//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js // <![CDATA[ (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); // ]]> Thick, leathery gray legs covered with a layer of thick, wet, chocolate-colored dirt, surround me. At first, I am apprehensive. On all sides of me are six-ton elephants. Capable of plowing me over. I look over to Lek, the founder of Elephant Nature Park, withContinue reading “Up-close with elephants: a photo essay of life with a herd”
Category Archives: Responsible Tourism
An inside look at Elephant Nature Park
Chai hands us each a huge bundle of bananas as we suit up in our rain gear. “For our walk,” he explains. I pull on my gum boots (with socks this time) and pull my poncho over my head, tucking my camera under it securely so it won’t get rained on. The clouds have beenContinue reading “An inside look at Elephant Nature Park”
Travel Bloggers Give Back: The Elephant Nature Park
I will never forget the first time I reached my hand out and touched the pink-speckled trunk of an Asian elephant. Towering over me, this beautiful girl stood, flapping her large ears in the late summer heat of Thailand. She stood in front our little group of volunteers, all of us nearly speechless at ourContinue reading “Travel Bloggers Give Back: The Elephant Nature Park”
Feeding elephants
Within an hour of arriving to the park, I have met my first elephants. Our van is the first to arrive at Elephant Nature Park, so we drop our bags, and sit down. But, it is hard for any of us to sit still. There are elephants. Everywhere. Not just the actual animals, either. ThereContinue reading “Feeding elephants”
Speaking for the Elephants … in memory of Mae Sai Roong
Yesterday morning, when I turned on my computer after a night of restlessness, my heart sank. There, on the screen, were two Facebook status updates. One from the Elephant Nature Park & Foundation page stating Mae Sai Roong, an elephant our volunteer group had taken care of when she fell ill on Sept. 10, hadContinue reading “Speaking for the Elephants … in memory of Mae Sai Roong”
D Travels 'Round 