Thankfully I had prepaid online for today's activity, the Elephant Nature Park. I hope everyone I know gets the chance to go here someday - it was an absolutely singular experience. The park is devoted to rescued elephants (elephant abuse is a major issue here, with most elephants being tortured to perform for tourists, shot up with amphetamines, tamed in terrible ways, etc). It was started 15 years ago by an incredible Thai woman named Lek. Over the years she has expanded her sanctuary and it is a vast idyllic expanse of mountain jungle where dozens of domesticated, formerly abused elephants roam free by day and are fed all 1000 tons of food that they like to eat, massaged, and washed - it's basically like an enormous elephant spa.
When you go, you are on elephant duty all day, feeding them and washing them, which is just an incredible experience. Elephants only sleep 4 hours a day and constantly snack for the other 20 (apparently I am part elephant). To be up so close to those huge animals - to be in the river scrubbing them, rubbing their backs, getting incredibly disgusting slobbery kisses on my toes and cheeks from them - I never imagined I would get to spend so much time with them, even when I signed up for the day at the park. I thought we would mostly be watching from viewing stations but in fact, we spent a lot of the day in the mud and dust with them, and I have the filthy clothes on at the moment to show it. Who knew I'd be doing laundry by day four?
I can't upload my own (um, 600 or so) pictures of me and my new friends but here is someone else's online photo from the park - you can still see wounds on many of the elephants including on this one's trunk in the photo.
3 comments:
Make sure to bring home an elephant. Just buy one before you get to the airport because the elephant prices there are so inflated.
And, I don't want to give anything away because I know this is a public blog so the following message is in code to fool the Nigerians:
I sent Foney to you via Festern Fnion. Make sure to bring your Fassport to fick it fup.
Josephine went to see a rich merchant in Laos. "give me some money." Why? "i want to buy... an elephant."
If you have no money, the merchant said,- you can't afford to keep an elephant!. "i came here" Josephine replied, "to get money, not advice!"
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