Safari

How cool is it to be able to ride bareback on a horse?? Very cool! The question is how many of you have actually done that?
Now tell me how cool it is to ride bareback on an elephant. Let me explain. Just the idea of it is thrilling enough but the experience is exceptional.....
Now let's go see some elephants up close and I mean REAL......CLOSE!!!
Our first encounter with an elephant was quite funny because it was walking down the main road in town when Britt called out " Oh my gosh, it's an ELEPHANT!!!" Clearly her first, hahha. Anyways, when we got to the Elephant Breeding Centre we discovered a few interesting things about elephants. I 'll just tell you now to never underestimate them for their size. The little babies, the size of a large dog, could knock you over so easily it's ridiculous. Also they have a big appetite for cookies and they can BARK!! Yes bark, it was crazy.
The elephant ride was beautiful. To get onto the elephant you climb a flight of stairs that is randomly in the middle of nowhere then hop onto its bum then into the box. On the other hand the trainer holds onto the ears and climbs right up the trunk and hops onto the head. I loved every minute of our 2 hour ride. A combination of being on an elephant, seeing rhinos, boars, deer etc and being surrounded by greenery that was so thick with ivy, grass, trees, moss and more made it even more fantastic. The elephants are surprisingly well trained. I can't believe how such a large and powerful animal can be so well tamed! For example, they can get them to roll over, lie down, speak and even tell them to rip off a branch, with their trunk, that is blocking the path. Unbelievable!
Later on that day we got to bathe with the elephants but first we had to climb on the same way the owner did.....Aaaah, scary. I have to admit that I was terrified. Hahah, I held onto its ears for dear life while I climbed up the trunk, over its face then onto its back. It's scarier than you'd think. Its head is massive!! From there we barebacked , holding on tight while it crawled into the water. I was in the front so I got to hold onto the collar. We got sprayed by its trunk " Eew, snot" hahah, tossed around, flipped etc. Quite a wild ride!! Sometimes you come up from under the water and see its giant head RIGHT there or once I came up and my head was practically in its mouth. No joke! We were there for an hour and we asked how much it would be to do it again and he said 50 rupees which is under a dollar. Let's think about that one for a minute. It costs more than $5.00 to ride a pony around in a circle for 15 mins at home...... now how does this figure?? Oh well, I'll take the elephant!!
Oh yes, and I did have a leech on my foot for the entertainment of Britt and Bre. They had fun poking at it, lighting it on fire and disecting it. What a waste of my blood, lol.
The resort was spectacular and I loved it! The sunsets were soothing and peaceful and the stars were glamerous. It was amazing, a blast.....INDESCRIBABLE. How else can I put it?
Now we're in India...Touch down!! It's quite busy and loud but apparently one of the quietest places in India so I'm a bit shocked! I can't imagine what a busy town will be like. I guess we'll have to venture out some more and see what happens.
Still alive and kicking.....
'Til next time
Savannah

Prayer Flags

With monks graceful pace
Prayers are delivered
Through earth and sky
Body and soul
Send them soaring
Let the prayer flags fly
Each scripture floats
To the heavens above
Red green or blue
Orange, pink or white
High over mountains
Glory from the top