Another Return

I was picked up at 8am this morning for my much anticipated (by me, at least) trip back to the Park. After a quick stop at the wholesale market for 2 truckloads of bananas, we were off. I noticed the changes as soon as I was picked up. Where we used to have anywhere from 6-10 volunteers each week, today there were around 22 people all heading up for anywhere from 1-3 weeks. Three girls from the Netherlands, a family from Toronto, two couples from the States, a German girl, and a bunch others who I haven't had a chance to get to know yet.

The herd hasn't changed in size much - I think there were 32 elephants when I last left, and there are 31 now. Around 4 elephants have passed away in the past 2 years (most due to old age), and there are a few new females. Medo, a female who had her pelvis destroyed when her owner tried to mate her with a male in musth. She's now severely handicapped, but seems to be enjoying her new life. Mae Lanna is in her 40s and is completely blind in one eye, and about 85% blind in the other. She and Medo have recently forged a friendship, and enjoy hanging out down by the river. Faa Sai is a young elephant who was rescued back in August. I had given money to Lek to help with the purchase, so it was wonderful to see her enjoying her new life. While she hasn't completely joined a new family group yet, she seems to be making friends with the other young elephants.

Overall, the park has become much more of a tourist attraction than it used to be. There's more of an emphasis on safety - people can't get as close to the elephants, and there's a long list of rules to follow - and the volunteer program is much more structured than it ever was before. There are still lots of familiar faces (both human & animal) here though, which is really nice.