From Animal Heaven by KevHolls

“We’ve been trying to figure our how to explain this place,” begin KevHolls, two RealTravelers from Miami, “but really can’t seem to find the words. It truly is one of those places that you have to see for yourself to believe it.” They are speaking of the Elephant Nature Park located in the Mae Taeng Valley near Chiang Mai. While they claim not to be able to find the words to describe this magical place, they write quite eloquently about the experience in their blog, Animal Heaven. The Elephant Nature Park is a unique place where travelers may volunteer their time to help the folks who are working hard to provide a sanctuary and rescue center for distressed elephants. KevHolls volunteered at the park, helping feed and bathe the elephants, and they even got to stay overnight at the park in a tree house suite.

Here’s an excerpt from Animal Heaven:

“They feed the elephants once a day with all the food bought with the money paid through tourism. Elephant Nature Park is a 100% non-profit organization and strives on donations, volunteers and tourism alone. Feeding time was great and it was amazing to be able to look an elephant in the eye while feeling it’s trunk wrap around your hand to get the food. Man, do they eat! We were giving them full watermelons and bundles of bananas like it was nothing.” (more…)

KevHolls found the experience of washing the elephants most enjoyable – as you can see from their wonderful photographs, the elephants seem to have delighted equally in the experience. KevHolls write:

“Washing the elephants was one of the coolest things I have ever done. We were a very small group (8 people - there are usually around 25 in a group) so you can imagine the mayhem of 15-20 elephants splashing around in the water with only a few other people (us) and their mahouts (full-time elephant trainers). We were a bit outnumbered… and outsized. The elephants seemed to really enjoy getting scrubbed down - they have a very thick skin and you need to scrub really hard to get the dirt out of the cracks. Two elephants started fighting/playing and we had to run out of the water like it was a scene from Jaws. It was a little intimidating having an elephant plop down at your feet ready for a rubdown. They are very unpredictable. We were charged by a baby elephant a few times while there. You either run or you stay and try to stop them (where you will be mauled) - hmm, let me think… we ran. They really just want to play and run after you.” (more…)

If you’re thinking of taking a trip to Chiang Mai and are interested in visiting or even volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park, check out the rest of KevHolls blog for a thorough account of the experience, and also visit these useful links:
Elephant Nature Park
Chiang Mai Travel Blogs
Mae Taeng Travel Blogs

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From Ah, you’re full of Blarney! by mvolz

Brimming with charm and beauty, Blarney is a village in Ireland known for Blarney Castle and the lionized Blarney Stone (kiss it and you’ll be blessed with the gift of gab!) Recently RealTraveler mvolz was awed by the nearly fantastical beauty of the grounds near Blarney Castle. She writes:

“I absolutely loved Blarney, it was so beautiful. We were allowed to crawl through anything in the castle and on the grounds. The castle stairs were so steep I felt like I was climbing a ladder and the views from top were amazing…

The grounds were absolutely gorgeous. Some of the trees looked like they were made of wax and were imagined straight out of a Walt Disney movie.” (more…)

Check out more gorgeous scenes from Ireland by visiting Ireland Travel Photos.

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