Jonathan & Lindsey's Family Blog

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!

Jonathan and I have been talking about visiting our friends, Jen & Oliver, in Singapore for years, but we’ve always had a baby or been pregnant. Now those days are (permanently) behind us and we decided it was time to go. Avery and their son, Bjorn, are very close — almost like cousins — so we thought it would be great to bring him along for the cultural experience of his young life. The trip was amazing, and my only regret is that we waited so long to travel off our continent.

A few of my takeaways from our trip to Singapore: The city is SO clean. And safe. And hot!. And humid. You have to shower a lot! But I was struck by how the country is so vertical — skyscrapers everywhere. Yet it is in the midst of a jungle. It doesn’t look clearcut. There are trees and wildlife everywhere. They managed to build so much in such a short period of time, all while (sort of) respecting nature and our habitat. The streets are so clean you can literally lay down in the city. See my later post — we actually did. It is SO clean and beautiful. Since the country is an island, they take climate change seriously, and they are way ahead of the U.S. in tackling the issue. Their survival depends on it. It is a melting pot of races and religions, and all are respected and have their place.

We arrived in Singapore in the afternoon. Jen and Oliver told us the best way to beat the jet lag was to stay up, so they kept us up. This turned out to be great advice, and we acclimated pretty quickly.We succeeded in staying up and had some great Indian food for dinner, then hung out at a fellow teacher’s place that evening while taking in great views of the city.

The following days we did a tour of the various International Districts. We saw Little India, Arab Street, and Chinatown before checking out the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. We also swam at the pool and went on nature walks in search of wildlife.