The Adventures of Kerri & Matt

After breakfast in the morning we walked Gai Na out into the forest for dessert. On a leash.

Because if she decided she didn’t want to come the leash would have made a big difference.

Gai Na is 55 years old and used to work in logging and trekking camps before her mahout brought her to Elephants World to retire.

She eats watermelons whole.

She bent down so Kerri could sit in her lap. Kerri got beaten by her flapping ears. They are surprisingly hard.

She was a very cheeky elephant. Her mahout wanted her to eat the trees on the right side of the street. There was a farm with crops on the left. She kept sneaking across the street to snack on the weeds at the edge of the garden. But as soon as he looked away she went and pulled out the good stuff. Her mahout yelled and tossed a pebble at her. Which she probably didn’t even feel through her thick skin. But she backed off and came back to the right side of the road.

After everyone else left we walked Kammoon out into the forest so that she could eat all night.

But she didn’t want to go into the forest and kept sneaking snacks off of the side of the path.

She is an old retired working elephant but she was just like a toddler that didn’t want to go to bed.

And kept dawdling and sneaking snacks.

Kerri got to ride the elephants in the water.

She climbed on.

And then edged up toward the neck.

Because the neck is the strongest part of the elephant.

Sitting anywhere else hurts their back.

So this is proper elephant riding position.

Then she got showered in elephant snot.

And then the elephant bucked and twisted to shake Kerri off.

One of them bucked so hard that Kerri flew head over heals into the water, but we didn’t get that on camera.

All we got is the splash.

It was a lot of fun.

The elephants cover themselves in mud to cool off in the afternoon.

It looks like a lot of fun.

upload video P1170482.MP4

But it’s hard to get out of the mud when you are done.

Being an elephant is awkward.

Especially when you sink in the mud.