Alisa and Ben in Hong Kong: Mahout Training

Today we spent the day at the Elephant Conservation Center in northern Thailand. We took a one day mahout training corse, which is basically a crash corse in learning to be an elephant trainer. We learned some basic commands, rode bareback, and took them for a bath. We had a great time getting to interact with the elephants in such a personal way. When they assigned our elephants in the morning the class leader told us a little about each elephant. Ben's was nick-named "Cassanova" and is the father of many of the babies at the center. I was told that mine was a naughty girl who often got her rider wet when they went through the water. Both of our Elephants were in their 30s. Their lifespan is similar to ours, as they typically live into their 80s. My elephant was good to me all day, so I can only assume that she liked me. :) She did have a stubborn streak though and kept trying to walk in front of Cassanova at the slowest pace possible. Ben's elephant would speed up and get right next to her and then she try to speed up to get in front of his again so she could slow down. They were funny! They seemed to be friends though and held trunks once or twice. Mine did try to take the food out of Cassanova's mouth though, which he didn't really seem to mind so much. The elephants seemed playful and happy. They soaked us when it was time to give them baths and otherwise they seemed happy and well cared for. It was a wonderful experience!

Elephant painting in the show