Bath time

Today we visited an Elephant Sanctuary.   It was fabulous getting so close to these magnificent animals.  In my shot you see the Mahouts bathing their elephants before taking them to the show ground where they put on a half hour display.  Due to the bright sun it was hard to get good shots. I did have one of an elephant splashing his Mahout.  Apparently it is  illegal to use elephants as work animals, and has been for 30 years.  However these guys are trained to push a  couple of logs about,  one shows how they used to have to drag them along.  They also pick up dropped hats and quide sticks and pass them back to their riders. They have a small pool and one elephant is supposed to get in it have a drink and get out, however,  today she decided the water was so nice, she stayed in and had a lie down and a second elephant joined her.  After the display you can purchase sugarcane, or a mixture of fruit and sweet corn and feed them .  It is sad that these animals have to be kept in sanctuaries, but at least they are safe from poachers and are well looked after.  There is even an Elephant Hospital, plus a nursery for mothers and babies .