Elephant Riding

On April 14 I rode an elephant.

Britt and I rented another car and went back to Kwantu for our rain-checked elephant ride. We did not get lost this time! w00t! We rode the elephants for about 30 minutes and then were able to feed them, all four of them, tasty treats. There is no way that I can explain how cool it was to ride and feed elephants. Hopefully the photos can give you some idea...

Elephants are matriarchal which means that they are lead by a dominant female.  A majority of the elephants in a herd will be female with the exception of a few immature males. The mature males go out on their own only coming around to mate.

Elephants carry their babies for approximately 22 months.

Elephants in the wild live up to approxiately 75 years while elephants in sanctuaries, like Kwantu, can live up to 100 years. In sanctuaries they are protected from the elements, given vitamins and healthy foods to supplement their diets, and tended to when sick. 

Our guide said that training elephants is similar to training dogs: they use a lot of treats to form habits. As the elephants were coming out to play the guide called out random commands, "right," "left," "forward" and "stop." The elephants followed each of the commands perfectly. It was pretty cool. You could tell they each had their own personality. The gal on the middle right kept trying to get food out of the middle left gal's mouth. They were smacking each other with their trunks.

Here we go! My elephant was Lacey. She was gorgeous.

The elephant's skin was rough. I was warned that their skin was very coarse (hence the long pants) but wasn't imagining it the way it actually felt. Imagine the way that a callous feels. Now imagine that texture covering the enormous body of an elephant. That is exactly how their skin felt. Though their body is covered in callous-thick hide, behind their large ears is satin-smooth (I felt them, so I can vouch for this piece of info!). They have hundreds of blood vessels behind their ears which they use as fans on hot days. These keep the skin here tender and smooth.

Did you know that though elephants are gigantic creatures they can sneak up on people? They do not stomp around like we teach our kids... they walk very gently. Also, elephants can send information to other elephants through the vibrations in the ground. They can feel vibrations from up to several kilometers (even more miles) serving as warnings, information about herds, predators, etc. 

FAVORITE PART: I got to FEED the elephants!!!!

I was so excited I couldn't even stand it!

Reeeeeeeeeach.

We could put the food directly in their mouths (sticky, hot and stinky-- but fun!), or in their trunk---> they would feed themselves that way.

This gal had ants in her pants. Super impatient elephant alert.
P.S. I got hit in the head by her trunk because she couldn't wait for her goodies.

"Quick. Staring contest. You. Me. Now."

Britt putting food in the elephants trunk.

Their trunks were amazing. Elephants have "fingers" on the ends of their trunks. We dropped quite a bit of food on the ground. Getting the food in their mouths was a bit tricky. I didn't want to get chomped. No matter, the elephants used the fingers on the tips of their trunks to pick up the treats. Did you know that elephants have "fingers?" They do.

There isn't anything quite like an elephant. They are truly incredible.

"Please don't hit me again, baby girl."

This is where the elephants come to sleep at night. The ceiling has some kind of electrical heating element to circulate heat on cold evenings. The trainers tend to the elephants every day.

Going back to the wild, trainers at their side.

Would I do this again? In a heartbeat. This is by far my favorite South African adventure.

Sarah