Thailand Elephants, The Hike and More – November 2015 (4 of 5)
One of the highlights of the trip for me was a visit to the Patara Elephant Farm. I couldn’t take full advantage since I had an injured knee, but I still was able to interact with an elephant and see and hear about the wonderful work that is being done at this location. They concentrate on four aspects of conservation – rescue, recovery, reproduction and reintroduction. It is a very successful program – you will see many baby and young elephants walking throughout the farm. They offer a program to educate the public about elephants by allowing each participant to become an “elephant owner for a day.”
We were each assigned an elephant and learned how to feed, clean, bathe and ride them. We learned how to tell a healthy elephant from an unhealthy one. And, most importantly, we learned how to tell a happy elephant from a not so happy elephant. If that puppy isn’t wagging his tail and happily flapping his ears back and forth, step back. He is not a happy elephant.
The Hike
Probably one of the lowlights of the trip for those that participated was the Hike through the jungle and up and around the mountain! It sounded more like a several mile forced march in 90 degree F, 99% humidity weather with two small bottles of water. So glad I sat this one out. I would have never made it. I got a few photos of the hikers on the last mile or so. The first one is an overall shot of the mountain they trekked around and the path they walked down and up and down to get to where we were in the van. The second shot is a close up of the hikers on the last stretch. It is a greatly cropped image that was taken with a 400mm lens for some idea of how far these dedicated, tough-spirited individuals managed to walk. Last shot is just some scenery at the top. It is lovely country.
Other Miscellaneous Stuff
This is just a catch-all for some images that I didn’t know where else to put…
4 Responses
Just too amazing that one can see and capture such interesting photos. These are among the very best photos I have seen in my 80 years. Patti took these photos so quickly and quietly that escaped my noticing the whole process.
Thank you.
Neat documentation of the visit to the elephants. The pictures tell the story of the afternoon.
We were so tiny in the shot of the hike. Gad, we were a long way off.
Love the silk weaving through the threads. That’s a neat shot and great way to shooting the scene.
Thanks for the group shots. We were smiling and happy!
The elephants were amazing. Glad you like that “through the thread” shot that I stole from you. I saw you doing it and had to try. 🙂
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