elephant washing

One of my favorite parts of being in Corbett was our late morning and afternoon by the Kosi River. While eating breakfast after the early morning safari, one of the rangers walked up with a huge grin on his face. "M'am, girls, would you be interested in accompanying me to the river. We will be washing the elephants at eleven a.m. Maybe you could help us." Really, we can help? Of course, I said yes immediately. I was THRILLED. I think even more excited than the girls. We followed our guide to the beautiful riverside. (Unfortunately, this was the only day that Dan had to work while we were on holiday. We left him carrying his laptop around looking for a wireless connection.)

As we near the river, there they are, being led by their handlers through the water. It was an amazing sight to see. So big, so strong, but also so calm, and so peaceful.

They brought them right up to the shore where we could get up close and personal with the elephants. Two female elephants right in front of us. The handler said that the males can be aggressive at times so they only use females for work with people. Rebekah was very excited about touching the elephant. Rachel stood back and had no desire to get very close. They use flat rocks from the riverbed to scrub the mud and dead skin off the elephant. These huge ladies thoroughly seemed to enjoy the bath/massage treatment.

The handlers would have allowed us to get in and help wash the elephants. I tried and tried to talk the girls into it but had no takers. Below she is helping to rinse herself....just beautiful

The girls decided that it was more fun and interesting to play in the river. They used sand, rocks, and sticks to build. We ended up spending almost three hours watching the elephants, building in the sand, and just hanging by the Kosi.

After they finished washing the elephants, the men wrapped themselves in towels, stripped down, bathed themselves, and also washed their clothes in the river. That's one way to get all your chores done at the same time.