A Full Day at the Elephant Sanctuary (Pictures included!)

Are you wondering what happened to Day 3? Well, I took the day off. That’s right, after coming to the office for 15 days straight, I took the whole day off. I didn’t open my computer once.

Instead, I spent my time at an elephant sanctuary, Elephant Nature Park. They rescue Asian elephants and gives them a safe place to live. The elephants don’t do any work. You cannot ride them. They do not paint you pictures. They stand there. You watch them. Sometimes, you pet them. At one point, the elephants got into the river, and we got in also and helped them bathe.

Seeing the elephants, who were rescued from logging, the circus, or injured in landmines, left me in awe. I’m inspired by their ability to form herds, even though few of them are biologically related. I’m amazed at their ability to move forward after devastating injuries. I’m inspired by the handlers, who don’t use force to get the elephants to earn their trust and to learn their commands.

A part of me feels like I should be doing something like this. Or, at least if I can’t do it full time, that I should be partaking in ecotourism. Ecotourism is when a tourist chooses a trip where they work to improve the efforts of the industry. Often times, the tourists attempt to improve the conservation and/or wildlife of the area. I know that in the United States, you can volunteer at the National Parks and Forests or on trails. Look it up.

After my adventure with the elephants, I came back to Chiang Mai and had dinner with a new friend I met on the trip. Then, we went for impromptu massages. I’ve been getting massages on Tuesday mornings, but a Thursday evening massage sounded just perfect.

I feel zero percent guilty about not coming into the office yesterday. Like I said, I’ve been to the office every single day since I arrive, and that does include the day I arrived.

*dun, dun dun…..*

I will give you what you have been waiting for….the pictures of the elephants!

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