Elephants in Bukit Lawang, by Aimee

When we were in Indonesia, in a place called Bukit Lawang, we got to participate in activities with elephants.  These elephants were smaller than Thai elephants and they were called Sumatran elephants.  We first rode on their backs while they walked through a river.  Then we came to the elephant sanctuary and we got to wash them in the river and feed them.  It was super fun to play with them and the baby elephants were adorable!  After this experience, I think elephants are my favorite animal!

This picture was taken when we saw the elephants coming down the river toward us. It was an amazing sight and exciting too because we were just about to climb on their backs

This was where we climbed on the elephants and they started to walk down the river

Many people at this "beach" were watching us as we headed down the river

In a little clearing we got to ride bareback on the elephant's neck during the time they were eating from the leaves of the trees

It was very exciting and scary!

When we were walking down the river, the elephant behind me kept on spraying me with water

All of us going down the river. Some of the elephants held onto the tail of the elephant ahead of them

This is a baby elephant with her mother. The baby is about 3 months old.  The babies always stayed close to their mothers. There were 3 babies there from different mothers (2 - 5 months) but all sired by the same male elephant

This was the place where the elephants lived. The fence was electric

Before we washed them, the men had to pull the poop out so they wouldn't "go" in the river

Here is the pile where they threw all the poop. The local people would sometimes come to collect this poop to use for fuel

This is us washing the elephants

This is Dad getting "kissed" on the head by an elephant

This is Dad feeding the elephants (chopped up sugar cane and bananas with the skin on)

The elephants opened their mouths, even though we didn't have food

Us posing with the elephants.  There is one male elephant (with tusks) and 3 females

The elephants did a little dance for us in the end and they also bowed

Before we took this picture, this baby was struggling to cross the river.  When the moms noticed they all rushed to help the baby cross.  It was a very cute and nice moment