Elephant Sanctuary, Pt. 2

After about one hour north from Chiang Mai, through the beautiful Northern Thai country side, we arrived at the Elephant Nature Park. We dropped off our stuff by a large open air wooden building, called 'the kitchen', which was filled with thousands of bananas and crates of mangoes and tamarind. Some of the fruit was being divided into baskets, each with a name painted on it, such as Mae Do, Jokia and Hope. This was lunch for the elephants. An asian elephant can weigh up to 5 ½ tons and can eat up to 300 pounds of food a day!! By time dinner rolled around, the rest of the food there would be eaten. 

Feeding the elephants was an interesting and fun task. They would grab up to 6 bananas at a time with their trunks and toss them into their mouths like they were peanuts. As the food landed in their mouth their trunks were swinging around for more. All I saw was a flurry of nimble trunks coming at me. I was caught off guard when one them gave me a kiss. A rough, wet, snotty, kiss right on the cheek.

After lunch, the elephants marched down to the river so we can give them their afternoon bath. This was one of my favorite moments of the day! Our job was to join Medo and Mae Mai in the river, along with their Mahouts, traditional elephant trainers or "elephant drivers". Our guide gave us scrub brushes and buckets. Standing in hip high water (filled with elephant poop), we scrubbed their backs and threw buckets of water on them.

Medo was rescued by Lek, the sanctuary's founder, from an abusive logger near the Burmese border (a lot of loggers in South East Asia use elephants to haul trees). While Medo was working, a heavy log fell and broke her ankle. Her owner never reset it or tried to help her recover. Unable to use her for logging, they tried to have her bred but instead of mating with her, the male elephant, a big bull, pinned her to the ground and dislocated her backbone. Because Medo's injuries were never treated, with every step she takes on her back leg, her entire body falls feet away from the ground while her unaligned hip almost seems to pull away from her body. She then lifts her weight back up only to have it fall again with her next step. It was obviously painful for her and was extremely painful to watch. Her bff, Mae Mai, looks after her every step of the way...waiting for her to bathe or eat. Mae Mai's got her back!

Elephants are extremely social animals and have tight knit families. When they are separated from their families, they can often be adopted into surrogate families or form friendships, which is what happened to most of the rescued elephants at the park. It's amazing how they are all very protective of each other.

My 5 Things.

Look what Mel posted on thelilbee of me!

thelilbee.com

The Elephant Sanctuary: The Baby

The Elephant Sanctuary, Pt I

Research a trip in Thailand and you will no doubt find a seemingly endless amount of elephant attractions. You can ride them through the forest, watch them dance, or even have one paint you a picture. None of those appealed to us. Besides not feeling too authentic, making the elephants perform for us seemed kind of mean.

While my husband searched through forums on travel sites such as Travelfish, he found The Elephant Nature Park. It is an elephant sanctuary, home to about 30 elephants, most rescued from abusive living conditions. The sanctuary is about a hour drive outside of Chiang Mai and sits on 150 acres in a valley surrounded rain forest.

The idea behind it is that you are not a paying customer there to watch the elephants perform. You actually pay to volunteer, meaning part of the reason you’re there to work. As a volunteer your job is to help feed the elephants, wash them & make basic repairs to the camp. You could visit for the day or stay for a week, 2 months, 6 months… basically as long as there is room for you, you can stay for as long you want. One day, however, definitely is not enough. We stayed for 2 days, which in the end felt a little short.

Every review of the sanctuary basically said the same thing: Going there was an experience of a lifetime. Though it sounds cliché, it was true. Below are some pictures of our time spent there. Look for more pix, videos and postings as I take you through one of the most memorable experiences of our trip!

Fit For A Queen

I am headed to a baby shower for a friend of mine in a couple weeks. She's having a baby girl and I decided to buy her some of the bedding she picked out for the baby's crib. It's always nice when someone registers for what gifts they like so you don't have to go through the hassle of asking yourself 'would they like this?' or 'do they already have this?'. I, however, do like to add a little something unique and custom to the gift.

Since I am on a bedding theme I thought it be great to add a cute pillow that the baby could keep until she grows up. Here are some I'm looking at. I especially love the postcard pillow.

Sitting Pretty Pillow @ Anthropologie

Sweet Dreams Pillow @ JcPenney

Postcard Pillow & The 2nd Cutest Sheep Ever @ Olive's shop on etsy

Couch Potato

Several years ago I bought a beautiful Pottery Barn sectional in white. It was too big to fit in our apartment so I've kept it at my parents house in the meantime. Knock on wood, we will be moving out of this old, size of my foot apartment and into a bigger and better place soon. Every apartment we've looked at so far has a big enough living room to fit my beloved PB couch which means I need to start thinking about covering it. I am looking at several different patterns and shades. These are my top 3, what do you think?

found on calico corners

Looking For An Escape?

Sometimes we all need a little r&r from the every day grind....a little rejuvenation for the mind, body, and soul.. As much as I would lovvvvve to hop on a plane to Mexico and plop my arse on the beach, my budget just won't allow it. So, I think I found a decent replacement, at least for the mind. UPS just dropped off 3 Bliss Trips cds. Created by Kerstin Sjoquist, each cd takes you on a mystical vacation for the mind. There are 3-5 "stories" per cd and each act as guided journey's to help you relax and find peace of mind.

My body may not be in Mexico but for 60 minutes a day my mind is!

Check out your daily bliss tip on the right hand column of my blog.

The Perfect Evening

How much do I love a bath? Ahhh, sooo much!! Baths help me clear my mind and de-stress. I love all kinds of bath products- salts, sugar drops, oil, bubbles, you name it. The key ingredient is the scent. Depending on what I'm in the mood for and in need of, the scent makes the bath. Add a candle or two and good book and you have yourself a perfect evening in.

H20 Less Stress Bath Cubes

Lollia's Foaming Bath (bubble maker!)

Fresh Lemon Sugarbath Cubes

Aubrey-Organics Eucalyptus Rejuvenating Bath Soak (I reach for this when I have a headache)

Aspara-Aromatics Mandi Flora Asian spa treatment

Dr. Hauschka's Aromatherapy Bath Kit (makes a great gift)

Sleep Deprived?

I am. I don't have insomnia but I am a long sufferer of just not being able to fall asleep. Whether it's from stress, anxiety, too much on my mind, or my husband snoring, I sometimes toss and turn for hours and hours before I finally doze off. My girl over @ livit luvit suffers from sleep deprivation and I know many of you feel our pain. When I finally fall asleep I am usually awakened by a noise, any noise will do. Jason loves telling a story of how he was getting ready for work one morning and he accidentally dropped a penny on our bedroom carpet. Any normal person would sleep right through this...but not me. As soon as the penny hit the carpet I jumped out of bed and started yelling. Apparently I have very sensitive hearing!

One of the most important factors in helping me sleep is our bedroom environment. I have black out shades, a tempur-pedic bed, low lights, soft pillows, aromatherapy, and a slew of homeopathic helpers (see below). The problems arise when I am on vacation or visiting with family. I know you've all been there, especially around the holidays- sleeping on a cot, pull-out couch, or even a 20 year old twin bed. For me, there's nothing worse than waking up with a sore back, stiff neck, and 2 hours of sleep. My answer is always Get a Hotel Room! You will thank me in the morning, trust me. The $100 a night you spend on room will be well worth it. And your family will be happy you aren't mrs cranky pants in the AM.

Here are my picks for help catching up on your zzzzz's.

Melatonin. My saviour! I recommend starting with 1mg and see if that works. If not, step it up to 3mg and that should knock you out for 6+ hours. It is a non-habit forming, drug-free supplement you can find in any drugstore. Any brand will work.

Bach Rescue Night Spray. I also swear by this product. I spray 1-2 sprays on my tongue and within 1/2 hour I start to feel drowsy. 

Sprayology's SleepEase. Another great homeopathic spray. 

Decleor Night Balm. Put a small amount in the palm of cupped hands and breathe in. Gently apply to your face.

Earth Theraputics Dream Zone Sleep Mask. It's silky and thick, so there's no chance of light coming through!

You've All Seen It

But let's watch it one more time!