Our week with the elephants was one of the things I was most looking forward to on this trip – and it was even more amazing than we had hoped! As we mentioned before, we joined Elephant Nature Park (ENP) for their Journey 2 Freedom (J2F) project because it offered not only lots of up close and personal time with elephants, but also the opportunity to work with the local community. (ENP also offers overnight and week-long stays at the park.)
We were in a group of 15 wonderful people from all over the world, our amazing guide Yo (or Mr. Yo if you are fancy), Wat who was very funny and did most of the cooking, and Cha who helped with whatever else was needed. ALSO – two of the people in the group happened to be Helen and Sally who we met the week before at Cave Lodge! And we learned a lot of new English lingo from our UK and Australian/NZ friends. Our accommodations were basic, but named “Hotel California” so there is that. (That song has popped up quite a few times on this trip.)
The first few days there were all about the elephants – so let me introduce you to them:
All 7 of them live freely on protected lands with mahouts. Some of the family pairs were actually reunited post-rescue! Their relationships are as clear as those between humans. If they can’t see each other, they reach out with a foot or trunk to ensure the other is still nearby and safe.
Our first day was incredible. We joined the elephants in the jungle them for their morning walk and feeding. We watched how they all interacted together (or avoided each other), mud baths, butt scratches, uprooted trees and much more. For lunch, we sat on the side of a hill with banana leaves full of delicious fried rice, and had a picnic with them. The best part? Elephants love banana leaves, so we got to feed them our “plates” when we were finished. It was so amazing to see them roaming free and not in an enclosure!
On day 2 we were put to work collecting grass for the elephants. This type of grass has a lot of nutrition for them and apparently does not grow in the area they currently roam. So we spent the morning collecting a big truckload of it. They gave us some pretty wicked knives to do this, which turned Brandon into a ninja.
They came by our camp that afternoon to munch on the grass and other snacks we had for them including bananas and cucumbers. OMG THEY LOOOOVE CUCUMBERS! As soon as they arrived, they made a beeline for the baskets of cucumbers, using their trunks to try to collect and protect as many as they could. (Mae Yui and Mae Boi were gently battling trunks to claim their pile.) We had to hide a basket so they would actually eat the grass we got for them. When they go thirsty, they knew what to do! They went to a water spout, pulled the spigot off with their trunks, and drank to their hearts’ content! But they all did it differently. Some put their mouth up to the flowing water, while others sucked it up in their trunk and sprayed it into their mouths. Yo kept putting the spout back, but they would rip it off again when they got thirsty.
Day 3 was all about the little ones. This was the day we got to go into the village to visit the local school and play with the kids. Most of them were adorable! But as with kids all over the world, some were a little more trouble. One of the little boys – maybe 3 years old – thought it would be funny to flash me! Of course my surprise made the whole thing even funnier to him. Yea – he was a handful. After a bit I moved into a classroom where the group was playing duck duck goose! They kids laughing and running were adorable.
After that it was drawing time. They had pictures on the boards of animals and such with the names in English (dog, bear, cat, elephant…) The kids would ask us to draw one by pointing to it, or trying to make the sound it makes. We tried to make them say the name of the animal, but it didn’t always work.
Lunch was one of the most interesting parts of the day. All the children sat along the outer walls of the classrooms, while we delivered them their lunch (a small orange, noodle soup, rice, cookies). As we set them down, not a single child touched their plate! (Ok – I did see one or two of the younger ones sneak a few noodles. But I didn’t rat them out.) They waited very patiently until all of the children had food in front of them, and then together thanked the everyone that helped put this food in front of them including the farmers, the teachers, and us. As soon as that finished, they dug right in. All of them did the exact same thing: smash and mix the rice with the noodle soup and scarf! After a few minutes the teachers would come around and offer more to those who had cleaned their plates. And there were definitely kids that planned for seconds by stuffing the first round in their face as fast as possible!
When they finished, they cleared their own plates and enjoyed a little recess! Many kids waited to eat their orange and/or cookies at this time. One of my favorite moments was when this gorgeous little girl (who happens to be a little bit albino) helped a younger classmate by peeling his orange for him. It was incredibly sweet!
Not all the kids ran around though. These guys adopted Brandon and crawled all over him nonstop.
Then it was naptime (and I was ready to join them)! Each child has a little blanket and pillow and they all curl up on the floor and nap together. Yo tried to join them but he forgot his pillow, so they kicked him out. These kids were a handful – and the language barrier made it tough – but kids are kids, and it was a very fun morning.
That afternoon, we got to meet a different kind of baby: a 4-week-old elephant! The walk to visit her and her mom (Mae Boon Si) was a bit of an unexpected trek, but it was worth it! She may have a name by now, but when we were there baby girl was still nameless. The village chief will name her “when the time is right.” Here are a few photos, but I promise to put more on Facebook or something soon!
We spent our last day in the jungle helping to prepare a new enclosure for Suki on the campsite. This will make caring for him much easier since he has a hard time keeping up with the herd, needs a special diet, and requires the support of 2 mahouts. Our job? Moving a few TONS of rubble up a hill, one bag at a time. It was a very long day, but it felt great to put in some hard work like that.
That evening a local musician came to sing and play his instrument that looked like an odd harp for us. He started with the King’s memorial song, which to hear in person was very moving. People in Thailand truly loved their king. Our last day and night were spent at the main ENP camp. But before we left, we were all blessed by the chief of the village (the same one that will name the baby).
If you really want some close-up time with elephants, and chance to support the local community, then sign up for Journey to Freedom! We loved it and were very sad for the week to end.
Brandon & Devon (BaD) Journey 