Yes. He is indeed: the bomb. the bees knees. and the cat’s meow.
Category Archives: ramblings
Shout Out!!!
thinking of my mom who continues to fight ovarian cancer (18+ years) with quiet dignity and strength ♥. she is my inspiration, my heroine and my cheerleader. i am thankful to be wearing her genes, get it? genes?! 🙂
I liked this…
From Humans of New York
“If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be?”
“Try your best to deal with life without medicating yourself.”
“You mean drugs?”
“I mean drugs, food, shopping, money, whatever. I ain’t judging anybody, either. I was hooked on heroin for years. But now I’ve learned that every feeling will pass if you give it time. And if you learn to deal with your feelings, they’ll pass by faster each time. So don’t rush to cover them up, or you’re never gonna learn.”
a push, a shove and a rush of blood…
I was pissed. But I am over it. Life’s to short.
This is what transpired earlier today… which started with a facebook post from Lek along with some sadly graphic but important pictures of elephant torture.
On the 13th of March every year is the day that Thailand celebrates the Elephant’s Day ! I will dedicate my page from now on to reveal the suffering of the elephant. I want to share the picture to let the world to know what is behind the elephant show and circus and entertainment , how the elephant so suffer from this !
Today, too many hundreds of thousands and beyond of tourists still pay money and expect to be entertained by the animal ! The world is complete with the black heart and no understanding. How can our message reach them , how can our message teach them. This picture, these eyes of suffering, speak thousands of words to the tourist. Your voice will help to save the elephant ! Please do not hesitate to speak strongly !
with NuNa Silpa-archa
Then through several posts, this one person, Jess something made this statement that got a rile out of some people including me. I’m sure she will retaliate again tomorrow but i don’t really give a shit anymore.
Jess Sathiest 99% of this human population are selfish, self-absorbed & apathetic assholes. They know cruelty exists, they simply don’t care. Their needs are far too important to concern themselves with the suffering of the animals who are tortured. They pay the abusers to watch a show, or to be entertained & by default they expect these animals to perform. Their warped thinking is: “If we pay for it we have a right to see these animals perform for us.” This is why I am misanthrope. I despise my race & will never show any empathy or have any sympathy for any form of human suffering. My heart & my fight belong to the animals. Humans need to perish. Education is not they key because most humans possess a neanderthal mentality that no amount of education can change.
Libby Helton Jess im sorry you hate the human race and you are certainly entitled to feel how you feel but I too stand by what I said. We will agree to disagree. Your country is diff than mine. We don’t have such horrid traditions such as you described. Thank you for educating me on some of them. I’ve learned something new and that being said we all want the same thing. Animal abuse and cruelty need to end.
Jess Sathiest Danny Henriksen I have no idea what the point of your post was?? Where in my post did I say anything about stopping what I am doing and giving up the fight?? I expressed my loathing of the human race and said I feel no empathy or sympathy for them because my heart and my fight was, is and always will be for the animals. I also said that the human race was not worth ‘educating’ because it does no good – they already know the truth they simply don’t care. All I read in your post is what you do, so if you needed a platform to get out to the world how much you do then you accomplished that, but your comment to me was pointless. I too am an animal activist and I too march and protest and even sign petitions. I cant see it making much difference or any difference for that matter, but I still do it. However, I do not believe humans have the capacity to change so instead of believing something like this with all my heart (as you indicated you do) I prefer to try and help the animals around me that I can actually help. I cant save all the animals of the world but the ones I can help I will help.
Cat Ghislaine Garber Wow. For those who have no faith in the human race… i feel sorry for you. Does that mean we give up and stop fighting for animals? People are making a difference in trying to help and protect and save these animals… and forests… and pastures. .. etc. But things don’t just change overnight. I will continue to be involved and support the cause. As a species we have so much to learn but I have hope.
Jess Sathiest LOL Cat Ghislaine Garber why on earth would you feel sorry for people who don’t share your mindset?? You should instead direct your pity at the ones like yourself who have the faith and hope in this human race. I certainly don’t need or want yours or anyone else’s pity for how I feel. I am quite open about my loathing for this race and have no hope for us. So you believe what you want to believe and hope for, but keep your pity for yourself, okay? Good!
Cat Ghislaine Garber Sadly the intent of Lek’s post is getting lost. Jess Sathiest you perplex me. Do you loathe and hate yourself as well? Or are you the only good human alive? I the don’t read realism in your views I read pessimism.
Jess Sathiest LOL Cat Ghislaine Garber you amuse me with your mundane garble. I am misanthrope, look up the word & educate yourself to what misanthrope means. To your last bit of garble – realist or pessimist, both suit me fine. As long as I’m not delusional in my beliefs Im off to bed now, it is soon going to be midnight here. Go amuse someone else. TaTa.
Cat Ghislaine Garber Nah Jess Sathiest I don’t need to look anything up. Plain and simple you are mean and insulting and use misanthrope and other semantics to justify your rudeness. I have you figured out just fine. For someone who hates the human race you sure like to be around them or you wouldn’t be on here. You like to hear yourself rant and get a rise out of others. By the way you and you alone in this series of posts define the word loathsome. Not the Lek’s of the world. Sweet dreams. But you probably don’t have those either. Over.and.out.
1.25.15 Sunday
Today was a very laid back day. We first went back to the ENP office to donate more clothes. Dontating clothes helps the Hill Tribe village that will end up receiving them and it makes more room in our suitcases to bring home market finds!! 🙂 From ENP office, we walked to Tai Paeth Gate, which was barely a quarter mile, for Sunday market. We found a different vendor that was making fresh dumplings – yummy still!! And we got grilled corn on the cob. We bought a few more last minute things: happy pants (stretch loose cotton pants that are great for hot weather), scarf for mom, more hanging lights for the girls… Definitely my favorite day market and in a great area for exploring.
By the time we finished looking at everything we wanted to, we decided to have late lunch early dinner at the Black Canyon Cafe. We each splurged on delicious coffee drinks… this is my black hazelnut frappe.
We returned back to the hotel for one last swim at the pool. Then showered and packed our suitcases. This is always one of the saddest parts but we are ready to get back to our families…. Good bye Lotus Pang Suan Keow. See you again soon!! [ Now for the 24 hour trip back home… 🙂 ]
From the lobby looking up
Open lounge area on ground floor
Open lounge area on ground floor
1.24.15 Saturday
Today is another day of exploring and shopping! But first I want to capture what the hotel looks like from outside our room. The center is like a humongous atrium that’s light and open. Our view of inside the hotel from our 12th floor location – we are room 21221.
We go back down our favorite street (maybe one day I will actually write it down) which is just walking distance from our hotel. We find a very nice boutique-y plaza next to the Factory Outlet that sells the Celadon. There are about 15 little shops that sell clothes, jewelry, shoes, hats – a goldmine for fashionable chicks like us. Since the Factory Outlet is still closed, we decide to take a red bus to Saturday market. We get there at about 1 p.m. not realizing that the Saturday market is an evening market that does not really start until 4 p.m. We decide we do not want to hang around that long — the pollution (car exhaust) is exceptionally bad. Instead we discover that one of the street that Saturday market is next to is full of shop after shop of silver jewelry. Imagine a street with one candy store after another (if you like candy), that is what it is like when we are looking at the jewelry. Of course we buy a couple of pieces. 🙂
We decide we will head back to the hotel, go for a swim. This is our gorgeous swimming pool on the 7th floor!
After a relaxing hour at the pool, we shower and have dinner at Tops Market, you guessed it, pad Thai. I have to lay off the Thai curry, the hot spice is starting to get to me… We then go back to the street that sells the Celadon and pick up a couple more pieces that have the elephants decorated in the pottery. We stop at the boutique plaza next door and drink some water. Hi Sabine!! 🙂
On the way back to our hotel we see this tree all lit up. Looks better in person, but at least I’ll never forget it, even with this blurry picture.
When we get back to the hotel, we eat cookies in bed and watch the one American channel that airs some decent TV shows. Life is good.
1.23.15 Friday
We decided to sleep in this morning. It feels so good to sleep in a warm bed, and in a room where we actually have to turn on the air conditioning instead of adding a fourth layer of clothing (as I did at ENP). Eventually we stroll down to the 1st floor for our complimentary buffet breakfast. There is a huge assortment of food but Sabine and I stick to the usual Thai salad bar. However, when I see these mini croissants, I have to get some mostly because they remind of 2 of the dogs, Son Luk and Thai Pei, that we would hug daily at ENP and it makes me smile.
the shapes here remind me of the back-leg paralyzed puppiesh playmates of Steel, Son Luk and Thai Pei, when we would visit them all in their tiled enclosure. They always sat like this it would look SO cute!!! ♡
One of Steel’s playmates. Note the resemblance of the croissants to Gimpy2’s (Son Luk) legs. He is paralyzed in the back legs with muscular issues. Totally adorable. ♡
After breakfast we decide to explore our favorite street which we discovered the last time we were here 2 years ago, to do a little shopping. This is ALWAYS fun. We find a factory outlet shop (Thai style) that sells Celadon (famous in Thailand) and we buy some beautiful bowls with elephants on it. We are thrilled at this find. We find a few other shops where we buy a few gifts and, of course, some stuff for ourselves.
We eat lunch at Tops market in the Central Mall (connected to our hotel) and order one of our favorite meals, Thai curry chicken.
Instant colonoscopy prep.
The we go to TaiPeth Gate, which is where the Sunday (afternoon) market is. we had found 2 or 3 very nice boutiques that sell pure silver jewelry as well as scarves. We buy more goodies and have a great time spending the afternoon outdoors.
When we return back to the hotel abd because it is 93º F, we decided to go swimming in the HUGE (Olympic sized but nicer shape) swimming pool on the 7th floor – outdoors. How lovely! We swim for an hour, shower and go for pad Thai at Top Market. We go back to the Night Bazaar again and make sure to get to Lanna Silver. I buy the elephant pave bracelet. I will always love this store because of the large selection of gorgeous, uniquely designed silver jewelry pieces. And they always take you up on the saying, “Can you please give me any discount?” 🙂
By the way, I will get pictures of the swimming pool tomorrow. I love it here!!!
1.22.15 Thursday – Hello Lotus Pang Suan Keow
It is 4 p.m. and we are checking into this hotel. Oh my!! Not only does this feel like heaven because we are in a real hotel (warm showers to be had, soft beds, no ‘skeeters), but this might be one of the nicest hotels I have ever been in! This is our room:
Looking in from 1/2 way into the room — little sitting area.
View from sitting area
Standing on bed… looking at front door (bathroom on right)
Bathtub.. with hot water!!!!
Toilet… with ability to flush toilet paper!!! Most places in Thailand, you are requested to throw all (used) toilet paper in the trash. ew. Shower… with hot water!!
Nice sink area…. with hot water!!!
Complimentary bathrobes 🙂
We took hot showers — sooooo nice — and the headed to Central Mall complex. On our way out of the Mall area, local vendors had set up the stands with foods and wears. I found my favorite little vendor that sells all sorts of silver jewelry — lots of charms and earrings and bracelets. I got several charms, some as gifts and some for myself. I am posting this next picture so I remember how to lace this charm through the chain. It’s very pretty!!! 🙂
From there we decided to go check out the Warrurot market (Chinese market) on the recommendation of our friend Patricia (from Argentina). Very disappointed with this market. It was basically commercial cheap goods (shirts, luggage, etc) and the area was very dirty… maybe we just went at a bad time?? But I think we’ll avoid this market in future visits back to Thailand.
We went back to our favorite night market, the Kilare Night Bazaar. In the red bus that we took there we saw this in the back where we were sitting; it felt like a good omen to be reminded of ENP even though we had just left the park!!
Hello, Night Bazaar!!
While strolling through the Bazaar, we accidentally discovered a a real jewelry store in the heart of the Bazaar called, Lanna Silver. We both bought a couple of very beautiful pieces of jewelry (can you ever have too much?) Git a gigantic ice-cream at the Haagen Dazs ice cream shop. Strolled through several more shops but by 8:30 p.m. we were exhausted and decided to go back to our (lovely) hotel. By the way, our hotel has HOT WATER!!!
While laying in our beds watching some TV, we heard loud booms, opened the curtains of our 12th floor sitting room area and saw gorgeous fireworks!! Perfect was to end the night! 🙂
Day 11 at ENP – 1.22.15 Thursday
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…
Day 10 at ENP – 1.21.15 Wednesday
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.
million indentations of happiness 
