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. 🙂

For those of you reading my WordPress blog, it has been difficult to get consistent WiFi connection.  So I am keeping a journal which I will scribe into my blog when we return to Chiang Mai ( city ). 🙂

Since this has been my third day shoveling elephant poop I thought I’d give a lesson on how to find the ideal shovel.

First of all the shovel should reach no higher than your belly button… Much like miniature golf.  This allows you the proper leverage in hoisting the poop from the ground.

Next your shovel should have a square shape in order to hold the most amount of poop without falling off your shovel.  The sharp corners are also beneficial in breaking apart extra large poop.

You should also make sure that your shovel has a handle.  There are far fewer incidents of your shovel slipping from your hand.

If you can snag a pair of gloves you are golden as there are times when it us best to chuck the shovel and use your hands.  By the way elephant poop barely has an odor.  It’s something like old cut grass and mulch or peat moss.

I have become quite possessive over my shovel and have actually tucked it away in the shed so I can use it again.

So there you have it on how to select the ideal shovel.  🙂

Shovel elephant poop in the morning.

Next we got in vans (which the driver played country music!  ) to go visit hill tribes to bring packages we put together yesterday. On the ride I found poop in my pocket, elephant poop. Damp elephant poop.  Must have fallen in there during chores.  This Hill Tribe was about 20 minutes from ENP.  We delivered clothes, blankets and toys to the adults and children. Although we are a bit unorganized the gesture is very moving. This Hill Tribe village is one of the providers of the crops (they are farmers) that are delivered to ENP for elephant and human consumption.  Pom mentioned to me that they have made these deliveries to over 100 different Hill Tribes.  This is amazing to me.

For lunch had delicious rice rolled in banana leaves.  Delicious!! We ate near the Buddhist monk temple.

When we got back to the park Jodi recruited us to bring treats and toys ( trimmed branches ) to the Bachelor boys, Hope, Tong Suk, and Chang Yim.  This is Tong Suk aka Jungle Boy!

Tong Suk aka Jungle Boy

After that we went to Steels enclosure to play with her and her mates.  Steel is such a doll… gets a little possessive for our affection but a doll nonetheless.

Steel

Steel with red jacket, Gimpy 1 ( Thai Pei, white), Gimpy 2 (Son Luk, brown)

Steel with red jacket, Gimpy 1 (Thai Pei, white), Gimpy 2 (Son Luk, brown) & Sabine

Drinking a bottled Margarita now which tastes pretty good.  Dinner is on in half an hour and then we go to the conference room land learn about Thai culture.

Will have to add photos and notes later.  Checking if I can post

Clean elephant park. Saw Navaan and family. Saw Mae Bua Loi and Mae Bua Kham. They were in blankets because they were shivering; it’s been quite cold in the morning.

Saw Dok Mai and family herd.

Learned that females produce milk ànd can give birth up to 60 years of age. Wow.

Played with cats after morning chore and had delicious lunch. It is freezing in the morning and night! !! But sunny and warm during the day. Actually quite refreshing. 🙂

This afternoon is elephant bath which I may just observe and photograph today. Snoozed a little in the sun after lunch first though. Get a chill out if the sun and the elephant platform is out in the sun.

Loving everything.

Even the fact that I will be cleaning elephant and cattle poo this afternoon .

She just came up to the platform!