I’ve mentioned this – but my friends Carmelle and Non own a (very ethical) Elephant camp about an hour out of the city. Tourism is extremely down and there hasn’t been ANY business for any of the Karen people who own these camps. This is awful because it is not only their sole source of income – but they need money to take care of the elephants.

My friend Carmelle needed to go check on them yesterday (she’s a vet tech) and since schools are shut down – I spontaneously tagged along! The elephants were roaming around and playing in the water. One of the elephants is about to have a baby as well.

This is a close up of an elephant trunk lol.

She thought I had food and kept trying to take my phone. I will never get over how weird elephant trunks are. Like, I don’t know what I expected exactly – but I definitely didn’t expect to be able to feel harsh puffs of warm breath through their noses, or that they would sniff everything like a dog – including my hair.

I also didn’t expect them to be so domestic – this is Dara. She has a special relationship with one of the keepers and they play with each other. She’s like a golden retriever. They are incredibly smart animals and I am so thankful I’ve been able to spend this much time with them.

I would LOVE to tell myself a year-ago that I would just be chilling at my friends’ elephant sanctuary in a village in Thailand.