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Day
12: Tuesday 10th December
River
trip (crocodiles, peacocks); elephant breeding centre; elephant bathing;
elephant safari; stick dancing; after-dinner rave.
8am start - the day begins with a river trip; it's really quite cold and very misty. We see crocs, birds, and peacocks as we drift downstream in dug-out canoes.
  
 We alight the other side of the river
and walk to the elephant breeding centre.
 
Baby elephants like to play "shove" but also "charge", and there's two little ones free to roam about and play with the tourists; I played a lot of 'shove' with the smallest elephant until his brother simultaneously tried 'charge' and sent me flying sideways (I was glad of the padded rucksack).
  
Return to the Mansions and change into swimgear... for the elephant bathing at 11 o'clock.
 I manage to get on to the elephant via trunk and 'flop', and all the others seemed to manage it quite easily (no-one was particularly elegant, though). Gill got up second, swivels, and sits in front, then Caro and Frances take successive pole position. On the second elephant rode Alex, Chris, Jo and Sally.
 
  We approach the water...
gingerly the elephant steps down to the edge... then get sprayed with his trunk left, right, over the top - it's cold!!! Then he goes down front first - I hold on - he rolls over onto his side and into the water - I go in. I get on and off a few times, then we all hang around the elephant and
splash him while the rest of the group get in the water too.
 
I was lucky enough to get out on the elephant, too - he took Carolyn, me, Jamie and Susan back to the Mansions, where we dried off and had lunch.
 There's 1 hour free after lunch (time for a shower!) before... the Elephant Safari. Jo cuts her lip.
   From our vantage point on top of our elephant
we see other working elephants, rhinos , boar, peacocks, snow leopards and a few yetis(!!!). Everyone eventually gets back to the dismount station and some get the jeeps back, others walk.
  
  
   
We sit for a while in the central pagoda before the stick dancing starts on the main lawn, which consists of 4 seperate dances (signifying fighting, crops, something else, and friendship). The last - true to its title - involves audience participation.
  
 Dinner with Alex, Sally and Jo moves into the 'den' area beside the restaurant and music tapes c/o Clare. Gradually people filter off to bed (Carolyn & Alison, Graham, Lynn, Kirby, Caro, Sue, Andy). Jamie, me, Clare and Sally keep dancing with the staff until nigh on 1am. Then immediately to bed - some of us have to get up for 7am tomorrow morning for the bird watching, you know...
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