Thank you, Asia "Meeting Elephants" (54 days left)

Elephants are amazing.  What a gift we have had living in Asia where we have been able to encounter elephants while on our travels.  In Thailand we fed and rode elephants.  We also witnessed elephants painting.  While I may not endorse all of this now, at the time we enjoyed our experiences very much.  There are 13 elephant sanctuaries in Thailand and three in Sri Lanka.

Alec feeding the baby. 

In Sri Lanka we went to an elephant reserve where we saw them roaming as a herd.  We got so close!  

I remember an elephant there who had only three legs.  The fourth had been tragically damaged by poachers.  The elephant was cared for, in part, by perching his stub on a log.  It was incredibly sad on many levels.  But I can say, that when you are close up and personal with powerful and beautiful beings such as these, you care about them instantly. 

Baby came along with us.

Sadly, according to the BBC, Hong Kong has been importing ivory from elephant tusks for over 150 with 2021 being the first year where it is entirely illegal and traders are obligated to dispose of their stock.

You can see a video here which includes our encounter with elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Photos by © Brenda Brayko. All rights reserved. 

Sri Lanka for Spring Break

Our family had the good fortune to travel to Sri Lanka over our Spring Break.  Even more fortunate was that we were able to tour the small island country south of India with the father of a friend of ours. Gary is an expat who has lived there for many years.  He and Recika, a driver and friend, planned our entire trip for us.  It was amazing to arrive off of the plane and have a van and 2 new friends waiting for us.  The week that followed entailed many, many hours on the road (pretty slow roads) traveling up country to see many major sites.  What an extraordinary experience it was.

Sri Lanka has varied landscapes; we were not on the coast but inland which meant that we experienced the tropics and jungle and mountainous regions.






Among my favorite experiences

The elephant orphanage

The tea plantations in the mountains

 The two dozen monkeys at one of our resorts

 The varied religious representations: Hindu . . . 

 Buddhist. . .

 And Christian.  We were there on Good Friday and were surprised to see the Catholic churchyards filled with parishioners all in white, as well as witness an angel parade in the street!

 The 1/2 day safari

 The botanical gardens near Kandy

 the Indian Ocean

Roadside pineapple (for under $1) and King Coconut

Seeing how Batik is made

The Old seamstresses using the OLD Singer sewing machine to hem Anna's sari. 

 Food and People!

We so enjoyed our week in Sri Lanka!