Day 2: The Elephant Nature Park

Ever since young, we rely on our parents to care for us, to guide us what to do, to teach us what not to do. Similar to us, the baby and parent elephants all have a nanny elephant that they can rely on – to tell them where to go, to show them what to eat, etc. After seeing how the elephants always move together as a family from place to place, I found it really heartening to see how the elephants express love and concern for each other in their ways. This is especially so as I have the misconception that elephants all travel alone, and that they rarely rely on each other. However, I now understand that similar to human beings, no animals will enjoy being alone all the time.

We all need somebody to be there for us, to give us a pat on the back and praise us, to support us in all ways. Who else can fit the role as a “somebody”, apart from our family and closest friends? From the photo, we can see that the elephants always move around together in a big group, looking out for and protecting each other from other elephants or animals that may hurt them. Apart from just the elephants’ family, dogs make wonderful companions too, as seen by the many wandering dogs within the park. Though they may speak different animal languages, and I (and all other human beings) cannot really decipher from the way they interact, the fact that they are able to survive together within the same area does not rule out the possibility that they do enjoy each other’s company. As quoted from Roger Caras, “Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole”, it was definitely a wonderful sight to see both elephants and dogs living together. 🙂

Here’s a photo of our tour guide during the 2-day-1-night stay at the ENP. Usually, I will think that locals who work at elephant parks/camps or other popular tourist attractions may not be that highly educated. This is because I have the perception that graduates will prefer a higher paying job with a desirable working environment. However our guide Jen, is actually a graduate from Chiang Mai University who holds a degree in Tourism. This came as a little shocking to me, since I thought that with his degree, he would be able to get a “better” job in the city area. What he told us was that initially after he graduated, he did not really know what he wanted to do. He decided to give it a try at the ENP, and discovered his area of interest – to work with elephants, and to educate tourists about the importance of protecting elephants from being abused.

I personally thought that this was a really noble act and deserved my respect, especially when nowadays, all people think about is getting higher salary, climbing up the social ladder and improving their standard of living. How many people will actually be willing to sacrifice their high-paying jobs to take up careers promoting the importance of caring for our fellow animals, and which do not rake in high incomes? I do understand that there are many problems that have to be taken care of when one chooses to give up his high-paying job, but I find it really inspiring that there are indeed people who strive to do what they are ‘passionate’ about. They are willing to forsake a higher standard of living to do what they feel should be done, even if very few people join them for the same cause. 🙂

“Follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and, above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams,” said Donovan Bailey. This makes me think about one question: What is one thing in life that makes me passionate, and allows me to truly enjoy what I am doing? To be honest, there is nothing really significant that makes me extremely passionate, or allows me to feel like “I am on fire” yet, but I am glad to be in this journey to search for the answer to this question of mine. 🙂