Loving the Elephants!

Yesterday we played with elephants. We waded into the river and scrubbed their backs, tried to avoid the elephant poop floating down the river, fed an old elephant her lunch diet? of watermelon and banana, and even got a big wet slobbery kiss from a baby. It was an awesome day!

We went to The Elephant Nature Park, about an hour and a half outside of Chiang Mai. This place is all about loving elephants! Seriously, though, they are doing a tonne of good, pun intended. We had the chance to meet a small, bright-eyed woman named Lek. Lek is an amazing woman. She is the founder of the park. She rescues abused and neglected elephants from around Thailand and brings them to the sanctuary, as they refer to it, to essentially be loved, healed and brought back to health.

We learned so much about the elephant tourism industry in Thailand. A hundred years ago, 100,000 elephants could be found in the country. Now, only 5000 remain. The stories of each of the elephants in the park were so sad. One had a gnarled leg due to a landmine while logging in Burma. Another was blinded by his mahout (owner). One had his tusk chopped off and nearly died because of the infection. We learned about how the mahouts put the elephants through a brutal training to break the independence of the elephants- an ancient Thai tradition. It was sick.

Most tourists are just not aware of the exploitation of elephants. I didn't know about most of this until yesterday. The Park has a great focus in offering day trips to tourists. Their hope is that it will catch on, and that other elephant owners will see that it's an attractive option to tourists. There were also a number of other long-term volunteers from around the world. It lets people come and have a natural experience, and really it is so much better than watching them paint pictures, spin hula hoops, etc. Getting elephant poop in your shoe while scrubbing its backside and getting a big kiss from the biggest mammal on the planet is way better than the former option!

So yes, now I am all for saving and loving the elephants! What a great experience. I took so many pictures; can't wait to show you!