ELEPHANTS!!

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Unfortunately I couldn't post this before due to the spotty wifi on the island - so here is my overdue entry about the elephants.

One of the things I wanted to do the most in Thailand was interact with elephants. I spent months researching elephant camps. I wanted to be very careful in which I chose. I wanted to make sure it was an actual sanctuary, that the elephants were not made to do any tricks, that they were not ridden, bullhooks were not used and the elephants were not chained at all. I ended up picking Elephant Nature Park and was blown away by their ethical devotion to saving elephants. ENP was founded by a woman named Lek. Not only does she rescue orphaned elephants and take in old or injured elephants, she also works with the tribes in the hills to get vetrenary care to working elephants who wouldn't have it otherwise. She is hoping to someday convince these tribes to change the current way they train elephants to work, which is basically to beat and torture them until they become submissive. She is also trying to get laws changed that will protect elephants - they currently are considered livestock and have no protection.

Our driver picked us up in the morning along with some other people from hotels in our area. On the drive we met Sarah and Sam, a very nice couple whom we ended up having a lot of fun with. When we got to the park the first thing we did was feed one of the elephants. They had about 6 groups of 8 people there that day. Each group has a guide and they coordinate to make sure each group gets elephant time. So, we fed our elephant a big basket of watermelon and bananas. She was an old elephant and kind of picky. Next we fed a Momma elephant. She had a bad foot from stepping on a landmine. No one except the mauhaut are allowed to feed or touch the babies. They want to keep them protected. But we did get to watch the mauhaut feed the baby. He was adorable (the baby). After the feeding we walked out in the park to meet our first elephants. The first set we met are the only ones whose names I remember (and am going to spell wrong). They were Jokya and Mae Prem. Jokya was a work elephant in the jungle. At one point she was pregnant but her baby was born as she was working on a hill. The baby rolled down the hill still in the sac and she was unable to save it. After that she became very depressed and would refuse to work. When they would put the chains on her to start work she would lay down. To try to convince her to get up and work, they would shoot slingshots and arrows at her eyes. Eventually, she was blinded in both eyes. When Lek came across her they still had her working. Lek raised $2000 and bought her and brought her to the park. Jokya was the first blind elephant brought to the park and at first they were concerned if the rest of the herd would accept her. Mae Prem immediately "adopted" Jokya. They have been best friends ever since and they are always together. While we were with them Mae Prem wandered about 30 or 40 feet away to check out another group of people but they kept in contact by making this low rumbling sound at each other. We spent a good deal of time petting Jokya and taking picutres.

The next group we met were the trouble makers. The 42 elephants that live in the park have split themselves into herds. These three apparently like to stir up trouble with the other herds so they have to be taken to the other side of the river in the afternoon to keep them from starting elephant mayhem. They are just fine with people though so we pet them and took more pictures. This group had one of the saddest looking elephants I think we saw. Her hips had been broken in a forced breeding program and had healed poorly so she always looked like she was half sitting.

Next we had an amazing lunch buffet of all vegetarian food. Graham was in heaven. Then we got to the part I had been excited for - elephant bath time! They have to bathe the elephants once per day at least. Elephants coat themselves in mud to keep cool and as a natural sunscreen. Parasites can form in the old mud so it has to be washed off daily. In the wild the elephants eat something that keeps the parasites from being able to burrow in but they can't get that at the park. Our elephant really really didn't want a bath. To them the water is very cold and especially the older ones don't like it. They finally managed to lure her to the river with watermelon and told us to wash quickly because she probably wouldn't give us long! So we threw buckets of water all over the place and got her mostly clean.

We spent the rest of the afternoon visiting different elephants and watcing the "family" which was the Momma and baby elephant and 3 "nanny" elephants. At one point they were in the river and the baby elephant was rolling around in the water, having a grand old time. Two of the three trouble maker elephants decided to come back over the river and cause some elephant drama - basically just a bunch of elephants running around while the mauhaut yelled at them to keep them seperate. Before we left we got to feed them again. It was really a wonderful place and I am so glad we went.

After we got back to our hotel we washed some of the elephant smell off of us and then headed out to the night market. It was ok- not as grand as I was hoping it would be, but I did get some Christmas shopping done! Then we met Sarah and Sam at a beer garden they were telling us about and had some very expensive and delicious imported beers. It was a fantastic end to a fantastic day!

Next up - Island Life!

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