Today's walk started with a trek uphill. STEEP. It was not very fun. Luckily our guides take their time. They stopped to make us hats out of leaves (we'd all gone a bit crazy at that point) and to take lots of pictures. When we finally got to the top, the view was breathtaking.
After that it was a slower incline and then a lot of downhill. Honestly? I very much prefer the uphill. Downhill makes me feel like I am going to fall, which I have to say is not a very comfortable feeling.
We stopped at a small dwelling after awhile. Lili went off with part of the group to pick vegetables. I stayed back with some others. Our cook, Rambo, climbed a tree and picked fresh mangoes. He peeled them and cut them up for us. I was totally glad I didn't go pick veggies because the mango was delicious. It was NOTHING like the mangoes you get in the states. It was sweet, juicy and soft. Very much like a peach. Mmm, delicious.
Eventually, after the steepest downhill of them all, I spotted the part of the trip that got me through all of the killer trekking...ELEPHANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We'd made it to the elephant station. We all stopped and took our time there. We had lunch of stew that tasted like Ramen noodles (at that point I would have eaten whatever Bear Grylls handed to me) and were slowly getting back our energy. So I don't seem incredibly lame, let me just say that we had been hiking through the mountains for hours at this point. Not exactly an easy task.
We asked if we could do anything and they told us that we were more than welcome to go wash the elephants. A few of us got in the river with pans and splashed the elephants down. They really are amazing creatures. Very tough skin but they have hair all over them (sparse, but all over) and you could kick one and I doubt they would even feel it. They are also very gentle. Well, almost all. The baby (6 months old) was incredibly cheeky and had to be constantly chased away with a stick.
Lili bought a bushel of bananas (which are not like bananas we are used to, they have a bit of a hard center) and the baby elephants chased after her until she'd fed it almost all of them. And he ate them, peel and all!!! Then a big elephants kept sticking his trunk out so i fed him a few banana peels. He would take them in his trunk and then put them in his mouth. So cute!
Eventually it was time to board the elephants and let them do the work for a change. As cool as it was it was totally one of the most uncomfortable rides of my life. I totally thought I was going to fall off several times! Still, I wouldn't trade that experience for ANYTHING! I mean, I freaking rode an elephant!
So as we went downhill, Lili and I found out that our elephant was the baby elephants mother. And Corianna and Maya's elephant was its father. Talk about family drama. We we really far behind the rest of the pack. Then we had to stop because the baby needed to feed (from our elephant of course). Then the baby heard a dog and lumbered off after it. Of course Mama Elephant had to protect her offspring and when crashing through the jungle with me and Lili screaming. Craziness!!!
Our elephants dropped us off at the bottom of the mountain where we walked a short ways to the next village which was significantly bigger than the last one. Despite the fact we were all tired and hungry we took a tour of the village and then watched as the boys played a game of soccer (hey, I'm American, it's soccer to me) with the local kids. It was pretty intense.
Turns out the village had its own boarding school. They also had a TV and solar panels for electrical power. Sweet. Eventually us girls decided it was bathing time. We were told that we should go bathe in the river because it was perfectly clean. First off, we came out WAY dirtier than when we went in. Second, the river had a super strong current. Oh well, at least we were refreshed I suppose. We made our way back to the cabin and snacked on some of the stuff we had bought from the market the day before. When dinner was ready we all ate ravenously!
After dinner we all sat around the candlelight and played Green Glass Door, celebrity letters, and told stories. One by one we all went to bed.
Rafting tomorrow...
