A few notables…

These trees are all cement that have been textured and painted to look like tree branches. It is very beautiful and pictures do not do it justice! When everything is dry, they scatter planters of flowers throughout the structure. I could stare at these for hours.

This is Bella, our one night slumber party companion and our deck chair resident.  Sweetest.dog.ever.

This water buffalo was making the silliest sound. Jodi is able to repeat it right back to her! 🙂

Today is our last day at the park. I’ll especially miss my two favorite VCs, Jane and Aek (both males). These guys are great! And believe in the cause for the elephants.

Jane

Jodi offers to take us on our elephant walk in the morning as she does for all the 2 week volunteers. This is always such a treat.

First we say hello to one of my favorite pairs, Jokia (50 yrs old) and Mae Perm (65 yrs old).  I know I have told Jokia’s story many times but I will tell it again.  Jokia is one of the first 5 elephants that was rescued at ENP when the park first opened in 2003.  She is blind in both eyes by the hand of her mahout (prior to rescue) as a form of punishment for being ‘difficult’.  Jokia had been working in a logging camp and was pregnant at the time.  She gave birth while working but was not permitted to see her baby immediately after.  As a result, her baby died – as a mother, Jokia would have broken the sac and ‘kick the baby to get it to start breathing.  Jokia became very upset and depressed and would not work.  Her mahout speared one eye.  She remained depressed for many more days and still refused to work.  Her mahout slingshot her other eye.  When Lek happened by Jokia, she saw that Jokia was blind and questioned the mahout why she was still working.  The mahout said she was still able to work.  Lek bought her immediately as part of her first set of rescues.  Mae Perm had also been rescued days earlier and Mae Perm immediately befriended Jokia.  Mae Perm has become her ‘eyes’ and they are never far apart.  If Jokai chirps or trumpets for her (though she does not overdo this, she is quite independent), Mae Perm immediately rushes over to her and touches her with her trunk to let her know that she is there.  Although I feel awful for the loss of Jokai’s sight, particularly because of the way it happened, it is a relief to know that of all an elephant’s senses, eyesight is by far the worst.  Their sense of smell and feel for vibrations (they sense this through their feet) are the most finely tuned of their senses and the ones they rely on the most.

Mae Perm (left) Jokia (right)

Mae Perm (left) Jokia (right)

Mae Perm walks right up to me to say hello, she has the reputation of being the friendliest, easiest to approach, kindest of all the elephants. She is awfully sweet… ♡.

Mae Perm

Mae Perm (left) Jokia (in back)

Mae Perm (left) Jokia (in back)

Here is a quick water buffalo crossing. There are a lot more this year with quite a few births… because some of the bulls escaped castration or the castration didn’t take.

Water buffalo, Yindee’s family in the background

Water buffalo, Yindee’s family in the background

Next stop is Yindee’s (1 1/2 years old) family group. Yindee’s mother, Mintra, is 18 years old. She has two dislocated hips from being hit by a car while she worked as street begging. It is amazing to me that she was able to have Yindee let alone walk. I am very happy for her. Yindee has 2 nannies each with a landmine injury on their back legs, but ine has it on the right hind foot and the other one on the left hind foot. Their name are Malai Tong (30 years old) and Porn Suan (20 years old). Porn Suan is the super-I’ll-kick-your-ass-if-you-even-look-at-Yindee-funny nanny… she adores him. Yindee also has 2 grand nannies and they are both blind. Their names are Jam Pang and Jarunee. Yindee spends his time playing and checking in with all his nannies. He does get play time with Dok Mai since they are so close in age and size. I found out that Navaan no longer gets play time with Dok Mai or Yindee because he is older (at 2 yrs and 4 mos) and too big and a bit rough. I feel bad for Navaan as he probably needs a playmate and I wonder if this restriction would occur in the wild. But I am sure the park has given this careful thought.

Porn Suan (left), Yindee’s little bum sticking up from ditch, Mintra (right, you can see the dislocation of her hips)

Porn Suan (left), Yindee’s little bum sticking up from ditch, Mintra (right)

Porn Suan (left), Yindee’s little bum still looking adorable, Mintra (right)

Mintra (left), Yindee (right); mother and son

Mintra (left), Yindee (right); mother and son.

Mintra (left), Yindee (right); mother and son

Mintra (left), Yindee (right); mother and son

Mintra, you can tell that she is a nursing mother

We then move along to the family herd of Faa Mai, Tong Jan, Mae Bua Tong, Dok Mai, Dok Ngern, Faa Sai, Sri Nuan,…

Here is little fatty Faa Mai.

Faa Mai

Dok Mai approaching innocently to say hello…

Dok Mai

Dok Mai

Dok Mai

Dok Mai

Dok Mai

We see Faa Mai with her mom, Mae Bua Tong, and the herd seem content to wander around fairly close together. Mae Bua Tong comes right up to me… I have always thought she is such a good mother.

Mae Bua Tong

Mae Bua Tong

Still a little busty from nursing Faa Mai.

Mae Bua Tong

Faa Mai goes to Mae Bua Tong to try and nurse. Not sure if she is too old for this, but Mae Bua Tong never pushes her away.

Mae Bua Tong and Faa Mai, mother and daughter

Mae Bua Tong and Faa Mai, mother and daughter

Mae Bua Tong and Faa Mai, mother and daughter

Faa Mai then decides to wander off on her own. True to form, just as she did 4 years ago, she is breaking fences ! ♡ 🙂 She seems quite pleased with her work.

Faa Mai (6), Mae Bua Tong (39) and Tong Jan (13). Mae Bua Tong is mother to both ‘babies’.

Faa Mai — breaking fences. Still.

Faa Mai. “My work here is done.”

Faa Mai. “That was fun.”

Faa Mai. “I’m so happy.”

I love the super tall bamboo umbrella structures built to offer some shade to the elephants.

We notice some elephants in the river that are not associated with ENP and Jodi suggests we get closer to have a look so that she can give us some insight.  This group adventure is call “Woody’s Elephants”. Although they do not use trekking contraptions, the elephants are still used for riding on the elephant’s neck. There are no hooks but the guides do use nails to “control” the elephants as I actually do witness at that moment 😦 One of the elephants is still quite small, it seems like she is only 10 or 11. This breaks my heart to see that elephants are still objectified for human entertainment.

Woody’s Elephants – not associated with ENP

Woody’s Elephants – not associated with ENP

Woody’s Elephants – not associated with ENP

Woody’s Elephants – not associated with ENP

We make a quick stop at Jodi’s hut and I admire her beautiful chicken!

Our next stop is Khun Dej and his family.  The happy ending in this trio is that Dani’s daughter (about Saree’s age) and her baby boy (would have been Khun Dej’s age) were both taken away from her prior to ENP.  She was a very sad and lonely elephant.  She now has Saree (female) and Khun Dej (male) that have sort of taken the place of her lost family and she is now thriving again. ♡

Saree (adoptive sister), Khun Dej (3) and Dani (adoptive mother)

Saree (adoptive sister), Khun Dej (3) and Dani (adoptive mother)

Saree (adoptive sister), Khun Dej (3) and Dani (adoptive mother)

Khun Dej is 3 years old and his name means “warrior” or “knight”, which is very well suited to him since he has been through so much. He was discovered by the Thai Prime Minister’s daughter, NuNa, who is greatly supportive of Lek’s work. Khun Dej was originally found in the jungle with a badly healed, serious injury to his front left foot. It is assumed that it got caught in a wire noose snare. The are was being kept in for 2 years lost its funding so Khun Dej ended up at the government hospital. He was chained around his neck because they could not get it around his damaged foot. NuNa brought him to Lek. When his mahout quit, they could not find anyone to take care of him. Khun Dej does not belong to ENP but he will live at ENP forever because of his injury. His new mahouts (they care for his adoptive sister, Saree, and his adoptive mother, Dani) are Thai Karin which are (typically) the best mahouts.

Here, Saree plays with Khun Dej so lovingly.

Khun Dej, Saree and Dani

Khun Dej, Saree and Dani

Khun Dej, Saree and Dani

Khun Dej has sad, thickly lashed, beautiful eyes but he seems happy with his new family.

Khun Dej

Khun Dej you can really see his damaged left foot here

Khun Dej

Khun Dej

I buy a wood carving of Khun Dej from the mahouts.

I cannot remember which one this lovely lady is…  but she eats just the leaves of the corn stalks since she is quite old and it is difficult for her to chew.  It is amazing to see how flexible and adept she is at tearing just the leaves off one by one and collecting a good sized mouthful before she actually puts it in her mouth.

Next we see old Mail Tong eating pumpkin… which is sort of hard for to chew.

Me, Sabine, Jodi and David (Japanese born Chicago-ite — very nice and funny) make her peanut butter, banana and steamed pumpkin sandwiches… which she does not like at all. She either takes the sandwich and tosses it aside, or she moves her trunk away from the hand fed sandwich.  The sandwiches are to help her gain weight. She had a blood parasite and the medicine to treat it wore her out. She has really slowed down, but given her age, 60-65, she is doing relatively well. Still would be nice to fatten her up a bit though.

After lunch, Sabine, Jodi, Dave, Nel (super sweet, intelligent, hardworking vet student from Australia)  and I do the enrichment for all 3 of the bachelor boys. Hope’s caregiver, Chai Ruk, helps out as well although he frequently does enrichment on his own for Hope. He’s a very hardworking and thoughtful guy.

This is the set up for Tong Suk and Chang Yim:

Nel

Nel and Chai Ruk

Sabine

Tong Suk seems to be enjoying it.

Tong Suk aka Jungle Boy

Tong Suk aka Jungle Boy

Tong Suk aka Jungle Boy

Tong Suk aka Jungle Boy

This is Hope’s set up:

He enjoyed knocking everything down and then eating it! 🙂

Sabine and I just finish the enrichment and it is time to leave ENP….

Next stop? warm shower….!  More to come…

Good morning!  … this is Lucky. She is completely blind and beautiful. She is combining a very small snack of corn stalks with an exfoliation against the cement pillar. These pillars along with tall tree stumps are scattered throughout the sanctuary so the eles can relieve itches or do 5 – minute spas. 🙂

Lucky

And this little guy climbed right into my lap this morning at breakfast.  I love his little motor mouth.

Navaan comes up for his early morning hello while his nannies get their warm blankets put on.  I love his little baby trunk on the platform.

Navaan surrounded by his nannies

Navaan

Navaan

This morning, instead of doing steamed pumpkin, Jodi has us do elephant enrichment for Jungle Boy and Chang Yim in their HUGE enclosure.  We stuff 2 tires and set up corn stalks and branches into tee-pees.  This is is a lot of fun!  Tong Suk (Jungle Boy – 13 years old) and Chang Yim (6 years old) share this enclosure with Tong Suk teaching Chang Yim about being a bachelor, something that would occur naturally if they were not captive.

This is the morning crew, less Jodi who is up front in the truck with the driver.  And me, photographing the picture 🙂

Patricia (Argentina), Sabine (USofA), Mel (Melbourne Australia)

Tong Suk and Chang Yim watch us carefully as we set up their area… eagerly waiting.

Tong Suk (big tusks) and little Chang Yim

Tong Suk (big tusks) and little Chang Yim

Tong Suk (big tusks) and little Chang Yim

Tong Suk (big tusks) and little Chang Yim

These are the creations we came up with for Tong Suk and Chang Yim: corn stalk tee-pees, stuffed tires.  Jodi told us later during lunch that they found everything we did within minutes and were thoroughly busy eating and playing.  Woohoo!

Sabine

This is a quick shot of their built in pool.  It’s difficult to capture the sheer size of it but it is quite large and both Tong Suk and Chang Yim can be in it at the same time – probably about two more elephants with them if they wanted…)

On our way back, we get a quick sighting of Yindee with his nannies.  Look at the love and the trunk hugging.

During lunch I see this sweet lady getting a good scratch on a cement pillar.  She has a very badly injured tight leg and moves quite slowly but she seems quite content here… 🙂

At 1 p.m. Sabine, Mel and I are ready to build the enrichment for the family herd enclosure.  Here are some of our efforts in the different shelters.  By the way, all of the shelters box surprise boxes filled with snacks.  Faa Sai’s is the largest box, of course.  We loved getting creative…

While waiting for the family herd to return, we got to visit Steel and her gimpy friends and then the dog shelter.

…And here are the prettiest flowers growing on trees that line the dirt roads through the park…

We return back to the family herd shelter around 4 p.m. and see that Sri Nuan, older 60’s, is already in their shelter.   We have not missed much though.  Sri Nuan delicately pokes around and eats some of the corn stalks and bananas.  A few minutes later she discovers her box.  She opens is so carefully and I am impressed.  She rummages through,very neatly, putting individual treat into her mouth – such a lady.

Next comes Dok Mai, Dok Ngern and nanny.  They are all a little more obvious at the eagerness of tearing into their stuff.  There is some banana stealing. 🙂

Dok Mai getting a banana that rolled out of the shelter

Here is another group returning to a different set of shelters.

Sabine and you can see Yindee in the very front of his family

Next, Faa Mai, Tong Jan and Mae Bua Tong return into their shelter.  Mae Bua Tong’s daughters are like kids on Christmas morning.  After they have attacked their goodies, Faa Mai decides to grab Faa Sai’s box with her trunk.  Very clever!

Faa Mai with Mae Bua Tong and Tong Jan in the background

Faa Mai see’s Faa Sai’s box…

Faa Mai’s trunk on Faa Sai’s box

Faa Mai’s trunk on Faa Sai’s box

Faa Mai’s trunk on Faa Sai’s box

Faa Mai’s trunk on Faa Sai’s box

And Faa Sai has not returned yet.

Faa Sai’s untouched shelter .. aside from her surprise box which was stolen by Faa Mai! 🙂

We wonder why Faa Sai is not back as 20 more minutes go by.  Finally we see her with about 6 mahouts, including Darrick in his tractor, sort of guiding her along.  We assume she is being ‘difficult’ as Lek and Jodi mentioned she can be.  We find out later that Faa Sai wanted to meet and play with the new elephant, Sook Sai.  On her way meandering back to her enclosure, she decided to make her own route home.  She walks down the dirt road of our volunteer housing!!!  She is quite at ease with 3 mahouts and Pom to guide her the long way home back to her shelter.  Faa Sai steals some flowers and tree leaves and her guides just say, “No, no, Faa Sia” and she sort of obeys.  There is no physical reprimand of any kind on Faa Sai…

Faa Sai

Faa Sai

Faa Sai

Faa Sai

Faa Sai looking at me from our garden!

Faa Sai

Faa Sai

Faa Sai

I’ll close with one of the BEST cold salads that I have had with dinner.  I must try to make something like this back home.