An assortment of photos that only barely capture what I'm experiencing here

Sunrise in the Elephant Kingdom, right by the riverbank. 

Pisamy plays with her food before eating it

Day 2 of working with Pisamy

Washing down and keeping cool

I was able to stand up on my first try! Maybe next I'll try doing backflips (just kidding!).

You know you're big when you stand next to an 8-person van and totally eclipse it

New friends

One of the new mothers eats in the nursery with her baby underfoot

Baby rolls in his food before eating

Life here at the Royal Elephant Kraal is so lovely. We wake up early, clean the elephant enclosures (which is EXHAUSTING and very hard work, especially in the hot sun!), rest for a bit, ride and wash the elephants, eat a delicious lunch, rest some more, wash the elephants again, rest some more, ride the elephants again, and then put them to bed. Then there is a delicious dinner waiting for us.

There are two dogs that live here (along with countless other strays): Buddy and Little Girl. There is also a monkey who has no legs and one arm after being mauled by a pack of stray dogs and then being rescued by a monk. Because primates get lonely being in cages all alone, but because any other monkey would kill him because he is so vulnerable, he has a pet rabbit that keeps him company in his cage. There is a cat with feline AIDS who is kept in a special pen. And there are 99 elephants, 9 of whom are babies.

The elephants are constantly trumpeting or rumbling, and the ice cream man comes twice a day to sell us treats. There is plenty of down time where I am free to do whatever I like, whether it is bond with Pisamy by feeding her extra pineapple leaves and cucumbers, or play with the babies (under the watchful eyes of their mothers, of course), or simply watch the elephants be elephants.

They seem so happy and well-loved here, and I feel so blessed to be part of an effort to conserve not only part of Thailand's very important traditional history of animal husbandry, but some beautiful creatures who are in serious danger of extinction.

I will certainly be sad to leave tomorrow, but it appears that everyone who works here now started out as a visitor like me who simply "had" to return to check on their elephants and continue to work with them. Maybe this is not the last that I will see of the Royal Elephant Kraal..........