Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Elephant Nature Park


Did you know an elephant can smile?
We saw many smiles on these elephants faces while visiting the Elephant Nature Park outside of Chiang Mai.
Lek, who you see in the bottom right picture started this park for rescued and abused elephants.
There were babies, a blind elephant, and one that had a difficult time walking he was so crippled.
But they all loved Lek and you could see the mutual love in each of them.

We spent the day at the Elephant Nature Park.
We were able to feed them baskets and baskets of squash and watermelons.
Then we were served a lovely Thai meal for lunch.
After lunch we were down to the river to bathe the elephants.
They do really love the water, but as you see in the bottom left picture, they love the mud bath too.
Then about mid afternoon we walked out in the field to feed them more food.

Did I mention one of the babies even gave me a kiss with his trunk?
It was a totally delightful day and one we will never forget.
Check out the website and read about this wonderful program.
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

20 comments:

La Tea Dah said...

What a fun day! It looks like it was very JOYFUL! I love that you had tea with the elephants!

Unknown said...

Oh, wow! Love stuff like this. So neat that you were able to enjoy the time with the elephants.

Baracka said...

beautiful pictures, put a smile on my face how beautiful those animals, what a blessing that you were able to see them up close.. god bless you and thanks for sharing.

Jeanne said...

I love elephants.
Thanks for making me smile with the thoughts of them smiling
I love all you share and love your visits.
Love Jeanne

Steph said...

This looks so joyful!

beth said...

this is something i would totally love to do !!! WOW !!

christina said...

a kiss huh? so so sweet. im not surprised. ; )
XO

Mary said...

I so enjoyed just viewing elephants in Africa last year that I know I would love a hands on experience such as this.............and I will later! I'll share the good news soon!

Hugs - Mary

Mary said...

I so enjoyed just viewing elephants in Africa last year that I know I would love a hands on experience such as this.............and I will later! I'll share the good news soon!

Hugs - Mary

Caroline said...

OMG...what an amazing experience! I love elephants!

Tracy said...

A baby elephant's kiss--what joy! I've always loved elephants, but have never really seen one up close--would love that. So this post was especially fun. And just loved seeing your cooking lessons last post...YUM! I love Thai food. What an experience to make it for real in the country! :o) Happy Day ((HUGS))

koralee said...

PURE Joy! I so believe you that elephants can smile...they are amazing. So so smart. xoxoxo hugs

GardenOfDaisies said...

Wow, how amazing! So glad these elephants are being treated kindly now.

Traveling Bells said...

Awesome! Dtr #2 is a true elephant lover. She wouldn't want to leave this park!

Angela McRae said...

What an adventure! This looks like SO much fun!

parTea lady said...

No, I didn't know that elephants could smile. :-)

What a fun day that must have been.

Trixie and Dustin of TheTeaDrinker.com said...

We have exactly one word to say about this amazing post:
ELEPHANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

xo,
T&D

ps -- of course we have many more words to say in favor of saving the fabulous ellies and their mahouts...!

Jeanie said...

I never would have imagined they could smile, but I think they were just happy to see you!

Bernideen said...

You certainly have added a wealth in experience here to your background! These posts all show so many unique visual opportunities! I am so glad for you that you were able to go to all these places!

Mary said...

Can't wait to see it all later this year - your pics are wonderful and make me want to time to pass so I can get there!!!