|
| The Morning started something like this...
 We
got on the motorbike driving out of Chiang Mai... drove past
the moat... onto the Superhighway... down 8k's turn left...
the countryside slowly gets more hilly... more hilly... It
kind of reminds me of the roads of England, slowly and steeply
curving... lots of vegetation ... banana trees... oh a waterfall
- can't stop - got to keep the momentum up if I want to get
up these hills... oh, maybe we can stop on the way down...
How far is this place? << 3k Maesa Elephant Camp>>,
the sign says... Good... still going up, up, up... oh there's
a bus, and what looks like a parking lot... Oh! We're here...
where shall we park the bike...?
What are all those people doing over there?... ooh, an elephant...
!! |
| An elephant? Really? Oh. Two of them! |
|
| Elephants are really
interesting animals. They've got these amazing limbs (trunks)
which they use for a lot of what they do, including eating,
bathing and painting. |
|
Maesa Elephant Camp is owned by a private gentleman, Mr.Choochart
Kulmapijit. ((Writes Anchalee Kulmapi
Jit of the Maesa Elephant Camp))
He was born in Bangkok and established the camp in 1976.
The camp now numbers over 74 elephants.
The camp has hardly enough funds to run the camp without
the support of the government .
We just received news that a newly born baby elephant arrived
on February the 7th around midnight.
It is a boy!
They have over 74 elephants, all with their own keepers.
You can see here (left) that they're all listed on the register.
Their photo, their name (in Thai and English), the gender
(M/F) and their age.
The main register is situated in the center of the park. |
| Every day the elephants gat a bath in the river.
|
|
In fact they get one twice a day.
|
 Every
day there is an elephant show.
The elephants come and share, pose, paint and would you
believe it - play Football! (Soccer)!
|
 What
I find most amazing about watching an elephant paint (we watched
a young one learning) was that they are INTENTIONAL
about what they are doing. |
|  They're
not just making random stripes or dots, it's intentional motions.
They KNOW what they are doing!
I saw the other beings who are different from ourselves,
being present. Aware. Sentient.
They share the same awareness and presence as we do. |
 They're
very friendly.
|
 And
they LOVE bananas. |
 They
also really like this grass. They munch on it by the armful.
They're so big! Did I say that yet?
|
 And
they love to eat!
Point to remember: Don't eat lunch around the young elephant
paddock!
Lisa knows that NOW!!
|
|  They
had the new mothers in a paddock with their babies.
They get alot of attention, and the babies appear to love
it.
|
| |
| Mom likes to eat too.
((Move your mouse over the photograph
below to see the elephant eat!)) |
| |
 The
Maesa Hill-Tribe lives in mutual harmony with the elephants
of the camp. |
 They
are raising and caring for the Asian elephants.
For this I say, Thank You.
In return, WE get to share in the experience of being that
close to, and sharing our time with the elephants.
|
| The End. |
More
Notes :
This was such joy and fun to see the elephants in the park,
looking like they were having fun [of course they would probably
still be better off in the wild, but it's a much cooler place
that the zoo].
The park has around 75 elephants and it is run by Thai Hill
Tribes alongside the Government..
When
an elephant is born it is assigned a specific trainer that
one trainer remains with the elephant until he or the elephant
dies. The trainer lives in a house just behind the elephant
house. |
We hope you enjoyed seeing
and reading about the elephants. We have many more adventures
to share with you. See the world on Globaltickit
.com |
