Today was another slow day and so Pin devised a test for Dawn and I. We had to take each other for a ride around camp and answer questions about the elephants and the area. Unfortunately I was first to go and Pin and Dawn decided to play the role of pain in the butt tourists. Apart from almost knocking them both out as I tried to open the umbrella and a few hairy moments when DP decided she wanted to go the opposite way it was fine and in said I passed.
Dawn also did very well as she has much more confidence than me. I don’t understand why I am such a big chicken. Piccha has really pushed me this week though and I know given the choice I would not have tried half of what I’ve done. He can see through me and so instead of giving me a choice, he just waits till I’m sitting on DP and then tells me what we’re going to do!
The elephants usually go out for 10-30 minutes at a time but one lady booked DP for a whole hour this afternoon. When they came back DP was very grumpy because it was so hot and the lady didn’t even tip! I treated her to a cool bath, long cool drink and fresh leaves so she was soon happy.
As we went over the tires to the forest tonight I was not scared but sad as it would be my last time to ride her. There was one final panic moment in store just as I had jumped down and was getting ready to say goodnight. Suddenly there was a loud bang nearby and DP bolted. After riding at her slow pace all week it was amazing (and completely terrifying) to see just how fast they can go.
After making sure she was set for the night we headed back to camp and I was in tears already. Piccha was so sweet and held my hand all the way back. Because it was the last night we had dinner at camp with everyone. Oh performed his elephant song (see the video below) which was so funny and we spent the evening eating, drinking and laughing.
Just before we left we were called outside and the mood suddenly became a little more serious. We noticed everyone had a candle and Arnon told us we were to have a ceremony together. Once everyone had lit their candles all the mahouts began talking about their best memories of the week and their impressions of us. It was clear that this was a very important part of the experience and soon they were lots of tears around the table. It was nice to know that even the mahouts we didn’t work with had noticed us around camp.
After all the emotions of the day I felt drained but we still had shopping to do at Tesco’s. We decided to buy the mahouts thank you gifts and stayed up till 2am wrapping them. After that we had to pack and eventually got to bed about 3:30am!
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