This is a blog about elephants and National General Secretaries. Both are beautiful creatures. So are the Orchids as well, so I use a couple of them to frame the blog post. We spent a few hours together with a lot of elephants, and we thought they were well looked after. It seemed that the elephants were respected and treated well.
As you can see below, I am riding an elephant in splendid isolation. This is a very good illustration that the elephants were looked well after. No elephant could/or should try to lift more than 150 kg, therefore I was asked to take the seat alone.
Below here you can see another great personality also riding alone, it is Carlos from Africa and he seems happy enough. The elephant is eating a lot because he feels he needs to be prepared for the long walk towards………
Also represented on the back of an elephant two small and neat personalities who were allowed to ride together on top of the elephant’s back. It is Alina from Romania and Raoul from Peru, excellent weight for a good elephant.
I was asking myself and Billy, the elephant I was riding, 35 years of age, so pretty experienced in life’s many mysteries, why Samuel from Pakistan was allowed to ride together with Alexandra from France (below), but Billy had no good answer. It is just one of the many mysteries of life.
Below you can see Ene from Estonia together with Hayk from Armenia in happy fellowship on top of the elephant. A long way to the 150 kg there.
A close up of Carlos who had nothing against riding it alone. Neither had I, to be honest, it took more than half an hour and was a very pleasant experience.
After our riding the elephants, it was time for a show of different tricks and gags the elephants seemed to love to perform.
They were stretching out their legs to make convenient stairs for the trainer to use to climb to the elephants’ backs.
Having lifted the trainers up, the elephants took pride in shooting goals with a football – pretty impressive. We could have used them for last years World Challenge!
Below you see one of the elephants entering the stage with a basket full of paint and brushes to perform visual arts.
This was really impressive. The elephants were painting really nice pictures and they were exhibited afterwards and sold for a few hundred dollars each.
Look at those four paintings, beautiful – and we saw them painting them!
Amazing performance of animals.
Ingunn is ready to give the elephant tips, and all the money they received were loyally delivered to their trainers, while bananas went straight into their big mouths! Pablito gave them a banana, and see what happened to him!
Pablito from the Philippines in emotional embrace by two of the elephants.
Samuel just told me why he had been allowed to ride the elephant together with another person, and I express my understanding and relief.
As we say goodbye to the elephants in Chiang Mai at the Maesa Elephant Camp, I show you a cluster of nice orchids below.
Fantastic! I can’t decide who looks better on the elephant, you or Carlos. This has been an extraordinary journey, and you are most generous to share so many photos and such insightful commentary. Thank you.
By: Eileen Murray on February 29, 2016
at 12:38 pm