maggies_lens

I have found heaven, and it is not in some other dimension or whatever. It is located on a large property outside the city of Chiang Mai right here in Thailand and it is called the Elephant Nature Park. I will never forget my time there. Have you ever stepped into the gates of a place and known right away that every single thing there is RIGHT? Just... right? I never have. Not until yesterday morning. As soon as I stepped off that mini bus I knew I had found a place where I belonged like no where else I have ever felt I belonged. I met the most amazing people, and even tho we sometimes had trouble speaking with each other (they were mainly hill tribes), we got along like a house on fire. There were loads of vol's from all over the world, most speaking English so I made heaps of new friends. Each and every one of the elephants found here (barr the babies that were born there last year) has a sad tale. Some are not so bad as others (elephants and keepers fallen on extremely hard times and forced into doing things they don't want to until BOTH were saved by the park), some are so horrific that I want to track down the people who did these acts and beat them into bloody pulps. Yes, I know, not very Buddhist of me but sometimes you have a right to be FURIOUS. Girls, I bonded to an elephant. I know. I KNOW! WTF, you say? I kid you not. We were able to walk amoung the little herds and made friends with them. You can go right up and love on them all you want, as long as you follow the directions of the kwan/mahouts and use your common sense. All have scars and other signs of physical abuse. One of the worst is Mae Do. Her story is distressing as hell. I won't put it here in case it upsets you, but you can read it here:
http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/herd/medo.htm
Be aware it's distressing.
Her injuries are horrific but OMG she is sooooo beautiful. She has the most beautiful face you have ever seen on an elephant (well I think she does anyway!), and her spirit just shines. She's also very, very gentle, and loved me :) I went up to give her love and she full on leaned into me. She started up this deep belly rumble and closed her eyes. Her kwan was a little shocked! I gave her more love, the more I gave her and the more I love-talked her, the more she responded. Apparently, according to our guide, she is not normally that demonstrative apart from to her kwan! So, she LIKED me! I loved her to pieces, quite frankly. I intend to start sponsoring her as soon as I am home.She is the biggest love, in every sense of the word.
I'll pop the photos up in 2 lots as there was a bit. There is also video but that will have to wait til I am home and can install a software to splice it all together as there's too much in segments. If you want to know what I got up to, let me know and I'll post. Never quite sure what y'all will be interested in :D