Happy New Year and Some Elephant Gossip

Gather ye around and I’ll tell ye the latest…

Hi all. I haven’t posted for a little while as we’ve been pretty busy around here with the silly season and all that it brings. I want to wish you all a Happy New Year, or Joyous Pagan Festivities, or whatever peels yer bananas.

To those in America and England, I’m sorry to hear that you’re rather cold at the moment, so I won’t rave on about what a perfect summer we’re having, as I sit outside on a beautifully starry night enjoying the wee solar lights and the humidity – that would just be cruel and I won’t do that to you. Nor will I mention the plums and avocados raining down upon us on a daily basis or Rustle the Hedgehog snuffling about feasting on them or indeed the Zinnia and Cosmos flowering madly outside my bedroom window. Far be it from me to tease you in such a hard-hearted manner.

What I will say is that I hope you got your firewood in before the cold snap and that your hot water bottles overflow with mulled wine (I like a practical touch) as you languish in your cosy homes while it snows prettily outside your windows in true Christmas holiday tradition.

Some wonderful things have happened to bring in 2014 in a marvellous manner. Some elephants have been freed in a little camp down the road from Elephant Nature Park, with full support from ENP. Freed from the onerous seats that they wore to carry unthinking and uninformed humans (I don’t mean that as a judgement by the way – I did the very same thing, visiting an elephant camp and going for a ride before I knew any better) and they have had their dignity returned to them and been put into retirement. This speaks volumes about the courage of the camp owner in instigating an enormous change in the way she and her camp does things. You can read about that here.

Also, after many years of hard work put in by Lek, founder of ENP, has finally managed to expand Save Elephant Foundation (SEF) into Myanmar. This marks the first international foundation to open in the country and work with the government and people. The goal of the new foundation is not just to help elephants, but to provide education to and empower locals to improve the lives of those in the country. You can read about that here.

Finally, here is a lovely clip of Jokia, who was blinded by her mahout before she arrived in the safety of Elephant Nature Park, and her friend Mae Perm, who plays a crucial supportive role in her life, talking to and interacting with each other. It was filmed by a couple who have a blog called Bounding Over Our Steps. Here’s the clip.

And here’s the link to their blog.

That’s it from me for now – I’m going back to hedgehog watching. I hope 2014 brings you all great happiness and many joyous moments. And don’t forget your mulled wine…

Namaste