Tusk! Tusk!

Have you ever considered climbing upon a 10-foot behemoth with tough, bark-like, thick scaly skin and long, sharp bristly hairs that you have to lean on to keep a measure of balance as this giant lumbers uphill and stumbles downhill? Ever awaken to an urge to bathe in a large animal watering hole into which, after a long trek you've taken on its back, it now releases its bodily fluids and solids? Those were two of the highlights of a day Adele and I spent at the Baan Chang Elephant Camp, 50 minutes outside of Chiang Mai.

We signed up for this event thinking that it would likely be hoakey. "Here you go folks. You're elephant's name is Gunga Din. Go ahead, you can pet the trunk". Upon boarding the van for the 1 1/2 hour ride to the camp, my worst projections were confirmed as we joined with three other twenty-something couples - newlyweds, lovers or singles 'with benefits'. Actually, they were lovely people whose company we thoroughly enjoyed, even if Adele and I were looked upon as 'biblical'. More importantly, I was wrong about the experience. This was a beautifully planned, well-organized and excellently guided day with frequent, direct, and extended contact with these lovable beasts.

Our elephant's name was Plai Phudoi, the evident leader of the pack.

We started our day with an informal gathering of elephant and human. Where? At the 'bar' naturally. The "feeding" bar. A place to hang out and feed the elephants a laundry basket hugely filled with sugar cane and bananas. The elephants eat 2,000 kilos of food per day. [That's correct! 5,000 lbs.] They eat when they relax, interact, when their idle and when their active. They eat as they walk with you on their back. They are monstrous foragers, wrapping and tearing giant bunches of sheaths of sugar cane as they discover the stands in the forest. Our elephant, 'Plai Phudoi', would suddenly decide to stop, and do so lurching us forward. He would swing his trunk, gathering together a stand of cane, then pull on the stalks to uproot them. He would then, somehow, carry the harvested cane, and literally destroy it in a matter of a couple of minutes. You could hear the crushing sound of his jaw and teeth smashing through the hard surface of the cane. Mind you, the stalks were maybe 5 feet long, so the animal somehow bit off sections of the stalks because in no time the bunch was completely consumed.

Our first introduction to the elephants at the 'bar'. Adele adapted quickly to feeding our new friends.  

After feeding we were initiated into the "calls" necessary to prevent disaster. The basic instructions possess an urgency that requires no explanation. "Go"; "Turn"; "Stop"; and, "Down". Simple enough, right? But the elephants didn't listen to their handlers, so why listen to the "white man". That's not exactly true. The guides were actually matched to their elephant within minutes of their being brought to the camp as rescue animals. The guide almost literally lives with and for his animal - they are a team. And, the guides are as sweet and as gentle as the elephants. That being said, it is hard, at best, to stop a two ton animal gaily making its way through a forest path. And, some of the areas pruned for our 1/2 hour trek were narrow. From up above, becasue of the girth of the animal, it appeared that he was going to step off the path and down into a gulley. But I realized, too late for my nerves, that his legs were not at the end of his body but directly beneath me. 

Finally, our stroll having ended, it was time for a refreshing bath. Now, we had to get off the elephant. So, instructions given, you hold onto the ears as the elephants lowers herself in such a way that the legs become a step down to terra firma. Considering that we were both holding on with the muscles of our inner thighs, like a monster jockey, we dismounted with pleasure and relief. Once off, the elephants wasted no time in jumping into the watering hole. Between the time the elephants entered the pool and we were ready with our buckets and brushes to join them, the staff, with long nets used to clean swimming pools, entered the water and scooped up bowling ball sized 'poop' just dropped by the elephants. But, I ask you, could you say "No" to getting into a watering hole with an elephant? I couldn't.

The "watering hole". You could sense the enjoyment on the part of the elephant. Not so sure about us?