06 Jun The Elephant Sanctuary
On Wednesday I had to get up really early because we were going to an elephant sanctuary! I was really excited but I wasn’t sure what to expect so I got up and ready and packed everything I needed in my day bag. At about quarter past eight Eddy the elephant man and his wife El came and picked us up in their minibus and drove us to the sanctuary which was roughly half an hour away.
When we arrived we had to cross a long rickety bridge which only one person could cross at a time so that it didn’t break. The bridge was made of bamboo and it had big ants crawling across the handle bars, it was quite wobbly and high which made it very scary to cross.
Once everybody had safely crossed we had to walk up through the forest to get to the elephants. It wasn’t a very long walk but it was really hot and uphill so it was very tricky. Once we had finished the walk we were greeted by two elephants called Papaya and Tomato who we got to feed corn and bananas. Tomato (who is 40) was very gentle but Papaya (who is 9) was really cheeky and kept trying to take the food out of your hand! After they had been fed we took them down to the river to cool off and they looked like they were really enjoying it. When they came out they covered themselves with mud so that the mosquitoes couldn’t bite them.
The elephants were really funny and I feel lucky that I got to spend time with them because it’s a dream for lots of people and not everyone gets to make the dream come true.
Editor’s (Dad’s) note: The sanctuary we visited was the Elephant Sanctuary Care Park, and I thoroughly recommend it.