On our fourth day as volunteers we took a hike into the forest to
find the mother elephant with twins. We walked to the next valley with the
remaining banana trunks but the mahout said that he was not able to find the
three elephants. We hiked up a creek for about another hour to a waterfall, but
no elly's were to be seen. I was actually quite pleased about this; if our
lumbering group had managed to find them then they would have been easy targets
for poachers. In addition, it proved that they really were free to roam.
In the late afternoon we moved onto another Karen village in the
back of the now familiar pickup truck. It was a bumpy hour’s ride! We had
each brought a can of beer from the village shop for the journey, but most of
it ended up over each other with all the jerks and potholes.
We hoped to observe an annual Karen ceremony were they bless their
elephants. Unfortunately for us, the village shaman had decided best to move
the ceremony forward a day and so we just missed it! The villagers were very
welcoming; one lady took a shine to Sarah and invited her into her house to
share tea and some of the local potent moonshine!
Some beautiful forest flowers
Walking up stream in search of the family
Group shot
Us by the waterfall
Sarah meeting the locals
This lady took a shine to Sarah
Flopsy buffalo
Inquisitive calf
The village high street
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