Loving the Eles

We had a fun time at Elephant Nature Park (ENP) taking care of the elephants. They are very cute and you can pet them. My favorite elephants were Jokia and Maepurm. They are BFFs because Jokia is completely blind. She came from a logging industry and when she didn’t do her work, her mahout shot her eyes out as punishment, which is very sad. She has been rescued and instantly when she arrived, Maepurm became her best friend and guide. They are always together with their herd of three other elephants.

Some of my jobs at ENP were scooping poo, making food at the Ele Kitchen and washing the elephants. We worked with friends from around the world, including Canada, England and Australia. One friend even went to UGA! My best friends are from Colorado, Lupine and Vassar. We played cards together every night and they taught me new games. Our best friends from Canada taught me spoons and one night we had 14 players!

When we weren’t working, we went tubing down the river, played soccer (futball!) and fed the elephants. Our volunteer coordinators (VCs) were always there to help us and I enjoyed learning from them. ENP was like camp, but more fun. We stayed in cabins and I had my own bed with a mosquito net. It was a great week!