Elephants!

We arrive in Chitwan National Park in Nepal mid afternoon. We are staying at the Rhino Lodge and it is a lovely place. It is a peaceful haven in the woods. We settle into our little room (complete with mosquito net, that we don't need)and explore. We meander out to the main road and see the string of tourist shops, the locals always happy to see us travelers. Soon, two large elephants and their solo riders make their way down the middle of the road. Yes, I will like it here.

We all sit in the dining room for a meal of steamed veggies, spring rolls and chips (different, but good). It is a nice, large, round room that is all windows. After our meal we go the entrance and are loaded onto old wooden carts pulled by oxen. We are to go to an Elephant Breeding Center. I am anxious, but not sure what to expect and concerned. The ride takes at least 30-45 minutes and is through a rustic area of grass huts and livestock...very relaxing. The small children wave and say 'namaste' as we go by. This is the Nepal we were looking for...local, kind faces and serenity.
We must cross another river by canoe and make our way on foot to the center. A large open area with several grass covered huts.
Several females are under the huts. One rubs her trunk and has an occasional cry that is terribly sad and haunting. She is chained to a post as are a few other females. There are a set of twin babies roaming about entertaining the crowd. I must admit, it is difficult to be upset with such joyful little ones wandering and accepting pats and scratches. They are looking for treats and their trunks will go into bags, shorts, shirts. They are fun to watch and attempt to pat. I must admit, I did enjoy the visit and felt I was given a gift. We walked back to the lodge with some of the younger folks of our group. The huts now bathed in candlelight until morning. It has been an amazing day. The end of the evening is veggies and watching the small geckos feed on the flies in the dining room. I feel very content and thankful for this opportunity.
Late night and early morning, I am tired. I attempted to change the memory card in my camera and the camera died. I was SO upset and angry. Leave it to me, to be in a place such as this and it nearly ruins my day and I then bring it up the rest of the trip. Funny how we think sometimes. Silly.
Took boats once again down the river and attempted to walk the bush to find rhinos. No such luck. Bathing pools, scratching and one huge pile of dung is as close as we got. Saw several interesting red bugs, a butterfly and a few chickens. After that long walk, we rushed back to change into our swimming clothes to meet the elephants at the river. I was REALLY excited about this.
They met us at the lodge...nearly at the door. It was not a pleasant process to get onto one, holding the ears and climbing up the trunk, crawling across the bumpy head to finally try to sit. I was always in fear that I would hurt her. Four of us per elephant made the ride down to the river. It was a bit scarey, being so high up, like being on a very large horse....and being one that never was into horseback riding, it was eerie. I wasn't going to let it stop me. Into the river he walked and then tipped and dropped us off for a dip. It was great fun. All except her 'carer' and his stick. I wanted to grab that stick and beat him with it, but held it together...it was difficult. Hege and I climbed aboard a male later on and he gave us a bath, he was a more relaxed elephant and he had a kind young trainer. He kept telling me...'He is the best, a very good elephant.' :) After the fun and bathing, another ride back to the lodge. Most people were a bit timid and reluctant, I certainly wasn't! All of that for 100 rupees, less than a cup of coffee! I gave both of the elephants loads of bananas for thanks. Why should the trainers get the reward when the elephants did all of the work?

Later that evening a ride into the bush on elephant seats to 'try' to spot rhinos again. It was a couple of hours of wandering, tired elephants and riders hitting them on the head at times with sticks. It made Matt and I very sad and upset. I had seen enough and realized it was all exploitation and felt tremendous guilt. I had to put it aside and know that most elephants in those areas are poached. It doesn't make it any better, but made me be able to live with myself.
We spent our last supper in the lovely dining room and decided to bow out of a dance performance in town to roam and do some souvenir shopping. I'm glad we did. It was a nice evening and a lovely little village. It was a peaceful and good end to a very emotional topsy-turvey day. I still felt great gratitude, now exclusively to the elephants. I will never forget.