Elephants

After lunch of chicken curry, rice, potato and green beans, at 3 pm we had an afternoon elephant ride. Apparently this only happens once a day. Frankly, it was an unusual experience. Four adults sit on an enclosed platform on the elephant's back. I wonder if our platform was not balanced, because I seemed to be squashed into a corner, despite being told to lean forward. It was like holding on to a ladder. Others looked more comfortable. Some had space to turn around and take photos. The view from there was great. The Asian elephants are smaller than African ones, and several of these had pink patches, almost like freckled skin. The platform was secured around the tummy with one strap and a buckle. There were some ropes across the front, and the rider sat behind her neck, urging her forward with bare feet behind her ears. He tapped her forehead with a stick (on the left to to right and vice versa). Her head had a hollow sound, and I think that the stick placed in the middle meant "go forward".

The elephant lurched along and managed some quite steep inclines, especially going into the river. I think at one point the water was about 1m deep. The riders seemed to stay in pairs and they were on the lookout for other animals. We saw monkeys and deer. At one stage we stopped beside a small waterhole and watched a rhino that might have been sleeping. One rider hopped down to take photos. As we came back across the river flat, the young man beside me took some incredible photos with his automatic Nikon. When we flicked thought them later, he had some beautiful reflections and many shots of grass and undergrowth in black and white.

I am never comfortable with the concept of tipping. Because this was a trip that was a 3D4N all inclusive package, and the hotel has suggested that we needed to tip the elephant rider, I was not sure what of do. No-one seemed to be scrounging around for cash, so I handed over 500R and he smiled. So, again,who knows what to do?

At the Elephant Washing Place, there seemed to be 40-50 people waiting on the shore and just 2 elephants in the water. Each had 2 or 3 people in life jackets. The elephants were urged to shoot water over their backs and wet the tourists. Photo opportunity. And that's it.