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Elephant Nature Park is an elephant rescue and rehabilitation center in Northern Thailand. They have been involved in dozens of rescues which have created the thriving elephant herd. The park provides a natural environment for elephants, dogs, cats, buffaloes and many other animals under our care. (information is taken from the website) Exhausted from travel, we slept (no joke) 11 hours, emerged from sleep like den animals, gnawed on some breakfast, packed our belongings, and went to the lobby to wait for our ride to Elephant Nature Park. Those of you who know me well realize just what a culprit motion sickness is. (Hey, Jefferson Valley friends: remember all those awesome car and bus rides when we were growing up? I was the one who always traveled with a bag. You know why. I'm gross.) In the UK I happened upon Kwells, a product I love so much, I'd do commercials for them.
I love you, Kwells.
Kwells isn't sold in the US so all I have left are 5 pills. Eep! I hoarded them for the year since we returned from the UK and figured I'd only use them for the flights. Since Elephant Nature Park is 1 1/2 hours outside of Chiang Mai, it seemed wise to take a dose. I can't imagine what would have happened if I hadn't taken any. It was bad, people. I was horrified. Let's pray Talladega Nights-style to go back in time and Command Z my Linda Blair impression.
For an hour and a half.
But here's the thing: I could be sick in Thailand hanging around with elephants or I could be nausea-free on my sofa not seeing Thailand or elephants. Always pick elephants.
Let's go!
Oooooh. Pretty chandelier in the hotel lobby.
Still pretty
Chiang Mai rolling by the window. Er. We rolled by Chiang Mai. Errrrr. We drove through Chiang Mai. Errrrr. Quick! Who has a bag!?
Who cares about anything??? Elephants!
I have to admit that the song playing in my head was from 3rd grade Girl Scout Camp. The counselors would sing this at lunch and walk conga-line style through the mess hall adding another girl to the line for each verse. (sorry if it's stuck in your head now)
Their feet are unbelievable - supple, delicate, and resilient. One guide told us they can feel vibrations from miles away.
Many of their elephants are blind. Other elephants become their friends and "eyes".
The skin has wrinkles because elephants don't have sweat glands.
Wrinkles are a way to maintain temperature.
A water buffalo chased us. I'm not kidding. You know what looks really big in real life? Horns.
Even bigger? Horns coming at us.
Viv sent this fine specimen into a...wait for it...cat nap.
so much petting
MEOW!
This meowzer looks like Jack, the cat in the Mahoning Valley!
Oh, look. Elephants.
No Big Deal. Just walking around and hanging out with elephants.
Elephants are always a big deal! I'm not cool at all! I'm so psyched!
Hopefully the keys weren't in the ignition.
Ummmm...I knew what these were. Now I can't remember. But I ate them and liked them.
Oh, this. Don't zoom in.
We were in the cat sanctuary area and Viv said, "hey mom, come look at this." She's a really good judge of what interests me, so I immediately made my way over to her.
It was like a Geico commercial gone bad.
I was not interested in grabbing that lizard amphibian thing so one of the kids we were with tried keeping the cats away. He got brave and moved the poor bugger, but the cats launched at it again. Picture me doing that thing of standing on one foot, then the other. Finally, I sucked it up and grabbed the thing by the tail (to the simultaneous delight and horror of the three kids with me) and put it in some bushes.
I just shuddered again.
I don't know what these are.
Keep away from me.
This is the door to our room/hut!
This is the dog that lives on the porch of the room/hut! Yeah, he totally came in.
We took this dog for a walk - he is hilarious and adorable.
We met a lovely family. Marcus is German, his wife Bridey is English. Their kids, Noelle and Finn are pure awesome.
Bridey and Noelle took Flea, the dog, for a walk and he did this with his leash the whole time. He's hilarious! So much personality! He's blind, but you'd never know it from the level of sass.
Oh, look, an elephant. We just happen by elephants as we walk back to our room.
Magical princess beds!
(note the cat napping on the bed)
We got to see baby elephants swimming!
Praying Mantis
I know you're thinking that this place looks too good to be true, but in real life, it's even better. I swear.
Go there.
Viv said, "you should make the pictures extra large because they are elephants." True words, kid.
extra large
She is 102 years old!
That is a benign tumor.
Thai caterpillar
rescued horses
as happy as a pig in... MUD! (you naughty people. I know what word you were thinking.)
We walked up the road to another part of the property and passed this great weather vane along the way.
Not a bad view while eating lunch.
Oh, hey! An elephant!
Now look again. Yeah. That's a spider.
Pretty walk to the toilets.
Our guide, Minnie, picked a gardenia for Vivi. Gardenias were the favorite flower of Granny Fox so it was lovely to think of her. "Minnie is awesome," Viv just added.
This elephant is blind so it's important to touch her trunk so she knows where the food is, then put the food near the end of her trunk.
That's Minnie!
Viv did an excellent job every time she fed her.
I love this picture.
I took so many pictures and video that it's taking a while to back them up to Google Photos. I'll update this blog post when there are more ready to view. In the meantime, I'll fill you in up to right now (Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at 6:45 pm Thai time). The ride back from Elephant Nature Park was fine thanks to a full dose of Dramamine and a fantastic driver who was really careful about going slowly and avoiding potholes. He was a dream driver. Viv and I arrived at the hotel, grimy and happy, ordered room service, showered, and went to sleep. This morning we went to breakfast and saw a lovely woman and her daughter who are traveling together. The mom saw us as we staggered off the van into the hotel and asked us how the day was because they were going. We chatted briefly, but I liked her right away so I was happy we saw each other this morning and got to have breakfast together. I don't often meet other mom/daughter duos traveling together and I understand the thousand reasons why, like:
not enough time
not enough money
not enough sleep
But I have to say that traveling with Vivian is spectacular and a true joy. There are small moments that build character, independence, resiliency, and pride. Each trip, I try to give Viv a bit more to do so she has responsibility over part of the journey. I want her learning how to navigate the world without fear and to remember that she can depend on herself as well as others. This year, I made a spiral-bound book with our itinerary information for each day. Locations, flights numbers, etc. are all in one place. She helped navigate from the hotel in Newark to Newark airport through the airport to the shuttle to Kennedy airport. We had an enormous window of time so I gave her the reins and she was relaxed, confident, and unperturbed...exactly what I'd hoped. There are also lessons about listening to our bodies because travel can wreak havoc and jet lag is no joke. It's important to pay attention to when we can rest so our bodies can recharge for fun later. Okay...it's time for bed. Tomorrow morning we head off to the airport to catch a flight for Koh Samui.
