Happy Christmas!

The start of our ellie day!

Isaac & Lek- adorable!

It's Christmas Day here, 12 hours ahead of home- so we're easing into our Christmas morning, drinking coffee on this lovely deck, with the sun peeking up over the mountains. I'm wearing a T-shirt and long sleeved shirt, but know that soon, it will be too warm for both shirts.

Yesterday we went with Darrick to see one of their properties- 150 acres that is destined to become home to a few elephants who will live in the wild. 

They are in the process of replanting trees in some sections, and have a great nursery there. Antoinette is overseeing this project, and she is a lovely person.
There is an earthblock building on the site that was largely built by volunteers and non-builders, and it's really sweet.
The house is set high up and then there is a path through the jungle down to the river.

Cool elephants sculpted onto walls, and the tree is a glass mosaic. 

Yet another beautiful bit of paradise in this lovely country.

Christmas Eve is the big celebration here in Thailand (like in Haiti)...or at least, here at the park, it was. They had a big meal planned, and all of the staff from the park came with their families to join in. Several different groups performed, including the mahouts. It was a whole bunch of fun- we went out onto the elephant field afterwards for a campfire. Oh, and Ainslie & I had a REAL bottle of wine- our first since coming to Thailand. They sell a rather sweet 'wine cooler' here at the park, and some watered down beer, so pickings have been slim. Steph went into town yesterday and picked up wine- we had Australian Yellow Tail, for a mere $30++ for the bottle. Very expensive. It was our Christmas present to one another. Very worth it!

We were talking the other day, and we realised that despite the fact that we're here at an elephant park, we've barely spent any time with the elephants, so we vowed that Christmas Day would be our day with the elephants. And that's what we've done. They are delightful creatures to watch- playful, adept, resourceful, fun, adorable, and strong.

Look, it's me, ma- I'm feeding the ellies on a rare occasion that I don't have my head behind the camera!

We went to visit Michelle, their elephant trainer, as she worked with the elephants, one at a time.
 She was using clicker training, and all positive reinforcement training with them. It was so interesting to listen to her speak of the training, the progress they have made with even the most abused of their elephants.

They train the elephants to raise their legs and rest them at various heights- this is so that they are comfortable with people working on their feet if they get sores, but also, since they are now living on flat land, and are accustomed to living in the mountains, they aren't working those muscle groups as much. 

 She is fascinated with the work she does, and so loves what she is doing- I love when people are passionate about the work they do.

 We went to the water to help 'bathe' the elephants (which involves throwing buckets of water onto their backs). This is a favourite tourist activity- the elephants love to cool down in the water.

3 Thomson boys...playing with fresh ellie poo!

 At some point they were having their daily mud bath in a large mud puddle- oh my gosh, but it's so fun to watch them. I took hundreds of photos, but also took my eyes away from the lens to just sit back and enjoy. You can't help but giggle just watching them slide their behinds on the muddy bottom for relief, climb on top of one another, and just love being in the water.

This one was throwing mud onto her back after coming out of the mud.

We also went to the 'hospital' (across the field) to visit Meadow and the other elephants that have to stay there. Meadow's story is quite a sad one- she has a broken hip & ankle- she was kept in a cage and tied up, and force bred- whereby on one occasion a bull broke her hip when mating with her. Poor thing!

Look how misshapen her body is!

Finally, we went down to the swimming hole with Lek and a group of elephants to watch them swim, splash, go to the other shore and eat greenery.


This year's Christmas is quite a contrast with last year's- last Christmas Eve I was boogying away in a crowded Haitian nightclub, and Christmas Day I went to visit orphans at one of the internally displaced persons' camps- which was a really powerful and amazing experience which I'll never forget...

and this year, I've been surrounded by elephants. I think we'll definitely squeeze in a bit more elephant time in our next couple of days, before heading to a beach.


Joyeux Noel, tout le monde!