Elephant Camp

Day One
8:30am Check in at information center
9:00am Training program at the show ground
9:45am Elephant bathing
Yeah, even though I had showered in the morning I got to take another bath. The bell rang and all the elephants piled up in the water. The mahout scrubbed her down and I helped by splashing water on her head. I was more or less immersed in the pond; I had to get over my dislike for non-chlorinated water really fast. Note: there is a group of paying tourists watching us on the bleachers. Hear the shutters clicking rapidly.
10:00am See the elephant show
Did you know that elephants paint? They are pretty good at it, too. For about $14 you can by a masterpiece which helps support the elephants. They also play the xylophone and ring bells. On a more practical note, though, they are an invaluable source of labor. We watched how the elephants move and stack logs, which is what they did before logging was outlawed a few years ago. My favorite part though was watching the elephants curtsy or bow when their names were called.
11:00am Check in at accommodations
Our rooms for the length of our stay resembled the inside of a snake charmer’s basket. It was indeed a basket—woven walls with a thatched roof arched above it to keep the rain off. There was electricity and an attached bathroom with running water. Three rooms were all right next to each other and a mahout lived full time in the one at the end. Down the steps and to the right, picnic tables were set up next to a small kitchen where a couple of Thai ladies made our meals. It was all very homey.
12:00pm Lunch time
1:00pm Elephant taxi rides
Different elephants gave taxi rides. We walked up a wooden stand and climbed into a carriage type thing fixed on the elephant’s back. There is a quite a bit of sway in these things and Courtney and I held on for dear life. I had heard about one of these carriages slipping off before which added to my fear.
2:00pm Training program at the show ground
This is when we practiced the commands and improved our mounting and dismounting techniques. The best way to dismount was to slide off the front.
3:00pm Take the elephant to the forest
Over the hills and through the jungle to the elephant’s habitat we go. The elephants are taken to the jungle at night so they can feed since they eat all the time and it is too expensive to feed them around the clock. Each night they are taken to a different place so they have more to eat. As the elephant was doing all the work climbing up the mountain with John and me on her backside, I was already thinking about the morning when I would be walking up the mountain on my own two feet. Riding like this also afforded John the opportunity to practice Thai massage on me. I thought only the women over here give massages; I was wrong. It also gave him the chance to, unbeknownst to me, make a monkey tail out of leaves and vines and tie it to the back of my shirt. Courtney told me about it later, after she took a picture.
6:00pm Cooking time
7:00pm Dinner
Of the rice variety. And fruit for dessert.
8:00pm Sleeping time
Before we went to bed, we played cards, drank Thai whiskey and beer, and sat around and visited with the other elephant camp participants. Ruut and San (a semi retired anesthesiologist and his wife) from Holland, Andrew and his two sons (Harry, 12 and Michael, 14 from England), and Rich and Katin (a San Fran computer guy and his Thai girlfriend who spoke very little English and spent most of the time talking to the people who worked at the camp). A couple of the mahouts ate and played cards with us, too, which was very entertaining.

Day Two
6:30am Go to the jungle to bring the elephant to the center
Daybreak, climbing a mountain. Need I say more? Pratida, my elephant, was very excited to see us in the morning. She was flapping her ears and rocking back and forth, her trunk all curled up. It was adorable. We also had to pass through a small body of water so this was the first bath of the day.
8:00am Breakfast
Western style. Fried eggs, toast, fresh pineapple. Tasty.
9:00am Training program at the show ground
9:45am Elephant bathing
Second bath of the day. By this time, we had learned the command which means to spray water. If you were able to grab the trunk, you could direct the spray wherever you wanted it to go. This was better than any dunking booth. I actually fell off when Pratida went all the way under the water. I guess I could have stayed on and gone under, too, but those cameras were close by and I don’t do the drowned-rat-look very well. Besides, I had seen a snake in the water a little earlier so I didn’t mind getting out.
10:00am See the elephant show
10:50am Visit the elephant hospital
Did you know that elephants get constipated? That would explain all the bottles of vegetable oil around the place. A couple elephants had injured their feet by stepping on land mines. I didn’t know that there are still land mines around. I’ll remember that next time I try to sneak off into a deserted field in the middle of the night.
12:00pm Lunch time
2:00pm Training program
3:00pm Take the elephants back to the forest
We took them even further into the jungle, further up the mountain. I had more or less decided that I would not be making the trek up the following morning. That decision was solidified when I fell, not once but twice, on the way down the mountain. The decision was for my safety and the safety of others (those people walking behind me when my knees gave out and I tumbled down the mountain taking everyone in my path with me). My mahout didn’t know much English, but he knew enough to call me “baby” as in neophyte. However, if I had climbed in the morning, I’m almost certain I would have lived up to my childhood “cry-baby” nickname. I had reached a level of exhaustion where tears were imminent.
6:00pm Cooking time
7:00pm Dinner
Some of the best stir fry chicken I’ve had since I’ve been here and fried chicken which was damn tasty. Some vegetables and then fruit for dessert.
8:00pm Sleeping time
More card playing, whiskey and beer. I don’t know much about cards but they were playing something like Jokers Wild and Spoons. Much laughter all around.

Day Three
6:30am Go to the jungle to bring the elephant to the center
I slept in and met the crew for the first bath of the day at the foot of the mountain.
8:00am Breakfast
9:00am Training program at the show
9:45am Elephant bathing
10:00am Join in the show with the elephants
As we paraded into the show ground riding on top of the elephants, they played this music that has Thai children singing in Thai about elephants. I almost lost it (children singing always makes me cry) but I quickly composed myself and smiled for the tourists who were viewing the show. Pratida was asked to raise the flag for the show.
11:00am Get certificate of completion and say goodbye to the elephant
It was a sad moment. Bye-bye Pratida and John. After we left camp, I looked at my pictures several times the rest of the week. I don’t think I ever want a dog, but I do think I could keep an elephant.