Swimming with Elephants

Elephants!

A few days ago Chris and I went to a little restaurant down the road from the office. We were eating som tam under a little bamboo bungalow, deeply entrenched in some nerdy discussion of evolutionary theory when I looked up to see a train of elephants plodding up the road. I was so excited to see my first elephants outside of a zoo or circus, all I could do was stare wide-eyed and stutter. Hurriedly we finished lunch, paid the bill and took off down the road to see if we could find the elephants. We knew they couldn’t have gotten very far and joked at the thought of two farangs pulling up to a group of Thai villagers to ask “Hey – did you guys just see three elephants go by a minute ago?”…. We were about to give up, figuring they had disappeared into the shade of the woods somewhere. Then suddenly a dirt path appeared, sloping downward toward the river. BINGO!

The elephant herders were a group of young boys from the far south. They travel the roads looking to hire out the elephants by the day. When I asked what the elephants do for a living Chris responded with cheery sarcasm: “They take down the forest!!” I imagine an elephant could come in handy in any number of situations (several personal experiences involving cars and mud come to mind). The boys used rocks to create a small dam in the river bend. And there were the elephants – crouching down in the water to enjoy a cool refreshing break from the heat and pavement. We sat and watched as the boys washed the animals, climbing over their backs like nimble ants. I still had my swimsuit on from kayaking that morning, and asked Chris whether he thought it would be ok to join in. As long as I kept my shorts and t-shirt on (southerners are extremely conservative) he didn’t see a problem with it. So I waded in, barely able to believe I was swimming literally eye-to-eye with the largest land mammal on earth. The thick grey skin felt rubbery and tough to the touch. Most striking were the eyes – tiny in comparison to the massive head, but so alert and inquisitive. Under long lashes I could read the intelligence in those piercing eyes.

The nearest elephant let out a lofty sigh and rolled a bright amber eye shut when I raked a scrub brush across its massive shoulder blade. It was like bathing a gigantic mellow golden retriever. Occasionally the boys would bark orders and an elephant would roll to expose one side to the waiting brushes. Often the entire head would dip completely below the surface, leaving only the giant sloping back to indicate the presence of the submerged elephant. Had I seen only this view, I might have walked by and dismissed them as two strange boulders in the river. I could have watched them splash around all day, diving and extending their trunks like alien periscopes.

Have you washed your elephant today?

Once I had had my fill of playing with the elephants, I crawled back up on the bank to join Chris. Contentedly we watched as they filled their trunks with water then let it drip into their open mouths. Finally a jeep full of German tourists took notice and barreled down the path. In 15 seconds flat three pot-bellied Germans in skimpy Speedos were charging into the pool. We chatted with them for a while and decided it was time to go. The elephant boys were polite, but I think they had grown tired of this spectacle. A guy just can’t wash his elephant these days without a truckload of farangs showing up to spoil the fun.