Maybe it has something to do with getting older, but for the past few years, I have had less of a desire for birthday things and rather look forward to having fantastic birthday experiences. Last weekend, I turned 33 and I wanted nothing more than to hang out with my two favorite ladies: Ligeia, of […]
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One night at the Elephant Nature Park (saveelephant.org) there was quite the commotion with trumpeting and trunk slapping. It wasn’t until the morning though that they realized why: a little baby boy had been born during the night. He was given the name Navann, after a minister in the Cambodian government, who happened to be […]
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We went to Elephant Nature Park again for the day as we do every second Saturday. This time was an extra special visit though as we learned on the ride up about a baby elephant that had just arrived the day before. He was only 2 days old. Immediately upon arriving at the park we rushed to the enclosure that […]
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Since Ligeia was only 2 kilometers away from the Elephant Nature Park where she and Mindy did the week of volunteer service, Ligeia decided to spend Friday afternoon and evening visiting the elephants. Oh how great it was to be back! Her visit began with lunch which was yummy and full of vegetarian choices! And […]
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At the Elephant Nature Park, about one hour north of Chiang Mai, longer-term volunteers begin each Monday. We were picked up at 8:15am by a van from our condo and after a brief stop at the office to pay our balance and pick up our volunteer T-shirts and water bottles, we were on our way […]
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Tuesday, our first full day at the park began at around 4am with a chorus of barking dogs. We tried our best to get back to sleep, but inevitably, something would rile the dogs each hour. We were both awake long before our alarm was scheduled to go off. We enjoyed a small buffet breakfast […]
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Wednesday morning began in the usual way – dogs barking, breakfast with elephants walking mere meters from where we were sitting and getting our chore assignments for the day. Today was corn harvesting day which meant that we wore long-sleeved clothing (to avoid itching) and long pants or boots for the same reason. Mindy also […]
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We began our day knowing it would end at Elephant Haven, a place where elephants can roam free, even during the night. Team Poop went to work as several elephants enjoyed the corn we had just cut the day before: After showering (something we got into a routine of doing approximately 3 times a day), […]
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Friday morning began early with breakfast at Elephant Haven before heading down the mountain again. One of the projects Lek has spearheaded is tying blessed monk cloth around trees to help prevent deforestation. In Thai culture if someone cuts down a tree that has an orange cloth tied around it, they will receive bad luck […]
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Despite the lack of photographical evidence (due to a corrupt memory card) our Saturday morning was spent washing and sorting elephant food including squash and watermelons. Having finished early we reunited Team Poop to get the shit done! (tee hee hee) Before lunch Mindy witnessed what we now refer to as The Elephant Kerfuffle: Relaxing […]
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Our last day began with one last Team Poop adventure! Here we are working together to get an entire pile of elephant poo onto the tractor: Again, we had members of the peanut gallery supervising our work: Mindy and Ligeia decided to spend their last hours with their favorite elephants. We fed Dani, pet her […]
Read More…This is Lek Chaliert, and she is the founder of the Save Elephant Foundation’s Elephant Nature Park. With the help of countless volunteers (Ligeia and Mindy are now two of them!), she helps care for and rescue elephants from labor camps, circuses and other abusive situations. Lek has won numerous awards, including Time Magazine’s 2005 […]
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The van takes the familiar curves and we know exactly when to turn our heads to the left for the next beautiful view. “This is our last time”, we look at each other with tears in our eyes, “Let’s make the most of it” and brace ourselves for a series of hard goodbyes. Ever since […]
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Elephants are matriarchal by nature, forming strong, tight-knit all-female herds, kicking out males when they become of age. In the wild, female elephants only consort with males for reproductive purposes, always returning to the herd. In the wild, Southeast Asian jungles, herds are typically comprised of only family members. However, in sanctuaries, such as Elephant Nature Park, […]
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It was late January when rumors started swirling that Save Elephant Foundation was getting ready to rescue another elephant. A few months earlier, during my trip to Surin province to witness Dao Tong’s rescue, my fear of throwing up on the truck due to my crippling motion sickness kept me from fully experiencing this momentous […]
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As you may know, since we volunteered at Elephant Nature Park in May 2012, the foundation that runs it (Save Elephant Foundation), its people and especially the animals it cares for have become very dear to our hearts. In late 2010, two Australians similarly volunteered and their lives immediately changed as well. During their week […]
Read More…We have befriended several of our fellow volunteers at the Elephant Nature Park and have been fortunate enough to spend more time with them while they are still in Chiang Mai. The group started out with quite a large number but day by day, friends leave Chiang Mai and continue on their way and to […]
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What a year! 2014 was a year of amazing travel including to three new countries and major changes such as relocating across the world as we begin the next chapter of our lives. Let’s look back at this eventful year: Singapore In January, I was lucky enough to travel with Lek Chailert, the founder of […]
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