The Elephant Trip

   The sound of motorcycles whizzing past the 15 passenger van trying to climb a steep mountain in 2^nd gear tripped my mental record button. I look around the team to see anxious young women looking around wondering if one of the motorcycles were going to smack into us, Kay, Julie, and the driver sceaming about where to go eat, and finally choosing a buffet area that was apparently close by.

   Once we started down the mountain, the gas station and buffet center came into view. We pulled into the buffet area, and saw a big sign on the door that said “C” and we kinda joked about it being the C being a rating system… little did we know that I was about to rate it “C” mainly because in the expansive buffet, you paid for everything- It looked like 2RM (like $0.75) for every item on your plate, so rice and noodles- 4RM\$1.50, Fish heads in some odd red sauce, with a yellow curry chicken that you had to debone the chicken… and make sure the flys wernt making that their favorite dish either. All in all, I ate a bunch of peppers after my meal in hopes to kill any bugs. That meal being pretty scetch, wiping the mass amounts of sweat from my face, and smiling after such an amazing “cultural buffet”, we continued our journey.

Still smiling after lunch, the trip through the mountains became more and more beautiful, rice growing on the sides of mountains, the small towns peppering the mountainside with stories from the driver of a condominium that collapsed in a landslide years ago, but you could still see remnants.

   Passing the rolling hills and tree-covered mountains, engulfed in thick weeds. We took a turn heading into the mountains closer, noticing goats and dogs walking on the side of the road, the little shops and food areas showing signs of entrepreneurs in cooking, finding out later that they serve wild boar BBQ, and also finding out that the rainforest we were entering holds many animals including wild boar, tigers, elephants, monkeys, and apparently plenty of snakes. Just like that we came up to the elephant sanctuary, and took off our shoes (as is tradition) and entered the main building to catch up on out elephant knowledge before meeting them in person.

   Walking past a small stream I made my way with the group, walking behind all of them. I was watching the foreigners and natives making sure no one got too close to the ladies in our group, making sure that every woman’s purse was secure, and that every young woman was accounted for. Finally it happened, I heard what sounded like Chewbacca dying in the distance, I quickly turned in classic shock to see an elephant as tall as I was (from foot to shoulder) screaming at all of us. A moment of shock ran through me, but was quickly doused. As the elephants were bathing, I couldn’t help but be on high alert because of literally everyone being distracted, it was my duty to make sure foreign fingers stayed away from purses or backpacks. With the elephants clean, we fed the “small” elephants some peanuts, and I gotta say, their trunks are incredibly muscular, the sniffer area of the trunk pretty much grabs the peanuts and just tosses them in their mouth- It was awesome. Even touching their skin was an interesting experience.

   Then they ushered in the 3 elephants, one of them  being African. They were fed lunch, which was given by the group of tourists, these guys were huge. Their mouth was right at head level. I heard over the loud speaker the way to feed the elephants in an alternative way… but no one was doing it… so I took a chance and held the fruit we were feeding them close to his eye, and his trunk flipped up and huge mouth opened, I inserted the fruit into his mouth, accidentally touching his tongue… Everyone was in awe :D

   Time slipped by as I was waiting in line with the group, everyone taking turns 3 or 4 at a time, walking up a set of stairs onto a platform that you stood on to provide easy access to sit on an elephant and ride in a circle to finish maybe 3 minutes later… but still- ON AN ELEPHANT! It was great. I was looking around the group, again making sure that everyone was at a healthy distance from the group, but I was watching a few people who I flagged because they were staring and walking closer, and weirded me out more spiritually more than anything… Just then I saw a group of 3 people ON an elephant, walking toward the little river that was close by, as they got in, the elephant and trainer carefully choreographed move that combined the trainer on the elephant tapping, the trainer in the water making hand gestures, and the people on the elephants having no idea what’s going on until BOOM! The elephant flips on it’s side, flinging the riders into the river. 

   WOAH!!! Everyone exclaimed in a universal tone that was beyond all language barriers. People from Australia, Germany, the US, and Switzerland were quietly represented there, and all were in awe… except for the natives. I found out later that a gal on the team asked one of the locals “Have you ever been dumped off into the water?” and they replied in a slightly negative “No- Why would I want to do that?” Apparently tastes in fun vary from culture to culture.

   So It was my turn to get on the elephant… the elephant was knee-deep in the water with a massive “loading dock” platform that you held onto a rope and made my way to the front of the beast, then as I juuust got comfortable riding on the beast again… I felt it leaning to one side, then quickly give way like it just lost it’s right set of legs. I pre-planned on not holding onto anyone and as the elephant was going down, I quickly stuck both hands in the air to ensure a fun time.

   I’m having a blast down here, and in the back of my head, I ask myself “Why am I worthy of this?” “What did I do?” Kay and Julie especially are blessing me with this opportunity to come down here and enjoy the benefits of obedience and flowing in your calling. A Massive thank you to Kay and Julie for hosting me on this once in a lifetime journey for 2 months, God bless your being here, and the teams efforts as a whole in helping all of the people here in the eastern hemisphere.