Rewarding work

Day 29: Elephant Nature Park, Chiang Mai province, Thailand

I know I have been talking about the devastation from the flood two months ago, but I am still realizing the impact. Like access to the river. The river tore out embankments and trails and left debris everywhere. The elephants have a much more limited ability to get other water.

As a long time volunteer said, “this place used to be a refuge physically and spiritually for the elephants, staff, and guests. Now it looks like a wasteland. It will take a while to get it back to what it was.”

So this afternoon, we were tasked with continuing that effort to get it back into shape. Our first task was cleaning an obstacle free trail for the elephants to get into the river. We had to wade into the river, use some rudimentary tools (didn’t know a rake could be made from rebar), and in the heat of the sun, move rocks to make a sandier place for their feet

And as soon as we finished they wanted to check it out themselves.

Our afternoon task was to build a ‘trail’ for the elephants to walk into the water which meant to remove all the large rocks

They stayed on the path we had just created

And just had a grand time playing in the river

It felt good to have your work appreciated.

In the morning we did get to scoop poop and it was exactly what anyone imagines it to be. Everyone gets a shovel and we start filling the truck. We filled it three times and that was for only 1/4 of the elephants!

We were covered in elephant poop, half eaten corn stocks (yesterday’s snacks), and dirt. We all took a much needed shower after. And to think this is what is done everyday. Whew!

Tomorrow we go to the local school for some activity. There is a slight chance it may involve singing with hand motions in Thai – about elephants of course (we did just practice one last night). With us luck.