Today we visited into the wild elephant camp! This camp is owned by two brothers who told us the story of how they acquired the elephants. They traveled up a long road quite often to visit friends that they knew in the mountains. There was a woman who had several elephants and the brothers wanted to help feed and offer care for the elephants, but didn't just want to give the woman money. When they asked her what they could do she said that they could buy the elephants and take them for themselves. After negotiating they were able to negotiate a price and asked her to care for them for another two months while they found a place to house them. They chose a beautiful place in between the mountains where the elephants could roam as they wish and still be provided shelter. Since the elephants have been cared for by humans, they cannot be released into the wild. They need humans to feed them as they are used to a diet of sugar cane, corn, and bananas. These elephants are allowed to roam freely during the day and they know to return to the camp for dinner at 6 pm.
Today we started off with getting introduced to elephants by feeding them bananas. Once they knew we had bananas they were trying to take them out of the bags we had with their trunks. We went for a short hike down to a river where the elephants jumped right in to splash and play. They loved to be splashed with water and to splash us back. We then played in the mud with them (they spray mud on themselves to prevent bugs from bothering them) and went back to the river to rinse off.
Two of the elephants were actually pregnant when they acquired them so there are even two babies running around. One of the babies was only 5 months old but already tall and heavy! They're of course very strong but they don't realize that they are so you must be careful when the babies are around! If you're not looking sometimes they run into you and can knock you over. Here they are playing in the river with one of the mothers.
Tiffany
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