Sometimes I Go On Elephant Safari...ALONE
My father talked a real big game before he came to Indonesia about how he was going to ride an elephant. Rode e-mails about it, scouted the location, just generally played it off as a certainty.
Until...my mother was attacked by an Indonesian monkey (see below, "An Indonesian Tale of Assualt and Revenge"). Suddenly the elephant park was no longer a priority...and whoops! we ran out of time.
Since I decided to stay in Ubud by myself, I really didn't see any reason why I couldn't represent the whole family in spirit at the Taro Elephant Park, about 40 km north. There are signs every 3 m (which regrettably use a quote from the late Steve Irwin on them, but Indonesia will never take them down for the tiny, insignificant reason that the man is dead), and someone named Wayan drove me there.
It cost $10 to just enter the park and see the elephants, and $50 to actually ride one for half an hour. I scoffed at the prices and bought a general admission ticket. There's no way I was paying $50 to sit on an elepant for 30 minutes.
I have to admit, I was a little disapointed at first. Recently an elephant killed a bunch of villagers in India because they'd murdered his mother when he was a baby and he apparently remembered them. There were warning signs all over about not antagonizing the elephants. I rushed in, wanting to see an elephant freaking out a la Dumbo's mother...but they were actually pretty small. A cheerful placard on the wall informed visitors that Sumatran elephants are the smallest and most friendly in the whole world, unlike Indian elephants. You could feed them, pet them, stick your fingers down their trunks (ok, that wasn't expressly stated, but it was implied, I thought).
I played along for a while, but then I saw the elephants strolling along, chairs loosely tied to their backs...and I couldn't resist. I had to ride one. So I threw down another $40 and waited anxiously in line. Was it going to be that big one over on the right? The one with the giant tusks? The little girl elephant who wasn't much bigger than a horse...oh no. I tried to refuse, but they insisted this was my elephant. Her name was Ramona and I sulked on her back for a few minutes before the guide drew me into an elementary Indonesian conversation. I asked if Ramona had any skills that made her better than the other elephants, and it turned out she did. Ramona could play the harmonica!! She plays it the same way I do, which is just blowing air in and out regardless of pitch or notes, but still! We rode off down the path, my chair sliding precariously off the elephant's side as she played a little ditty on her harmonica.
After the ride I bought a picture of myself on the elephant from the giftshop (for my father!) and then sat and people-watched for a while. When I woke up that morning, I had given a fair amount of thought to what I should wear to an elephant safari park. In the end, I decided flip flops were probably OK since Indonesians don't even wear shoes a lot of the time.
I mention this because the other patrons of the park had clearly NOT given any thought to their outfits, unless that thought was "this is my vacation and I'll wear what I want." I'm also going to throw in that everyone besides me was European, and I know this for a fact because I checked at the front desk on my way out. People wearing midriff tops, booty shorts, men with no shirts, no shoes, and extremely abbreviated pants--things that would grab a second look anywhere but the beach. I was chuckling in my head when the best family of all walked by. For their day in the elephant park, they chose to wear...bathing suits. The three women were all wearing tiny bikinis, and the man was wearing a Speedo. Around his waist was a fanny pack, where I can only assume he kept his family's money and dignity. They were also one of those families that fight loudly in public, my absolute favorite kind. I think they were speaking Dutch. Their fighting included a shoving match by the edge of the ramp where you mount the elephants, the dad almost going over the side. I didn't want to laugh out loud, but watching four people in bathing suits ride elephants might have been the best thing I've ever seen. If only my family had been there too!
posted by Caitlin @ 1:45 PM
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