Here’s what else we were up to in April!

After Thailand we had a few more days in Singapore. Unfortunately Oliver had to travel for a Baseball tournament with the high school team he coaches so he was gone for the second half of our trip. We missed him, but had a great time with Jen and the kids for the remainder of our trip!

One of the things at the top of our Thailand bucket list was an elephant sanctuary experience. It was incredible getting close to these gentle giants, all of whom were rescued from abusive environments. We saw a few during our time in Phuket who were obviously being mistreated, so it was great to contribute to an organization dedicated to rescuing them and educating the population.

A few things we learned the Elephant Sanctuary: All of the elephants at the sanctuary are female. They are usually upset when they arrive and go through an extensive acclimation process. 90% of Asian males have tusks, the remaining 10% are (as the guide put it) “lady boys.” All of the elephants bear scars from their mistreatment. They all seemed happy and well-adjusted in their new environment. Elephants in captivity typically live quite a bit longer than elephants in the wild. This is because they eventually lose their teeth and can no longer chew. In captivity they are fed mush and vitamins that sustain them.

At the beginning of our elephant experience we learned how to feed them, either by placing the food in their trunks or in their mouths. They clearly preferred the watermelon to the bananas. Then we were walked through the a vet examination process. Each day they examine a different elephant, rotating them so they have a good baseline of their weight, growth, and overall health. Finally, we went to two pools for “sexy time” with the elephants (again, the guide’s term – he was quite the comedian). The first pool was quite shallow, basically a mud pit. They gave us brushes and hosed everyone off so we could bathe the elephants. Then they walked us to the real pool where we could swim with the elephants. They rolled around in the water on their sides and got quite playful. It was something else!

Jen and Oliver were nice enough to offer to keep Avery for a couple of days so we could go on a date somewhere nearby. We decided to visit Phuket for a relaxing, beachy getaway. It was beautiful! We arrived in the evening and hung out at the pool. The following day we explored the beach before hiring a driver and visited the Big Buddha, Wat Chalong, and the downtown area.

The next day we crossed off one of our bucket list items and went to an elephant sanctuary, which was amazing! Then we spent the evening on Bangla Walking Street taking in the sights. I wish we’d had one more day so we could have visited the Phi phi islands, but overall it was an incredible experience!