Crocodiles, Mud Wars and Elephant Flatulence. Return to Elephant Family Sanctuary.

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phet-eating-lunch

Phet – or ‘Diamond’ in English – scoffs some lunch.

A couple of days ago I was lucky enough to return to Elephant Family Sanctuary, in the Maewang District of Chiang Mai. On this day it started raining just as we got to the camp, so things were done a little bit differently from my previous visit. Our lovely guide Cookie gave us a bit of a run down on elephants and safety around them, then we grabbed our feed bags and climbed the hill to load up on cucumbers. Once again our group was small – there were five of us – and we were joined by a likely couple of lads from London, upon who I directly lay the blame for the ensuing discussion on elephants and flatulence. You know who you are, Aziz and Shay. Continue reading →

Shine On You Cuddly Diamond – Elephant Family Sanctuary. Go here!

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Baby elephant walk.

I’ve just had the privilege of playing with elephants at Elephant Family Sanctuary, in the Maewang District, about an hour and a half south of Chiang Mai. It’s run by my Thai adopted brother Chaiw, who rang me on Saturday afternoon and said he had booked me in for the next morning to go on a half-day excursion and I would be picked up earlier in the a.m. than I am generally comfortable with. So I hauled myself out of bed, foregoing my crucial morning coffee, (potentially fatal to those around me) and got myself ready for this momentous occasion. The EFS silver van duly picked me up at 7.15am and we did the rounds, via back roads and lanes, to pick up the other clientele that were in on this particular trip, Theresa and Tom from California and a young lady from Israel who I think was named Carly. We were a small group today, which I’ve found is always a good thing, as you get to ask your guide lots of questions. And I am indeed rather nosy, although I prefer the label “Curious” or “Enquiring”. There was also a driver, who didn’t speak English, and our guide was a lovely young lady called Hnong, friendly and full of smiles, with quite reasonable English.
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Tattoos, Dodgy Jungle Bridges, Bruce the Beetle and the Rat with no Name

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When I turned 50, I was awarded ‘Awesomeness Points’ by my daughter for getting my first tattoo in a bamboo hut, down a dirt track, in the jungle of Chiang Mai, North Thailand, surrounded by elephants. Rather a proud moment really, earning said points. Then, a few days ago and three years on, I repeated that journey, from New Zealand to Bangkok to Chiang Mai to an hour north of Chiang Mai then through the elephant park to see Jodi Thomas, artist and elephant activist extraordinaire in her new bamboo hut down another track, still surrounded by elephants, and requested some further tattooing. As you do.

the-rickity-bridge

The rickety bridge. Step carefully on the centre planks…

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NOT For Sale – One Maine Coon Holder with Bamboo Accent

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Aha!! I have found a nest. I will get very comfortable, for obviously this is My nest. MaineCoonHolder 1 72

But wait, there is a human watching me. It must be jealous, for I have never seen it in a nest.

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I will wash. I will wash and ignore it and it will go away.

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This is not working. The human is not going away.

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I must come up with a plan. Let me think.

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Aha! I will stick my leg out. Everything knows that when a cat sticks its leg out, it is obviously washing. And the universal law of cat washing says that a cat washing must be left in peace.

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Hmm. It is not going away. Okay, I will act nonchalant. Everything knows that a cat being nonchalant must be left in peace.

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Not working. Okay, I will sniff. Everything knows that a cat sniffing something is busy and must be left alone.

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This human is not leaving. It is obviously ignorant of cat law. I shall put it to sleep. I will yawn and it will go to sleep.

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Drat! It is not going away. Then I must go back to my nesting.

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Perhaps it will leave me alone and go and inhabit the other nest I have left for it. Then it will not be jealous any more.

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It is seriously ridiculous what a cat has to do to keep a human happy.

 

Elephants Don’t Surf! Pass it on…

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An elephant frolicking in FRESH water - as it should be. Note the lack of surfboard... "Watch this Ellie. Just one more push and we got us a waterhole!"

An elephant frolicking in FRESH water – as it should be. Note the lack of surfboard…
“Watch this Ellie. Just one more push and we got us a waterhole!”

Seriously, have you ever been out surfing and had an elephant glide past you on a wave? I’ll bet all six of my toe rings that you haven’t. That’s because elephants don’t surf.

There’s a series of photos and videos that have been making their way around the net for far too long. They feature a baby elephant ‘playing’ in the surf. It looks all very cute, but it is a very wrong picture. So very wrong! The Mahout Foundation have put out a video that shows what goes into the training of baby elephants – the ones you see in these ‘Have you ever seen anything so cute?’ pics, the one’s that are still unfortunately left in circuses, the ones you buy bananas for on the streets in Bangkok and the ones apparently frolicking in the surf, amongst others. Continue reading →

Geotagging Could Help Poachers! Please Read This.

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I’ve never been on safari myself, nor lucky enough to visit a country where you could do so. But I know a lot of people have, or will some time in the future. So please read this and spread it around as much as possible. Chances are, it hasn’t occurred to most people that they could be inadvertently helping poachers. The main points are:

  • If you are taking a photo of an animal that is at risk of poaching, TURN OFF your Geotagging feature
  • If you post your photo onto social media, DON’T Tell people exactly where you took it

Please Read This Article

Thank you, on behalf of all animals.

Photo courtesy of: Arno Meintjes Wildlife

Photo courtesy of: Arno Meintjes Wildlife