Day 14, pt 1: Elephants

Day 14 was a much anticipated day.  We were all looking forward to being with the elephants!

We awoke to a beautiful sunrise.  Grandpa so kindly made toast and cocoa for everyone, only to discover that he is the only one who likes burnt toast with his cocoa.

The elephant reserve is careful to provide the elephants with everything they would be surrounded by in nature and help them perpetuate behaviors they would have in the wild.

D.J. opted to walk with the elephants first.  He was instructed to hold his hand in a backward cup and the elephant would hold on to his hand.

The elephant did hold on to his hand and left a trunk print too!

All of the boys walked with the elephants before entering into the trees, where only the adults could walk with them.

This was one of my favorite activities.  When the elephant grasped my hand, I felt at one with nature. I know that in the wild, they would not do this and that the elephants in the reserve are trained and used to humans, but it gave me a Snow White with the animals type of feeling in which animals and humans help each other.  I held the trunk of an elephant whose trunk still had the equivalent of an opposable thumb, with which he could pick up things and feel with.  The two other elephants had worn down or injured the tip of their trunks in one way or another, so they could only use suction to grasp things.

After walking through the trees, the keepers told us about the elephants.  This elephant showed us how he kneels to get food on the ground, only he isn't kneeling on his knees, he's kneeling on his ankles.

This elephant is shaking his head to clean off, cool off and scare off whatever he needs.

Everybody got the chance to get close and examine parts of the elephant: tusks, mouth, skin, ears, tail.

Spencer and D.J. - I was pleased Spencer was calm to approach the elephants.

The tail was very wiry, stiff and coarse: an effective fly swatter.

Grandma gets to walk back with them.

And then Mark. . 

. . and Grandpa.

They did such a good job, that they got treats! Mostly apple and oranges.

The last part of the tour was a ride on the elephants!

D.J. was pretty happy about that!

Most of the Astling clan got to be in the first train, with James and Mom on the same elephant.

Two thumbs up for sure!

There's a happy camper!

And then of course, we had to have lunch at the Peppermill - again.  But Grandpa insisted that it was our last time.  Three times is enough.  The waiter was kind enough to take our picture, since it seemed we were becoming family.  He said that the last two times we visited, he happily went into the kitchen and told the staff, "the Americans are here!" A great example of a symbiotic relationship.