Our final activity today is the mud bath. We once again head across the fields to the far end of the park where the mud pit is located. Here another family, with yet another baby, is covering themselves in mud to cool off from the heat. The baby is right in the middle of things, laying down, rolling in the mud. It is so fun to watch, although, you can’t get too close because they are flinging mud everywhere!
Once cooled off, the elephants then get a snack. Of course we are standing directly between the mud pit and the snack, so when they are finished, they head straight toward us to get to their food.
If you thought wet giants coming toward you was squeal inducing, muddy,wet giants will get you really squealing and moving fast! But once they have their food, they pretty much stay put munching away.
Except of course, the baby! He’s everywhere, and the guides are constantly saying “lookout,’' “watch out for the baby,” “here he comes again.” Funny!
Bath complete – we close out our time at the park with a visit to Mae Perm, the very first elephant Lek saved back in 1997. Mae Perm was the inspiration for this whole park, and of course the other initiatives started since (parks in Chiang Rai, Cambodia, Myanmar and currently under construction in Phuket).
Mae Perm has adopted another elephant who came to the park much later, called Jokia, who is blind. They are never apart.
Mae Perm is a sweet thing, so tranquil and easy to get close to and pet. She knows Goy and her voice, so she comes out of the river when she hears Goy call for her. She plays with Goy and will raise her trunk on command, which surprises the Spanish girls the first time!
Jokia follows Mae Perm out of the river, and we get to spend a little time with her. Goy tells us her sad, sad story. She was used for logging, and they continued to use her when she was pregnant. The baby came early, while she was hauling logs up the mountains, and it got stuck in the sac. Jokia tried to turn around to get the baby out, but the mahouts wouldn’t let her and made her continue to go up the mountain. She kept trying to get the baby out, but the mahouts got mad at her and shot her in the eyes with slingshots, blinding her. The baby ended up dying, and Jokia became depressed. Then a mahout did something to her that made her angry and she swept him away with her trunk. The mahout became enraged and shot one of her eyes out with a dart. So she only has one eye, and it is completely blind.
The Spanish girls, who I am calling the elephant whisperers, are really affected by this story. You can just feel the compassion and love leaching out of them – and not just with Jokia, but with every one of the elephants we’ve visited. And the elephants know it, too. They all take to them immediately. It was really quite incredible to watch them together – we are so lucky to have such a great group!
As we bade farewell to Mae Perm and Jokia, we headed to the pavilion only to be met by the largest elephant of the park – whose name I have completely forgotten now! She is 4.8 tons and was meandering down to the river as we approached and passed on our way to tea time in the pavilion.
Back in the pavilion we are greeted with tea and punch – and sticky rice treats! We love those things! Plus little pirouette like cookies. Yum. We have about 20 minutes to hang about, chatting, snacking and drinking, before loading into our van for the ride back into down.
Definitely a worthwhile thing to do – a great excursion, huge learning experience and wonderful day wandering at large with elephants.
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