Finally - the elephants!

The end of my Thailand adventure took me to the Elephant Conservation Center near Lampang (about an hour from Chiang Mai).

There are several elephants camps or parks near Chiang Mai. Throughout my travels, there had been much talk about which were the "better" ones. Some people just wanted to be near the magnificent creatures, others were more sensitive to how they're being treated - the appropriateness of putting them on show, demonstrating their abilities to lift and pull things, play games like soccer and paint pictures. (Many an eyebrow was raised at the opening ceremonies of the Habitat for Humanity build when Jimmy Carter unrolled a rendering of the Habitat logo that was painted by an elephant)

The reading I had done indicated that Conservation Center was the best one. Having spent nearly three days there, I admit I'm still a bit perplexed.

First of all, I have to say that the elephants at the center are well looked after and probably have about the best lives an elephant could have if that can't run free. But there aren't a whole lot who get to do that - mostly because we've encroached on their environment. And then there are all the elephants that used to work in the logging industry. Apparently, the Thai government banned logging back in 1989, so they had all these elephants who were domesticated and had nothing to do - as well as their mahouts (handlers) who had no other means of support. Tourism became the logical solution.

So when I arrived at the center, I was hoping to draw some conclusions. But it wasn't long before I was just swept away by the sheer magnificence of these intelligent, gentle animals.

I was assigned to Aleena, a five-year old girl - the smallest of the group. There were seven of us in the "VIP Mahout Training Course. Three of them were from the Habitat build, although I hadn't met them there. Two others were in the TV business in the US and the other was a Canadian woman who's been living in Kuala Lumpur for the last while.

Within moments we were being trained to get on and off our elephants, giving them verbal commands (which I'm sure they never understood when we uttered them - they really only responded to the mahouts, who were always nearby, either on the elephant with us or walking alongside us). We practiced in a ring, without really paying attention to our surroundings. Then we mounted our elephants and rode down the driveway, beside a big pond. At the end of the roadway, the elephants turned and went into the water, with all us "VIPs" sitting on their backs. We hadn't noticed that the mahouts had rolled their pants up - and in fact couldn't really see that they were standing on the backs of the elephants in the water, so they didn't get wet. Unlike the VIPS, who got drenched up to our armpits.

The surprise of this bath was surpassed by the surprise of realizing an audience had gathered to enjoy the entertainment. With no warning or instruction, we were suddenly the stars of the show! As our elephants stepped out of the pond, they began a parade back to the ring where we'd been practicing, and we were introduced as "Mahouts in Training". We were standing in a line and each of the elephants was introduced. As the name was announced, each would step forward and take a bow, with us on their backs, looking totally bewildered. Then the mahouts (the real ones) told us to demonstrate the different ways of getting on and off the elephant, getting the elephant to pick up something and hand it to us and getting the elephant to lie on its side as two announcers explained what we were doing - in Thai and English. Of course, grace was not a word that could be used to describe our mounting and dismounting skills, to the amusement of the audience. It was surreal!

Eventually, the mahouts took over and the elephants demonstrated just how clever and powerful they are. And the final feature was - of course - a few of the elephants painting pictures. I watched as my little Aleena painted her picture, with the help of her mahout, Naong who appeared to be guiding her trunk with the paintbrush held in it.

After the show, we got back on our elephants and rode out into the jungle, where the elephants were left to graze all night. And here's where I started to have some qualms - because the elephants were chained to a tree in the jungle. Now, the chain is at least 40 feet long, so they have a fair bit of "freedom". So, what's worse - an elephant penned or an elephant out in the jungle? I know. There's another option - an elephant free. But as that isn't likely for these elephants who are too used to domestication, it seems this is a pretty good life. If you consider that 20 years ago they were hauling and pulling lumber probably 14 hours a day. Doing a couple of shows and then grazing in the jungle all night isn't bad. Right?

Back at the center, we had a chance to see a couple of the baby elephants which are adorable - and insatiably hungry. We also learned about the hospital where they treat injured or abused elephants from around the country. Unfortunately, the abused ones are sent back to the owners (they have no right to keep them). I can only hope that the owners have learned their lesson - that an injured elephant doesn't make them any money.

At night, Supat who's kind of our host at the center, came to our lodgings and made us dinner. He's a lovely guy, very intelligent and driven. His English is very good - he told us that he had to work at it during school, and finally discovered Voice of America, which he listened to every night and finally mastered our language.

The next day we were told there was no show - which we we all happy about. Instead, we went back out to the jungle, bearing lengths of sugar cane, and found our elephants. Of course they were happy to see us - mostly because of the sugar cane I suppose.

Here, we saw one of the more impressive skills the elephants had learned. After the mahout unlocked the chain from the tree, he instructed the elephant to haul the chain, which she did with her trunk. She wrapped her trunk around the chain, hauled several feet forward, dropped the chain and then grasped it again, hauling another length of it forward, so that it was all coiled neatly in front of her. I asked how long it took for them to learn to do that - about a month, I was told, with loads of positive reinforcement (ie food).

Then we rode deep into the jungle to a camp site, where the mahouts made us a fabulous lunch over an open fire. It was fun and relaxing and even though we got dunked a couple more times, it was warm and the sun dried us fairly quickly.

After our jungle safari, Supat took us to his pride and joy - his new coffee shop, a franchise operation he's just opened up in the center. As much as he loves working at the center entertaining us amateur mahouts, it's this coffee shop that he sees as a way of making enough money to marry and have kids.

The next morning we had to be ready to go at 6:30 to pick up the elephants - bathe them of course - and get them back to the center for a 9:45 show. It was lovely to see the elephant parade in the morning light.

Once again we got dunked to the delight of the audience. But at least this time, we were prepared for what was going to happen. To my surprise one of the audience members was Vikki, the woman I met during the Habitat build. I'm not sure which one of us was more surprised.

What's it like to ride an elephant? Well, all I can say is after three days I was way more sore than I was at the end of the Habitat build. Part of the reason was that I had a smaller elephant, which meant she had a little less girth, a little less "padding" and she was a little less stable. So I had to use a lot of my muscles to maintain my balance. I tried riding one of the bigger elephants and it seemed a lot more comfortable, although I suppose having to stretch your legs wider for a long time probably had its own implications.

And what's my conclusion after all this time with the elephants? Well, as I said, the elephants are well treated. They seem to love their mahouts (and vice versa). I'm in full of amazement at their sensitivity, grace, sure-footedness, curiosity, the dexterity of their trunks, the range of their vocalization, and their seeming good humour.

And when we sat through the last show and I saw my little Aleena painting a picture, what else could I do? I bought the painting!

Before we all boarded our van and left for Chiang Mai, we were each given our official amateur mahout certificate (I can't wait to add that to my resume!) and then Naong took Aleena off into the jungle, but not before giving her one more command. She turned and bowed a goodbye, and my heart did a little flip-flop.