SoFtBuNnY's World: Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary Part 1

Last Sunday, I followed a group of Photo Kaki Forum and 24/7 Asia members to Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary Park for a photography contest. There were 14 of us in total. The Elephant Sanctuary is a place for wild elephants to live in and recuperate if any mishaps happen to them.

We met up at the Genting Sempah R & R for breakfast as well to form our convoy of 5 cars. Each car was given a walkie-talkie as there was poor reception on the highways.

We reached Kuala Gandah approximately at 10am. We got down our cars and went off to register ourselves as the park visitors and then off we went to see the elephants.
We were greeted by 2 elephants. They were both swaying left and right as if they were dancing or high on ecstacy. The elephant guide says that they are normally like this if they are kept chained up.

Next, the guide brought us to another area which had an open field where 4 to 5 elephants grazed that area. There was 2 security wires separating our area and the elephant area for safety reasons. One would be electrocuted if one touches the wire.

Halfway thru, I was diverted to a brightly clump of yellow flowers called "Gapis".

I saw this huge ant lurking in between some dead tree branches.

Then on my way out of the Elephant Field, I saw Farsight shooting a dragonfly.

We then went to one of the shaded huts for a rest. I was then again distracted by some members hairy legs and took a few snapshots of their legs.

KenjiChan kena leech-ed!!!! EEEeeEeEeEEeeee....but he had such nice hairy legs...

After burning the leech off with a ciggy....

After that, a couple of PKers went to play with 2 junior elephants. There was a well behaved one and a naughty one. The naughty one lost its mother when she was young. Therefore, she was always looking for a hand to put in her mouth so that she can suck.

It was almost 12 noon when we decided to drive nearby for lunch. The mamak that we went to only had enough rice for 4 plates and the rest of us had noodles instead.

While waiting for our meals to be served, a cat hopped onto a lap.....whose lap is it to be so lucky in having a cat there?

It was Farsight's lap! He was busy patting the pussy when I took this shot.

After lunch, we made our way to the orang asli (natives) settlement there. On the way there by foot, we passed this miserable looking dog which we mistook as a goat initially. The poor dog must be suffering from some form of skin disease that made its fur drop off.

We went into the tourist hut and met up with a lady teacher who was posted to this location to help educate the orang asli. She told us that 5 years ago when she was posted here, she took it as a challenge and initially it was very hard to communicate with them as the orang asli had their own language but slowly she learnt their language, ways of life and eating their food as she mixed frequently with them. In exchange, she thought them how to take care of personal hygience and educate the children of this settlement.

There were 2 children playing under the guest table where we signed the guestbook and gave a little donation.

The orang asli mom and her child

In the hut, there was a fat and lazy cat sleeping there. Halfway thru, it woke up and looked at me as if I was too noisy and disturbing its beauty sleep. After a while, it was fast asleep again...