Meera literally dozed off as we scrubbed her all over.
Handling Meera revealed numerous things that are far from apparent when viewing from a distance. Her hide is tough and coarse but not all over. Around the neck, the ears and certain areas of the face and trunk are incredibly soft and pliable areas. She is susceptible to sun burn and mosquito bites just like us and has areas that she really does not like to be touched, notably the tip of the trunk. Her eyes are huge and have the longest lashes.
There is undeniable intelligence as well. She clearly inspects you and sizes you up when you are in front of her, if she is uncomfortable she will move her head away and you do have to earn permission to massage her face and trunk.
The other experience you get is the chance to actually feel the breathing and the
heart beat, both of which are huge, powerful but extremely slow.
Working with an animal like this, particularly one which has such power and could pose a physical threat is not just unbelievably enjoyable, it’s a real privilege. I enjoyed every second and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone smile as much as Sachi did. From start to finish she had the biggest grin on her face and I thought she was going to cry at one point! Later that day I pointed out to her that she had had this constant big daft grin on her face and she thought I was insulting her! I need to be careful with certain phrases obviously.
After wash time, it was time for Meera to give us a ride round the plantation, not the most comfortable mode of transport, my legs really are not designed to be that far apart but a brilliant way to travel non the less. Both Sachi and myself concluded that this was the ideal way to commute in India, you feel immensely powerful on top of such a huge animal and would certainly secure right of way in traffic!
We sat on a
mat on Meera’s back and could feel her muscles and joints moving with every stride. Again, things you don’t experience from a distance. We were both extremely glad to have spent the time getting to know Meera before the ride. To just turn up and hop on a random elephant for a 30 minutes wide would have been such a trivial experience by comparison.
Once Meera had safely returned us to base it was time for us to feed her some treats to thank her for her work. A basketful of Banana’s, pineapples, pumpkins and sugar cane was rapidly dispatched by her enormous jaws. A great contrast between the incredible delicacy and care she took in taking the fruit from us in her truck and the immense power as she munched her way through some pretty tough substances.
Finally, it was time for Meera to show off her training. She and her Mahut demonstrated a selection of voice and touch commands that would be used if she were a working elephant in the timber industry. An impressive display with the Mahut controlling Meera in very tight situations and at great speed to do exactly what he wanted. She
picked up a large log as if it were a matchstick - apparently they can move logs up to 13 tons in weight which is incredible considering they only way about 3 tons themselves.
2 hours finished all too soon and after goodbyes it was time to head off. A great experience, definitely one to treasure. Sachi was all for adopting Meera - I knew what she meant!
Before properly setting off Sachi dragged me into a spice store to buy a few spices to send to her parents in Japan. Sachi in a spice store is so similar to Paula at the Next sale! I was starting to worry about the proprietors ability to keep up with her demand as she attempted to clear the store!
Our 3.5 hour journey back to Madurai turned out to be similarly memorable but unfortunately for far less pleasant and upsetting reasons. Not long into the drive we witnessed the aftermath of a road accident, the victim was still lying in the road and passers-by were trying to help the occupant of the vehicle involved. There was no doubt that the victim we saw had not survived and
Time for a walk
The Mahut attaching the Meera's lead. he had suffered horrific injuries, the images of which will not be lost to me for a long time. Sachi was deeply upset by the sight and it provided a sobering end to an otherwise superb day. The rest of the journey was truly unpleasant as the reality of the Indian driving style had been so graphically burned into our consciousness. I am far from being a nervous passenger but some of the overtaking manoeuvres and chances that the driver took from that point on ceased to be in any way trivial! Easily the most unpleasant 2 hours of driving I have ever experienced and getting back to Madurai was an immense relief.
Having missed lunch to try and cram so much into the day, and also to try and provide some level of distraction following the scenes on the road, Sachi and I headed off to find a restaurant which had been recommended to her. After a slightly longer walk through Madurai than either us had really wanted we did locate the place, a reasonably up-market looking hotel with a pleasant roof-top restaurant. Already seated at a table was the Surgeon from Tibet and her translator
Ride Time
I make it look so easy! who also stay in the guest house - they assured us we had made a good choice and I’m glad to report they were right.
General fatigue and the afternoon’s events led to a quite subdued meal but still enjoyable. After dinner we decided that a quick drink was probably in order before heading back so we hit the hotel bar.
Entering the bar was quite an experience - in India, it is unheard of for women to drink and particularly not in public. Despite being a decent hotel the bar had the ambience of a sleazy gentlemen’s club, the type which no gentleman would frequent, and as we entered pretty much every man in their stopped whatever they were doing and simply starred at Sachi.
Had it been me, I would certainly have thought twice about entering, but credit to her, she simply carried on and sat down at an empty table as if nothing had happened. Within a few minutes everyone seemed to lose interest and returned to their conversations. A quite bizarre situation.
After a quick beer it was back to the guest house and the end of a long day of extreme
highs and lows!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.115s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0531s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
TD
non-member comment
nice blog keep them coming