After our grueling 4 hour trek, we finally reached the elephant camp. It came as a surprise though, as we were minding our own business, walking through the jungle, then all of a sudden...there's an elephant, chilling out next to a hut.
After a short picture opportunity we sat down for lunch (slightly distracted by the two elephants beside us) and before we knew it, we heard a crashing through the bushes and another elephant comes along to join the party. Incredible! It was nice to see that the elephants were actually well treated, and we had the chance to feed them pineapple chunks (elephant sized chunks not like the chunks we have in tins in the UK). It was a weird sensation, having a bristly trunk grasp the pineapple chunks from your hand; lots of fun.
In all, this was a fantastic experience, being able to get up close to such beautiful animals in (as close as possible) their natural habitat.
We ended our elephant ride at the next Karen Village we were staying at...we were dropped off outside our village compound.
After a short picture opportunity we sat down for lunch (slightly distracted by the two elephants beside us) and before we knew it, we heard a crashing through the bushes and another elephant comes along to join the party. Incredible! It was nice to see that the elephants were actually well treated, and we had the chance to feed them pineapple chunks (elephant sized chunks not like the chunks we have in tins in the UK). It was a weird sensation, having a bristly trunk grasp the pineapple chunks from your hand; lots of fun.
Due to the size of the group and the number of elephants, the group would have to take two rides (one half going first and the other trekking behind and having an elephant ride further down the road). Nicola and I opted to go second, which turned out to be a brilliant decision as the first half of the journey was at times difficult for us to walk along due to the slippery ground and steep, narrow hills. We heard several screams from the people on the first half of the journey...
When Nicola and I got on our elephant, we were pleased to find that our half was a pleasant, relatively flat stroll. The only danger was that our elephant wanted to eat any and all bushes it passed and sometimes dragged us through the branches in the process!
In all, this was a fantastic experience, being able to get up close to such beautiful animals in (as close as possible) their natural habitat.
We ended our elephant ride at the next Karen Village we were staying at...we were dropped off outside our village compound.
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