DAY 219 (Thursday 08 March 2012)

Well we were up at 0600 hrs this morning and were giving a drink of tea and coffee before we headed out on our Elephant Safari.

Our Elephant for the Safari

We saw plenty of deer, a jungle cat (no not a tiger), not only did we hear but we also saw plenty of peacocks, but also no rhino or tiger this morning, however we did get to see a tiger pawprint in the mud down at the side of a bank where the rider of the elephant believes it was passing through.

Tiger Paw Print

As we were out so early when we got back it was time for breakfast before our briefing on the elephant which was at 1030 hrs.  The briefing was good even though it was hard to understand the briefer at times, however, Charlie and I were the only ones in the group that wanted to get on the elephant by the way of using their trunk.

 

Charlie getting on the elephant

Getting on the elephant by the means of the trunk was quite an experience because as soon as you had your foot on the trunk the elephant literally threw you up onto its head before you even had a time to think about it.  After doing this and feeding the elephant its morning snack of sandwiches which were made up of leaves and other stuff that was inside the leaves that they normally eat it was time to head down to the river to bathe the elephant.

There were 3 other people that were in our group but they didn’t go in the water with the elephant so it was just me and Charlie.  I was actually quite surprised as to how warm and clear the river was and with the clarity of the water I was happy with as crocodiles swim in the river that we went to.

I even had the chance to ride the elephant out of the river back onto the bank before getting dried off and footwear changed prior to heading back to MACHAN for our lunch.

After lunch we were doing a village walk, but to be honest with you that wasn’t really my cup of tea, I was more interested in seeing animals not people.

The evening consisted of a slide show presentation of the Park and Animals and there was an amazing picture of a tiger splashing into the river that another visitor took when they were here.

Again after our evening meal which consisted of their local curry, it was time for bed as we were up early again in the morning, but this time it will be to do a nature walk.