Since arriving, we have indeed seen plenty of elephants ... and even ridden one. The kids have already seemingly gotten bored with the visual of an elephant walking down the road next to them, as evidenced last week when a big ole pachyderm was resting just two houses from OUR house. I pointed him out to Mia and she shrugged and went back to her book that she was reading.
Enter our trip to Jaipur though ... there was something pretty spectacular about getting to see the elephants coming and going from their journey up/down the Amber Fort walkway ... carrying visitors to the famous tourist attraction.
In years past, the elephants are said to have been mistreated and overworked, but new policy changes ensure that each elephant only makes ONE trip up/down to the Fort, getting ample time to rest, eat and bathe.
The excitement in our car was truly magical as we drove out of Jaipur on our way home. Elephants were walking LITERALLY right next to our car. If we'd been brave enough - and rolled down our windows - we could have touched them.
They trumpeted as they walked (which was just COOL ... I know it seems silly to say, but it was really a neat experience to hear them). I have seen my fair share of elephants, but don't know if I've ever heard them raise up their trunks to trumpet!
They also pooped quite a bit as they walked ....
Top the whole experience off with getting a photo of the #55 elephant (Husb's football jersey number ... and Terran's middle school football jersey number) ::
They are really beautiful and magnificent animals. The only thing that would be better is to experience the elephant camps ... but I'm not sure my family would appreciate the whole bathing in elephant poop shindig ...
