Elephant Sanctuary
Today was up close and personal with the most majestic of creatures followed by the impossible feat of climbing a waterfall freehand…very much a Spiderman moment!
All dimples and smiles! These enormous yet gentle animals are truly incredible. We had the pleasure of spending a morning with them at Mae Rim, feeding them sugar cane and bananas (they eat 10% of their body weight every day), mud bathing with them, and washing them with home made shampoo (we pounded the root of a plant that then became sudsy in water). We had a lot of discussions amongst ourselves as to the ethics behind these elephant “sanctuaries”. The jury is still out but with a lifespan of up to 100 years, those freed from servitude need a place to live out their days in peace.
We dressed in the traditional garb of the mahout. The mahout is the elephant keeper who bonds with the elephant for life. When these elephants are rescued, the mahout will live with the elephant at the sanctuary.
Feeding each other.
New elephant tail hairdo for Alex.
Mom, look what I found. Can I keep her?
An elephant hug is way better than a bear hug. Just waiting for the elephant to pick Evan up.
That’s Adam and Alex on the left mudding up the elephant before the mudslinging got a little more personal.
The calm before the storm...
Robyn and me giving the elephant a mud bath.
Our guide, Mr. Tony, wrote our names in Thai on our arms. We thought it was a cool way to show us what our names looked like phonetically. Then we realized it was really his way of remembering who was who!
Our wonderful guide, Goi, is an avid outdoors enthusiast took us not only to the Elephant Sanctuary but also to Bua Tong. His dream destination is Whistler to go mountain biking and snowboarding (he now knows that means two visits)-. Here’s how we met: he was our taxi driver from the airport. Chatty people that we all are, it seemed like a match made in heaven and we exchanged numbers. He has excellent English and does bike tours in the region when he’s not driving his very nice SUV taxi.
Look Ma, no hands! Affectionately known as Sticky Falls, limestone deposits coat the rocks making them feel “sticky”, a little like sandpaper. Where else could one walk up waterfalls against the rushing of water?
Surfing. The white parts of the rocks are grippy while the greener it gets, the more slippery. Goi shared a little secret. The green is the algal build up that happens throughout the day over the whole surface. Early in the morning before the place opens up to the public, the staff are out there scrubbing off the algae of the previous day.
Refreshing, that’s for sure!
A zen moment to end the day.