I accomplished one of my goals for India. I saw Asian elephants in Asia. The elephants were all rescued from the Kerala forest due to one type of trauma or another. There were babies, females, and bulls all magnificently large, beautiful, and gentle. Jessica, Ingrid, Caitlin and I road one bareback; we had our own support, self-help, empowerment group going on between us and the elephant. She was absolutely beautiful and amazing…it saddens me that I cannot recall her name. “Just breathe…we’re doing fine…we love you…” were the only things I could think to say to keep us calm and from her feeling our nervousness. I was not afraid of her but of the fall; the balance of three of us was at the mercy of her steps. With each one we would shift more and more off center. When we dismounted her trainer asked if we would like to pet her. I was right there without a second thought. Walking towards her I was amazed at her size and when I felt her trunk I was humbled by her strength. It was not that long but I stood their rubbing her freckled tough-skinned trunk and she leaned in towards me. We were cheek to trunk for a moment and I could have stayed with her the rest of the day but there was more to do and my vote was one out of eight. I did see her again. She, an adult male, and a baby elephant were escorted to the river where they bathed. We did a lot of other great things that day but hugging an elephant was by far my highlight moment.

Biju is the best coordinator, EVER! And we are slowly adding friends into our outings...Jetu was kind enough to drive but also a lot of fun to hang out with.