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Published: September 23rd 2007
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We have now completed our first week at the Forever Elephant Camp in Jomtien, Pattaya and what an experience it has been so far. After our first day walking with the elephants and getting to know our mahoots and the locals, we had Sunday off to check out the surrounding area of Jomtien. It's hardly what most people would call idilic, unless you're 40+, bald, overweight, sunburnt and looking for suspiciously young Thai girls! One great benefit of being here is the football coverage, we get all the games you don't get at home so we spent Sunday watching a bit of footy in a local bar and doing some very interesting people watching.
Monday morning we awoke bright and early ready for our first full day at camp, i don't care where you are in the world, or what it is you're doing, but getting up early on a Monday morning is still hard work! We spent our first day learning more commands and getting to know the other volunteers, John and Corin, a married couple who both worked for the fire service before John retired, and Sarah and Paul, who both arrived Sunday evening to spend a week
A whole world of poo!
This is the money shot for those who didn't believe it could ever happen! at camp. Paul (a Jack from Lost lookalike!) has now returned home and Sarah has moved on to Oz, good luck to the pair of them in the future, we've all had a great time! It will be quiet this week without you.
Once our confidence had built up, and we'd done a fair share of the dirty jobs, we began to mount and ride the elephants through the forest and around the camp. It has been amazing, not something words can really describe. Our individual mahoots (Ulee and Nin, and Nin's son Dik) have been really patient and great fun at the same time even if they don't speak much English and we speak even less Thai!
A usual day at the camp involves a morning ride, then feeding and cleaning the elephants area, followed by some free time to hang around the village, teaching Engligh, playing cards and really learning the mahoot way of life (lying around in hammocks!) Then, it's lunch at the local market followed by an afternoon wash and ride before retruning home in the back of the truck. The people of the village really take care of us and have welcomed us
with open arms.
Opposite the camp is Budda mountain, it's a great backdrop to the camp, and brings in lots of tourists which is where the camp derives a lot of its passing trade from. The budda is made from gold and scored into the rock face by laser ten years ago to commemorate the King of Thailand being on the throne for 50 years. I think it's fantastic, and the King is great, really, really great (there are Thai people watching!)
One afternoon we were responsible for collecting the pineapple leaves which the elephants eat tons and tons of everyday. We all hopped into the back of the truck and headed out on a bumpy ride to the fields where we collect the leaves and any spare pineapples not harvested by the farmers. It was hot work, but satisfying, especially cooling down on the drive back riding on top of the leaves in the back of the truck. My mahoot seemed impressed with our haul... so a job well done!
Wednesday night we stayed over at the village, it's certainly a long way from 5 star accomodation, but we certainly enjoyed it. We got to take
the elephants out to the forest for the night, where they are tied up, but with long chains so they can wonder around and eat to their hearts contents without keeping the camp up all night. After a few beers and a few games of Uno it was time for bed, which is easier said than done when Paul kept us up giggling like 14 year old schoolgirls for half the night, and one of the mahoots snores like an aeroplane taking off! Hels and i slept in the hut and Sarah and Paul in the tents, i could tell by peoples attitudes the following morning that we got the best deal!
At sunrise (or in this case rain-rise) we headed out to collect the elephants and take them for their big wash in the lake, which it was obvious they get very excited about. Watching them playing around in the water is great fun and seeing my mahoot Dik "surfing" my elephant Noi was worth getting soaked for.
John Snr suggested that we take a look at the elephant bath as it was filled with algae and could do with a good clean... so it was scrubbing
time and we did a great job! It was hard work, but Tiger Beer made it all worth while, oh and seeing how happy the elephants were as well obviously! : )
It was a sad end to the week. There has been some trouble at the camp, with families arguing and delays in people getting paid. Sadly, John Snr's mahoot and family decided they had had enough and moved on, then on Saturday i was dissapointed to find out my Mahoot Nin and elephant Noi were also leaving due to issues with others in the camp. Until this point i did't realise how much i actually cared for both Noi and Nin and his family, so it was very sad to say goodbye and next week i will be working with a new elephant and mahoot. This week could have been something out of the Thai mahoot version of Eastenders!
Tune in for next weeks instalment. We're off into Pattaya to get Hels a McDonalds and then to watch the Villa stuff Everton (hopefully!).
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jackie
non-member comment
Hi John and Helena, really enjoying your reports. love jac, bren sam and emma xxxx