Our Elephant Friends

Our Bestestest Elephant Friends

Thank you for making my life so full of sunshine!!

Niclas ‘Svenny Poo Pants’ Klixbull, Ruwan, Princess Rani, Emily ‘As good as it gets’ Corbett, Stu ‘Snakerson’ Thompson,  Jean Baptise ‘Jeebee’ Pouchain, Chris ‘Fuffy’ Statham, Halina ‘Seacow’ Pokoj, Wayne ‘Wangel’ Beaumont, Sally ‘Somerset Saaahaaaaallaaaaay’ Welburn, Tamsin ‘Tamsin Style’ Webb and Laura ‘Laaawra’ Pannitt.

Thank you for making my life so full of sunshine!!

Emily, you are a shining star and you are missed hugely. Can’t wait to see you again one day xxx

Halloween at MEF

This Halloween, as we were in Sri Lanka, instead of being scary and covered in blood, we mixed things up a bit. We decided to become members of staff at MEF, mainly mahouts, with the odd exception.

Everyone donned their mahout outfits early in the morning. Sarongs, mahout vests, bumbags, mahout belts, a stick, a knife and most important of all… a moustache! Some of us even had a change in hairstyle to fit the role.

We all waited by the cabins until the mahouts walked up to get their elephants from their beds at 7:30am. We then fell into line behind them, put on our best mahout walks, and strolled up to meet the elephants. We helped with the beds as normal, then headed down to the river for their morning bath.

Then everyone set about their normal day, but staying in character of course. Many photos were taken, mahouts are very smily normally, until a camera comes out, then they pull their stern face, so we did too! It may look like we weren’t having a good day, but really we’re just really good at being mahouts!

As the day went on, the sun got hotter, so in true mahout style, we cooled down. This doesn’t mean taking your top off, it simply means rolled it up until you look like you’re wearing a really short crop top! Hot stuff!

And when it rains you better hope you have your rain hat with you… a plastic bag!
The mahouts believe that if you get your head wet from the rain, you will become ill, so every time it rains the bags come out. They will spend hours in the river washing their elephant, but if a bit of rain comes, its time to get inside!

 

A few other mahout activities included, taking the dogs in the river for a quick wash, having a mid afternoon sleep in the mahout hut and chewing the not overly tasty combo of leaf, paste, tobacco leaf and a nut, which fills your mouth with a red liquid, and it looks like your gums are bleeding, yummy!

At the end of the day we all washed in the river and had a little swim. Once out and dry we all did what mahouts do best… we put on our sarongs and then put on shirts which clashed horrifically!

Like I said earlier, most of us were mahouts. However, there were a couple of exceptions, Stu dressed as Podi, which was amazing, neck brace, white beard and all! And JB became Sriyani for the day, much to the approval of mahouts and their wandering hands!

In the evening we carved a few pumpkins, lit some candles, strung up a few scary ghouls and drank a lot of scary punch. It was an extremely fun day!

Night White Water Rafting!

We’ve been rafting a couple times now, so we thought we would try something a little different. It was Emily’s last week here at MEF so we decided to go rafting, but this time at night.

The rain had been coming down hard on the drive there, with some thunder and lightening too, which scared Halina slightly. Myself and a few others were excited instead, knowing that more rain means more water and a faster river!

After we finally convinced Halina it was a good idea, and not scary, we started making our way down the steps to the river. The steps were sketchy even during the day, so trying to walk in the pitch black, down wet and jagged steps, with only 2 torches between 8 of us, was not easy.

Once at the bottom we climbed in the boat, thinking we would have a head torch each, turns out just the instructors would be having them. Then the guy at the front couldn’t get his torch to stay on his head, so he swapped with the guy at the back. By the time we started properly heading downstream, neither of them wore their torches, only switching one on every now and then to check for rocks poking out.

We paddled for almost an hour, guided only by moonlight. It was such an amazing experience! You could not really see the rapids, only hear them approaching, then suddenly you hear ‘hold the line’ and you’re being thrown about the boat with gallons of water coming down on top of you!

At the last stretch, just before we got out, we all dived off the boat and floated down the jungle river, admiring the outlined hills and trees, and listening to the evening animals all around us. It was a lot of fun!

Funnily enough, no pictures for this blog, sorry.

 

5500 steps to… Adam’s Peak!

3:30am the alarm wakes us. As we’re preparing to leave, Jody and I scowl at Halina for not coming with us. Pretty sure she injured her foot herself just so she wouldn’t have to come.
We jumped in the van and had a little nap for a few hours until we reached Nuwara Eliya, probably one of the most visually stunning places in Sri Lanka.

Jody was already staring out the window when I woke up. The views were astonishing, it was like we were in ‘Land Before Time’. There was a huge lake, with an island in the middle, surrounded by hills and jungle. The sun was just over the hills creating a misty scene and shimmering on the perfectly still water. Every bend in the road would show another spectacular waterfall. There is no way I can describe the beauty, you really have to see it for yourself.

There were seven of us all together making the climb. Adam’s Peak is one of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated places of pilgrimage, standing at 2243m. Buddhists believe the depression at the summit is the Sri Pada, meaning sacred footprint, made by Buddha as he left the earth.

It’s a long way to the top, roughly 7km and around 5500 steps!

The first stretch was deceiving, the steps were spaces out and not steep, and we were thinking this wasn’t going to be so bad. It was only once we realised the climb hadn’t even started yet, that we thought otherwise. There was a large area for prayer and a huge white Dagoba, surrounded by beautiful mountains and waterfalls… and some more steps.

From now on the climb was relentless, step after step, twisting and turning up the mountain, and the sun high in the sky wasn’t helping all that much! As we progressed and the waterfalls and Dagoba got smaller and smaller in the distance, the views became much more impressive.

After a couple hours of continuous step by step climbing, everyone was feeling like their legs wouldn’t work much longer, and then we reached a sign which read ‘The ancients had to tread with utmost care this particular stretch of the pathway, depending heavily on chains and ropes. Even today, the path is steep and the journey arduous.’ They weren’t joking either!
The steps became so steep, you had to hold on to the handrail, hauling yourself up a few steps at a time. The handrail was actually a bit of a relief for your legs. Every corner we turned had to be the last one, but it wasn’t, it just kept going.

Sorry Jody, had to put this one in!

Finally we made it to the summit. It felt so good to sit down and let our legs get over the trauma they had just been through. The view from the top was………. a white wash of cloud! There was a small section where you could still see down but, mainly, there was cloud.
We each rang a bell, just once, to signify we had made it to the top. You ring once for each time you have made it to the top. Before long I guess I’ll be ringing it twice, as I know Halina wont climb unless she drags me along again.

After our well needed rest, some snacks, feeding the dogs and a chat with the security guard, who lives there for 6months at a time!! we began our descent.
The clouds obscuring our view from the top, now decided to empty upon us, making the climb down a tad precarious, the steep steps at the top were now wet and slippery too.
After maybe a thousand steps, everyone’s legs had turned to jelly, every step you could feel your legs shaking uncontrollably, ah well, only 4500 to go!

Roughly an hour and a half later, everyone had made it through the monsoon rains back to the van. Everyone was soaked to the bone and bodies still in jelly form, but everyone was happy and proud of the successful journey to the summit of the Sri Pada. Hard going but definitely worth it!