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.

Because we are 2 week volunteers, our 2nd week is different so that the week does not become repetitive (and we do not get bored).  Jodi mentioned that we get to do pumpkin steaming most of the morning and then elephant enrichment in the afternoon.  Both the VCs, Aek and Jane, are fine with this although I miss their presence!

Unfortunately, Sabine is sick today and will spend most of the morning and early afternoon throwing up and pooping.  I am pretty sure she got what I had — we shared a bottled mojito 2 nights ago.  oops.  Sorry Sabine.

Pumpkin steaming was done with the guidance of the same 2 ladies that had us do the watermelon peeling yesterday.  This is one of the nice ladies:

These are the pots that the pumpkin is steamed in:

These are handled by the ladies, probably so that the volunteers don’t hurt themselves… 🙂  The kitchen ladies steam and empty the pots and we separate them onto the cooling wire racks

and prepare to fill the elephant baskets.

There are seven older elephants that need the soft pumpkin because they have little or none of their 4 (very large) teeth left.  This is Mae Bua Loi, one of the older elephants – 60 years old.  Her name means ‘Floating Lotus’ that is very grateful for the steamed pumpkin.  She is slurping and enjoying it 🙂

Our next task of the day is elephant enrichment.  This involves food (corn stalks, watermelon, watermelon rinds, bananas, timothy hay) and props ( card board boxes with no tape or staples; thick 4 inch wide, 4 ft long recently cut tree log branches, tires).  Jodi assigned us the family shelter which contains four enclosures:

Faa Sai’s enclosure is to be the most done up since she is the most ‘difficult’.  She is 1 years old and likes to do her own thing.  The mahout(s) have difficulty bringing her in often.  So if she has something to look forward to in her enclosure, she may be more excited to get to it.  Aside from bribery it is also great mental and physical stimulation for all the elephants that have shelters that are enrichment-supported.  We stuff tires (old ONLY rubber) with watermelon rinds and bananas and seal it in with timothy and even corn stalks if we run out of hay; we string bananas and watermelon halves with softened bamboo strips which soaked in water; and I even managed to string up one of our big logs with bamboo.  This is Faa Sai’s enclosure before:

Under construction:

Mel (mother) and Will (son)

Cara

Cara

Mel

tire and corn stalks

And after:

The other three enclosures had much smaller variations of Faa Sai’s setup.  This was lots of fun and gave us a chance to get a bit creative.  We used the full 2 hours to set up the enclosures.

I thought I had pictures of the family herd tearing down their shelters but they must be on my camera still which I used when my phone was recharging.  Needless to say, the eles had a great time.  At 4 p.m. Jodi gave us permission to stand across the way of the shelters, yet still be close enough to the enclosures to watch the reaction of the elephants.

The first elephant to get to her enclosure was Sri Nuan who seem pleasantly surprised finding goodies in her enclosure.  Then all the other elephants seemed to return at once.  Faa Sai got into her areas and who barreled in right after her? Faa Mai (6 years old).  She was pulling the cornstalk/branch that placed on the top of the cement enclosure.  Tong Jan (13) followed her sister Faa Mai right after her and there was excited chaos.  The mahouts had to shoo Tong Jan and Faa Mai out of Faa Sai’s enclosure.  Faa Sai enjoyed her tires.  Mae Bua Tong and her daughters, Tong Jan and Faa Mai, loved their tire too.  dok Mai loved her little treats and Dok Ngern (momma to Dok Mai) loved peeling the bark from the logs we brought in and eating it.  Bananas were stolen, corn stalks were shared and entertainment and fun was provided.  SUCCESS!!

We did not have time to go to the dog park or see Steel today 😦

After a delicious dinner, we watched a documentary that I have seen before called, “Vanishing Giants’.  It was just as moving as the last time I saw it.  And, of course, I cried.

When we went to bed, Bella, who we secretly call Tea Drinker because 2 years ago I caught her drinking my tea, was asleep on our deck (our room is on the top 2nd floor).  She loves the wicker chair.  Sabine and I went to brush our teeth in the bathrooms.  When we were walking up the stairs back to our room, I noticed that our door was half way open as though someone had been in there.  When we locked the door and were climbing into bed, we saw this in between our 2 beds:

We sooooort of tried to coax her out, but not that seriously because we really did not mind if she stayed.  She looked at us and then curled back into a tighter ball.  We shut off the light and went to sleep. 🙂

So we have made lots of non ele furry friends, mostly dogs and a smattering of cats. Here are some of them:

From the tiled enclosure for the dogs that are paralyzed:

Steel: One of may favorites. She was hit by a car and her prior owners tried to take care of her. They were unable to and brought her to ENP where a special, large, smooth, tiled enclosure was made for her. She appears relatively mobile while in the enclosure but does have her pink wheelchair for those occasional walks outside of her enclosure. She is a very happy and loving dog, and LOVES to have her neck scratched since she is no longer able to do it. She can gaze into your eyes for hours and will fall asleep in your lap if you stay long enough. She appears to be the alpha in the enclosure as well. I LOVE Steel.

Gimpy 1 (Thai Pei): Still a bit of a puppy, paralyzed with muscular issues.  Very sloppy water drinker and by the end of our visits gets playfully nippy.  He is quite cute:

Gimpy 2 (Son Luk): Also still a bit of a puppy, paralyzed with muscular issues.  He has very soft fur and like to lay on my legs on his back, preferably with his face looking up at mine  He is quite cute and if I was equipped with the time and attention he deserves, I would have loved to adopt this guy,  I fell in love with him:

Look at how his feet cross over each other. Their feet always look so cute.

From the Dog Run:

Ice: Albino dog with the clearest blue eyes.  Ice was a nickname that Darrick gave him but he could not recall his Thai name at the time, (finally remembered, Yung).  He was so shy the first 2 days, he kept his distance  By the third day, after 20 minute or so when the excitement had settle down, he walked over to Sabine and I and sat in between us.  He leaned into Sabine for some petting and cuddling and then me for a bit.  He wagged his tail a lot and loved to have human touch.  Sabine became quite smitten with him:

Foxy: Named by me because she has the face of a fox.  She is shy and often picked on by the other dogs.  Often she has her tail in between her legs.  But when I go to see her specifically, away from the other dogs, her tail wags, her eyes squint and she gazes right into you.

Licker:  Named by us, this girl was always very jumpy and excited to see us.  She would constantly try to lick Sabine’s face and she would climb up on her back when we would sit by their pool.  Very playful and not at all shy.

Unknown: This buy had a German Shepard look to him.  Also not at all shy and extremely playful.

Unknown: She was also a bit of a shy one but gradually became one of those who like to lean heavily into you for hugs.

Unknown: Very friendly loved having his bum scratched.

Unknown: Very friendly loved having her bum scratched.

Unknown: Very friendly loved snuggling and being pet.

Unknown: Very friendly loved having his bum scratched.

Unknown: Very friendly and constantly seemed to be looking for his marble.

Dogs that were part of the ENP grounds:

Desmond:  Who I nicknamed fuzzy bear.  Like resting and sleeping on the tables.  Always stared at my food while I was eating.  ‘…are you gong to finish that…?’

Lucky:  Adorable little terrier looking dog that adores Lek.  Has the cutest face!  (and beard).

Ling: She reminded us of Sabine’s Ling.  Loved egg yolks and scratches. 🙂

Snoozer:  Named by us, he had his favorite chair at the platform.  Very easy going, sleepy and content guy.

Some other lovely sightings..

Good morning!!

Sook Sai is having a little difficulty settling in. She took the roof down in the vet shelter. It is assumed that she is lonely and bit scared as she needs to quarantined for a few days to make sure she is not sick and cannot be integrated with the other elephants. She is not used to being kept safe.

Sook Sai is in the back in the Vet Shelter

The there is this beautiful lady (in front of Sook Sai) out for her morning stroll.

This. Looking at me every morning when I eat my breakfast. Hard to resist this face. His name is Desmond but I have secretly renamed him “Fuzzy Bear”.

Desmond aka Fuzzy Face

Morning chore is cleaning poop again from the elephant shelter. Actually there are too many people for poop duty (wow!) so Sabine and I did elephant kitchen instead. We washed pumpkin and watermelon — which is the size of cantaloupes.

p.s. Only Australians can wear short shorts. Sorry, no pictures to show or it would have looked “cougar”-like.

After we finished, Pom mentioned that Lek was out with the family group herd doing photos with individual volunteers. This is the first time ever that we have done this and it seemed unusual. I had a great photo with Lek! 🙂

Lek, Faa Mai above her, me. Not sure of the cutie on the left…

Faa Mai was the most possessive of Lek – in a friendly way – because she ADORES Lek. Faa Mai was born at the sanctuary and was co-mothered by Lek and Mae Bua Tong (birth mother – very attentive and loving). Faa Mai has missed Lek. She plays with her as gently as possible.

Little Dok Mai comes in for some Lek-love. Faa Mail gets a little jealous but tolerates it since she is nanny to Dok Mai. Tong Jan, older sister to Faa Mai also wants love as do Dok Ngern (Dok Mai’s mother) and the other members of the family herd.

Dok Mai and Faa Mai

Every where Lek walks to, the elephants follow her. It is beautiful and amazing to see.

Dok Mai having a moment with her tire..

At 11:00 a.m. Lek gives a short talk in the conference room to tell us a bit about Sook Sai, the elephant that she rescued last night. It was a 24 hour drive from Surin, through the mountains where sometimes it was VERY cold and sometimes very hot… sort of like the park… Darrick, her husband, helped make sure that Sook Sai stayed warm, had water to drink and stayed calm. Sook Sai’s breaking of the vet shelter roof made her laugh and they will fix it but make the roof much higher.

She told us that the reason she was doing the photos in the field with us (and the family group herd) was NOT for us, we just benefit from it. It was to show the Thai government officials that hooks (huge, barbaric and sick-looking) and slingshots are not necessary in order to be around elephants. You DO need to be careful but beating them and breaking them into submission is not the key.

I cried when Lek said that for their old and injured elephants, this is their last home. And they will live free, with love, not pain, fear and sadness.

Her one thing she asked of us is to spread the word. Give back to ALL the animals, the respect they deserve. With our voice and the ability to connect, speak for the animals whose lives are just as important as any human life.

I LOVE everything about Lek. She mentioned that it is possible that a 2 month old ele-baby (orphaned female) may be coming to the park and that Sabine and I can meet her. She said Faa Mai will be jealous but hopefully can be a nanny to the new baby. Faa Mai is 6 years old, by the way.

After the usual delicious lunch, we said our goodbyes to the week long volunteers. It was so hard and teary. I will miss especially Helen (Aussie), Jean (Aussie) and Catherine (English); they were great companions.

Another p.s. Discovered Tim-tams, the chocolate covered chocolate creme sandwich cookie. Love them and need to bring some home for the family. Also, seaweed flavored potato chips are surprisingly delicious.

After our goodbyes: GOOD BYE!!!

…we went to Steel’s enclosure. We played with Steel and her other leg challenged friends. I thought their names were on the sign on the door of their enclosure, but I could not find it. So I have name them Gimpy 1 (Thai Pei, white short hair with brown almost beagle-ish spots)

and Gimpy 2 (Son Luk, white and brown slightly fluffier terrier-ish look). I love them all to death!

Steel was her usual love-bug self. Steel’s wheels:

The other 2 boys were goofy and cute and Gimpy 2 was trying to hump Gimpy 1 — even though his legs just dragged. Very hilarious. When the 2 boys started to get nippy, we decided to leave. I think Steel looked apologetic for the boys’ behavior…

We headed over to the dog sanctuary. These guys (in only 1 of the 10 enclosures we make it to) are always so glad to see us. Look for more of their pictures in an upcoming post, “Our Furry Friends”. 🙂

Good night for now!  Fuzzy Bear says goodnight too… 🙂

We started this morning with a group picture of the volunteers — I’ll need to get a picture from Sabine.  I requested a group picture of our VCs and VCs in training:

L to R: Prom, Dan, ? young Cambodian intern – very nice guy), VC?, Jane (super nice guy and excellent VC) and Aek (super nice guy and excellent VC)

This guy was howling to get down to us:

And Sabine was getting some morning hugs:

Went to cut corn this morning. On the drive down, we saw the trekking camps with people smoking their cigarettes while going on trekking rides. This breaks my heart AND makes me very angry. I shouted out to a few of the riders, not to the mahouts, “Please do not support elephant trekking! It’s inhumane!” Sabine suggest I be quiet but it is so difficult to see educated people be that ignorant and self centered that they would ride on an elephants back. We SAW the hooks they were using which were huge and damaging and menacing. And one of the elephants has serious scars on her ankles from being ‘broken’. Sabine was crying silently for a while.

Anyway, we got a little lost on our way to corn cutting but eventually made it.

We did cutting, and the hauling of bundles back to the truck. It was neat to see how the locals used thin bamboo strips to wrap the bundles; everything is biodegradable and from nature!

Cutting (with machete) corn and bringing bundles to load into trucks.

After we were done we went to a 2nd area where we did the same thing.  Coconut tree sighting 🙂

On the drive back, we stopped at a local shop where we got drinks and ice-cream. I got a KitKat ice-cream bar. Yum!! I have never seen these before. A full KitKat stick down the center. Must look for these at home!

We had lunch back at the park and then I hugged Lucky:

We were supposed to wash the corn after lunch but the VC’s decided against it. So Sabine and I spent our after hugging a few dozen cats at Cat Kingdom and then hugged Steel and her buddies.  Hi Steel!!!

Steel

I love the way the legs are in this sweet guy.

One of Steel’s playmates, Gimpy 2 (Son Luk). He is paralyzed in the back legs with muscular issues. Totally adorable. ♡

Then we went across the street to see the sanctuary dogs.  Nothing but love here.

Sabine and some doggie butts

This guy is determined to find something in this hole.

Our walk back from the dog park to the elephant park:

More big news! A new elephant arrived from Surin late afternoon. Her name is Sook Sai. She has an abscessed cheek (size of a grapefruit) and a broken and horribly healed and from 5 years ago.

You can see Sook Sai’s trunk up sniffing the air

Quick water buffalo crossing

Unloading Sook Sai at the Vet Shelter

Aek (VC), watching the excitement from the platform. Love this guy.

More Sook Sai info to come!

Dinner tonight was a special treat!  We had tables set up in the yoga room.  The children from the Hill tribe school came to perform!  It was lovely!!!

So the day trippers are here. It is a constant struggle for the Thai Volunteer Coordinators with the day trippers to emphasize and enforce some of the very important safety rules of the park, most particularly around the elephants. There are a couple of reasons but these are the ones that stand out. The VC’s are pretty soft spoken and feel uncomfortable repeating rules to the visitors; the VC’s are young (early to mid 20’s) and quite often the day trippers are older and respect your elders comes into play; the visitors just do not get the ultimate purpose of the park — that the elephants are NOT here for our entertainment; that the world does not revolve around human selfishness.

Aside from the fact that prior to coming to the park, some of the elephants: have killed someone; have tried to kill someone; have injured someone. Or that some are partially (8) or fully blind (4); that some have mental instability from years of suffering — that anyone getting hurt (or killed) at the park would be detrimental to the park. The Thai government and other trekking camps are trying to get Lek shut down, because she goes against the traditional belief of breaking an elephant or always using a horrible hook to control the elephant.

Back to my story.

In the afternoon, one of the elephants was at the platform while her mahout was feeding her banana’s. He sat by the edge of the fence bars and began rubbing the elephant’s forehead. He stopped and backed away but still in front of the red line (that we are supposed to stay behind. He then did this a 2nd time. I was sort of holding my breath as I hate potential confrontation. But when he did it a 3rd time, I walked over to him and said softly (so as to not embarrass him) that he should really not be touching the elephant or be in front of the red line. He apologized and stepped back. Win-win. Phew!

There was another instance where a couple was sunbathing way beyond the red line. There was an elephant approaching and they just stayed there waving their hands out to her. I said, nicely, that they should get behind the red line. They just looked at me and looked away. I repeated it, quite nicely and said it was for their safety, the girl moved but the guy just stayed there. So I said it a 3rd time to him, and moved his ass behind the red line, looked at me and stretched his well legs beyond it. Ass.hole.

The last time on a different occasion that I said this to another couple, they looked at me all pissed off and left the entire area. Their loss.

I suppose it sucks to be told not to do something. It sucks even more that I’m an American with my obvious American accent — and we were reminded by a fellow volunteer that nobody likes Americans. I know and respect that this is common sentiment but it also sucks to hear someone say it to your face.

Ah well.  No regrets.  Maybe next time I will say it in a French accent! 🙂

6:00 a.m.

Woke up feeling very unwell. Never has the saying, “Never trust a fart” been more accurate. Skipped breakfast and morning chose (elephant kitchen) to be close to the bathroom. Exploding from both ends. I do not believe it is food, water or poo that has ’caused’ this, but a coincidence.

It is 9:15 a.m. and I think that I am feeling a little bit better… nope, I was wrong.

Between bathroom visits I got to witness Navaan in action. He insisted on visiting the water buffalo, chasing them around. They then started chasing him back so he let out a little cry. Mother and two nannies came rushing to his rescue and they chased the water buffalo. Loud ruckus for the next few moments.

Navaan with his nanny

Navaan with his nanny

Navaan with his 2 nannies

Navaan with his 2 nannies

* This is my friend keeping me company… he looks very comfy *

Snack time for Navaan and his nannies.nannies. Navann scoops up as many bananas as he can reach and the nannies let him.

Momma, Sri Prae is near by at the vet center getting her back left foot treated for a 2 1/2 year old almost healed landmine accident. Just a reminder, the landmines are in Burma which is next door to Thailand. Sri Prae is a Burma rescue after she stepped on one of the landmines. the landmines were put there during human unrest from years back and now the elephants are the innocent victims when they walk through that dangerous area of land. 😦

Sri Prae getting her landmine injured foot taken care of at the vet shelter

* Thank you Monique (skinny 70 year old elephant lover from Holland) for the tablets to help settle my stomach. Nope. 😦 Threw it up.

When Sri Prae and finished and walking towards Navaan and his nannies, Navaan, trunk up, runs to see her. 🙂

10:30 a.m. feeding time and Dok Mai cannot eat her watermelon fast enough. ♡

Navaan

Navaan and Sri Prae

Navaan, Sri Prae and nanny

Navaan, Sri Prae and nanny

Navaan, Sri Prae and nanny

Navaan and Sri Prae

Navaan and Sri Prae

Navaan and Sri Prae

Navaan and Sri Prae

Navaan and his mahout — shared by both Navaan and Sri Prae (son and mom) this mahout is amazing and very nice!

Navaan

Navaan and Sri Prae

Ate a bowl of white rice for lunch and I am keeping it down. I am skipping afternoon chore as well because I have developed an all over body ache. Sabine is doing the afternoon chore of washing elephant shelter. That’s a new chore and I will be interested in hearing about it.

Water buffalo stealing elephants corn… 🙂

While writing in here, I saw Faa Mai coming to the platform. A mahout, who I found about by Jodi is Tong Jan’s mahout, was running after her and slapped her face quite hard, he may have even thrown a rock at her face. Faa Mai charged to the corner of the feeding platform. She was agitated and swinging her back foot out to kick the mahout(s) – a 2nd one came.  Unfortunately, I had to report this (as Lek always mentions in her talks with us). I had mentioned it to Jodi who helped me with the identifying the mahout. We wrote the complaint together on a piece of my journal paper and I put it in the elephant feedback box.

I guess what happened is that the mahout was trying to get Faa Mai away from her herd — for something?? They say Faa Mai can be a little naughty (which really means just be your regular 6 year old female elephant) because her spirit has never been broken (yay!) so she gets a little frustrated when the mahout(s) over control her. I felt so bad for Faa Mai. The mahouts at this point were harassing her. She was spinning and running off and they would chase after her and grab her trunk to pull her in their direction. They were also feeding her bread. Bread is bad because makes her fat and hormonal and is just not natural elephant food. What the mahout might have tried instead, per Jodi,is to ignore her instead of giving her negative attention/reinforcement. Poor Faa Mai… she is only 6 years old. I love her. ♡

So Sabine said that elephant washing shelter was exactly that. Hard sweep, followed by soft sweep and then water and sweep out water of the entire cement floor in their night enclosures.

After she was finished and was starting to feel a bit better and want a leisurely walk, we went to see the dogs. I did not play with them because I did not feel 100%. But as usual, the dogs are always happy and eager for love and attention, even if it’s me blowing a kiss through the fence. ♡

Hello Navaan and nanny!

Navaan and his nannies

Navaan

Mae Bua Loi and Mae Bua Kham wear their blankets to stay warm on these chilly mornings.

Mae Bua Kham and Mae Bua Loi

Addition to Cat Kingdom is well under way…

Picked up elephant poop this morning. Sabine is sick with a head cold so she skipped morning chore. 🙂

After poop clean up (around 10 a.m.) we went to the hill tribe school which is where some of the ENP mahouts’ children go. I learned from the coordinator of the school that there are three groupings for children: 1) kindergarten. 2) grades 1-6 and 3) grades 7-9. If the kids want to do the last 3 years of school (10-12) they must leave this school and go to the one in the city. I had a pretty bracelet made with the help of a student.

I also bought an iced coffee and a bag of fresh made cookies that the older kids prepare. Very yummy! And look at the neat handwriting of one of the students.

By noon we had returned back to the park for lunch. After lunch we went on the elephant walk with a Volunteer Coordinator (VC), Prom. Quick note, it was sad to see that Prom was often inattentive and on his phone. Also our group was large which was kind of disheartening because it seems like this is overwhelming to the elephants.

We first met Mae Jan Pang. Everyday, her mahout places a fresh flower in her ear. She is 65 years old and very patient. I decide not to get my picture taken with her since I have already in the past… and I am realizing that maybe the elephants just may not be interested in the touching and whatnot from all the visitors… I just don’t know.

Mae Jan Pang

Mae Jan Pang

Next we see Mae Perm who has made herself a beautiful hat.  she came charging at us in a friendly way, she loves to greet people.  I love looking at elephants’ eyes and their eyelashes.

Mae Perm (about 65)

Mae Perm’s pretty eyelashes

A quick sighting of Faa Mai and Dok Mai.  Faa Mai is nanny to Dok Mai:

Faa Mai (6 year old female)

Dok Mai followed by Faa Mai (nanny)

Mae Perm walks back to her best friend (and one of my favorite eles) sweet, chubby and blind Jokia.  You can see the cloudiness in her blind eyes.  Both eyes were blinded at different times by her mahout.  Horrible.

One of Jokia’s blind eyes

Mae Perm (left), Jokia (right)

Next we walk to the family group.  We see Dok Mai (2 years, female) and Yindee (1 1/2 years, male) being very playful.  Faa Mai does a great job being a nanny and you can tell that she enjoys it.  I LOVE Faa Mai’s chubby cheeks!

Faa Mai

Yindee

Dok Mai followed by Yindee; Sri Nuan, older grand nanny to Dok Mai

Dok Mai followed by Yindee; Sri Nuan, older grand nanny to Dok Mai

Dok Mai left, Yindee right

Dok Mai followed by Yindee; Sri Nuan, older grand nanny to Dok Mai

Dok Mai plays with a soccer ball for a little before she ends up popping it.  She scares herself and ends up running back to her hard for comfort.  They surround her make sure she feels safe.

Dok Mai is inside this cluster seeking comfort after popping her soccer ball!

This dog is digging a hole to China:

Then Faa Mai takes Dok Mai and Yindee to see this hole and they play with it too.

Dok Mai and Yindee play together frequently.  Yindee is like that little pesky brother, but they still seem to really enjoy each other’s company.

Yindee (left) and Dok Mai (right)

Dok Mai (left) and Yindee (right)

Yindee climbing Dok Mai

Yindee climbing Dok Mai

Dok Mai (left) and Yindee (right)

Dok Mai (left) and Yindee (right)

Yindee

Two cats sleeping inn unison – out cold.

Day 3 of a nice cold shower. 🙂