Elephant sanctuary

We had a leisurely start today and were picked up at 9:45 to go out to the ElephantsWorld Sanctuary for the day, which is in Kanchanaburi and close to the Burmese border. This program provided an excellent encounter with elephants for the students and gave them some appreciation for what it takes to maintain these magnificent animals.  This sanctuary has 22 elephants, all of which have been rescued from various abusive situations including logging, tourist riding, and more.

We are staying at the Pheung Waan Resort near Kanchanaburi.  It's a really expansive, serene place that would be perfect for weddings and other sizable gatherings.  The River Kwai runs along the property.

This pond is near the front entrance of the resort.

At the elephant sanctuary, their elephants have all been abused for different reasons.  Here's a chart that describes 12 of their animals.  I'm not sure how easy this will be to read, so click on the photo and it'll enlarge.

They also have rescued dogs at the sanctuary.  Here's Bosco.

Before we can feed the elephants, we have to cut grasses and bring them back to be given to the elephants directly, and to make grass balls with other ingredients.  Here's Sabrina, and she's got a blade. 

Hanna.

Alexis and Grace.

Cam is mashing together some pelletized food, bananas, and cut pieces of grass to make grass balls that we fed to the elephants.

Here's Jackson.

Here I'm becoming reacquainted with Sherman and Jackson.

Oh yeah... the elephants.  Obviously, this is Charlie.

This elephant swished some grasses around, smacking Elena in the face.  She's okay.

Liz.

Dani.

Sabrina.

Dani and Kelsey.

Where there are elephants, there will be elephant residue.  I happen to have expertise in juggling elephant residue, which is not something I recommended to the students.  It is a rare skill, indeed.

The elephants were able to just wander around and do what they do.

We took a few elephants into a mud pit and smeared mud on them, which both the elephants and students enjoyed.

After the mud pit, we took the elephants into the river and scrubbed them down with brushes and buckets.

Julia and Sabrina.

I love this photo of Julia with her new friend.

The bathing is done, the elephants are gone, and the kids just had fun in the river for a while.

Wow.