Trekking with Elephants in Thailand 2 (see preceding post for more info)

MeeMee, my Old Lady. She is 20 years old, the Matriarch of the herd and notoriously difficult. I don't want to sound like the typically arrogant me, but I know we bonded the best of all the people and their Elephants. She is a Lady with a Mind of Her Own, and me being the biggest (and oldest) there, they assigned me to her not so gentle care. Initially she gave me a lot of grief, but once I allowed her to walk to the front of the herd where she and I,(lol) rightfully belong, she was kind enough to show me more respect. Here, after being on her back up the mountain and into the forest for more than an hour, I am showing my gratitude for her eventual acceptance by feeding her my whole lunch. Even the Mahout (Elephant Handler) in the background just had to smile. Once we are back home I will post more of this stunning Old Gal.

She worked some muscles on my butt I forgot I had ....


Mau feeding his Sweet Girl some Bamboo. She is 7 years old. They do take the food from your hand soooo gently, even if your whole hand disappears into their mouths!!











From the break at lunch we went on to the mud pool where, as you can see, great fun was had by all. Never been so dirty and full of mud in my life. Each of us had to ensure our respective elephant was covered in mud. In return, they kept spraying and splashing us with mud ..... pure pleasure and fab interaction with highly intelligent and sensitive creatures.

Here is Mau with his Lady.





From the mud pools we rode them down to and into the river to wash the mud off of them and ourselves. This is one of only 2 places in Thailand where you can ride these beauties bare back ....
Pure magic!!!!


I promised to give Joe, the local man and his family who owns and runs this business some exposure. They are a wonderful, kind and welcoming family with years of experience in working with Elephants, and they go out of their way in their rustic surroundings to make things as easy and enjoyable as possible. Joe even hopped on a bike to go buy some of us cigarettes when we ran out after the Trek. If ever you wanna Ride with the Elephants, this is their site. We did the one day package. If interested, just tell him Jay and Mauro (To-Morrow, heehee) from Shanghai / South Africa referred you and they'll get you a better deal.
http://www.thaielephanthome.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1