Meditations on Elephant Trekking

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I was born in 1979, so transportation in my lifetime has consisted mainly of combustion-engine powered mechanical conveniences. Now, I've done my time on bicycles and skates, skiis and boats, planes and three wheelers, but I've never been put in a position where the only method of transportation was animal. I've only riden a horse once, and the power you can feel in the beast beneath you, and the trust you must have in it actually allowing you to sit on it, well, it was exciting and frightening at the same time, like when you were learning to ride a bike and you were going down a hill that was a little to steep and you were going a little too fast but you couldn't jump off and as much as you thought you had control of the bike, it actually had more control over you at that moment...

So, I'm not a cowboy, ok? I never really was a gifted bicyclist either--I could never really bunny hop, and I could pop a wheelie but never ride it out for very long. Maybe it was my little yellow Huffy that was the problem, not me? Nah...that bike was the best! Anyway, today we rode elephants. That is to say, we participated in 'Elephant Trekking', which is as much a staple for the economy as coconuts. (Coconuts, we learned, were once Samui's primary economic contributor. In the last two decades, tourism now makes the island more money.) So, we went on an Elephant Trek. We thought it looked like a good day to venture a little deeper into the jungle, which it was, but it was also busy that day, so it wasn't like a secluded hike alone in the jungle--it was a tourist destination. But it was nice, and we were in the jungle and there was a creek and a nice waterfall that we rode out to.

Let me just say this, Heidi and I are animal lovers, and we weren't a huge fan of the monkey show that we went to--it's not like the monkeys looked mistreated or anything, that certainly would not be in the business owners best interest, but they were captive, mostly kept on chains or in cages. And there is definately cock fighting and bull fighting here (they call bulls "buffalo" here so it is actually called "Buffalo Fighting", but to me they look more like an ox) Well, that doesn't attract us at all. That, coupled with the dog problem that no one seems to acknowledge, and the abundant quantity of exotic birds in cages here, well Heidi and I were hesitant to ride the elephants. The employees of these shows and the treks ensure you that the animals are happy, and its hard to argue with their logic: Monkeys and Elephants, neither which are native to Samui, were brought here to do hard labor--the monkeys would be trained to climb the coconut trees and shuck hundreds and hundreds of them each day. (which some still do) And the elephants were used in logging, mainly hauling huge rocks, and trees to clear land for roads and farms. (which they definately don't do anymore) So, the life they now lead is better than it used to be, but worse than if they weren't captive at all. Some of the dogs around here could benefit from a little captivity.

So, I've only seen a few elephants in my life, maybe 3 or 4 tops. So to see like 10 just walking around out in the jungle, it was like my personal Jurassic Park. We walked out onto this wooden dock, and you look down and you were standing right above an elephant. There is a guy who is sitting up near its head, and they just tell you to climb on and take a seat, so we do. We climb into the saddle, which is like a harness with a little cushiony board on it's back, and we're off. Elephants look like they move in slow motion, the way they walk, the way they curl and sway their trunk, its all very graceful and actually, it's more like bobbing right along the trail. The next thing I know, the driver dude climbs down and tells me to come sit where he was. So I kinda slide down--I was surprised at how skinny their necks are relative to the rest of their massiveness--and I'm sitting on on it's neck and am told to put both my hands on its head, which I do. This things skull is huge, and it does have hair--short, black, hard, bristles. So riding like this you can really feel the movement and the muscles and the hips. Elephants are very sure footed, we're told, even on steep and uneven terrain. Well, we're putting this girl to the test cause there's huge roots and rocks and creeks and plants and this baby hasn't missed a step. Which is great, cause I'm pretty high up and it would hurt to fall off and get trampled, and I'm faithfully holding it's head with both hands, which later the pictures will point out, is an extremely awkward looking position. I mean my arms are locked-- (maybe I also look uncomfortable cause one of the driver guys whose on the ground taking pictures with Heidi's camera keeps saying, "Yah, sexy driver man, very sexy man", after every picture) So, we go see the waterfall and Heidi's elephant blows around some water with it's trunk and we make it back to the dock and the elephants seem to be well taken care of, so it's all good, even though riding bareback on an elephant is not the most comfortable ride, and yes, I did see an elephant penis. I wasn't looking for it, but the thing was as big as my arm, it's not like you could miss it. -SPM

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Photos

Shaunee on the Ellie
pretty funny lookin'

Our little family
yes, that's my mom who came for a visit this week

My mom feeding the Ellie
yes, she did have a banana and there was an elephant, I just missed both when I snapped this

Little Asian Ellie
This guy is 6 years old, the ones we rode were about 20 and I guess they live to be about 60. They are smaller than the African Ellie.