I am declaring my blogging “maternity leave” officially over. I’m ready to get back to it. By way of getting caught up, here’s a reasonably brief timeline of my life since the last post:
May. Micah and I finish up the traveling we had intended to do. Well, almost all of what we intended to do, anyway! We took a long weekend in Penang, which was great. It’s such a different city than KL, we were very pleasantly surprised with the contrast. We also took a day trip to Melaka. It was about an hour to an hour and a half by bus, so it was totally doable for a quick trip. I think there are always a few “I wish we had time for that” regrets when leaving any city, but I think we managed to milk everything we could out of those last trips. We ate some excellent food in both cities, hiked in an incredible national park and played with some monkeys on a beach in Penang, and learned more about Malaysia’s history and colonization in Melaka.
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Penang
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Melaka
End of May. Micah’s family comes to visit us in KL. We met them in Singapore and had one last adventure for the road. We loved visiting Singapore, what a contrast to KL and Malaysia even though they are so culturally similar! We brought The Family to some of the places that we had really loved in KL (Jalan Alor, Batu Caves, Merdeka Square, Petaling Street…). And we did some other new things with them (Royal Selangor Pewter Factory, Top of Petronas Towers). It was a really great way to revisit the places we loved one last time.
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Singapore
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KL Farewell
Beginning of June. I flew back to Texas to reestablish life in suburban Dallas before TK arrives. This was harder than I thought it might be. Thank goodness for family! My original plan was to find a house to rent starting in the beginning of July. I stayed with Micah’s cousin, the same one we lived with before leaving for KL. She encouraged me to stay there as long as I needed to, which took a lot of pressure off. This turned out to be an even bigger blessing as, once I found a house, we couldn’t even move in until mid-July. On the other side of the family, my cousin let me borrow their car for as long as I needed to while I bought a “new” one. The plan was to get that wrapped up in the first week or two that I was back. As I shopped for cars, though, we re-prioritized our budget based on what was available and it took much longer to buy a car than I expected. It was the end of June before I ended up buying something.
All of June was taken up with house hunting, car shopping, and getting established with my doctors here. I had my first doctor’s appointment about 2 days after landing. I loved my doctor in KL, and I love my doctor here, and I wouldn’t change any of the health care decisions that we made. BUT. Prenatal care in KL was very different, and in some ways better, than prenatal care in Texas. More on this in a future post.
All of this “getting reestablished” stuff was happening while I was in my third trimester. The day I landed in Texas, I was 31 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Most people are heavily into nesting at this point. (And most commercial airlines “strongly prefer” you to finish traveling before 32 weeks!) People kept asking me, “Are you ready for the baby? Do you have everything you need?” No! I don’t even have a place to live yet! (Well, we did, because we could have stayed with The Cousin for as long as we wanted, but you know what I mean…) Some aspects of this were really stressful, but most were not. Living in KL for 9 months really made it clear to me that a lot of what we “need” in daily life in the US are not truly needs. We had a cradle, and diapers are easy enough to come by, that’s all we truly Needed for TK’s arrival. Once we had confirmed a place to live, had utilities set up, and movers arranged, I felt much better. The question of “need” vs NEED has become a guiding principle in our current life: Is this a Capital N Need? If not, can we do without it? It’s been a great lesson from a budget standpoint as well as a de-cluttering standpoint, even if it’s not always easy to follow.
Mid-July. Micah lands on a Sunday night. We move into our new place the next morning. We moved in two phases, and hired professional movers for both. It was the best decision we ever made. Day 1, we unloaded our storage POD. Day 2, we moved out of the storage shed. These were also the hottest days of the summer to that point. I felt a little guilty for not actually helping with lifting and carrying, but not that guilty.
We spent the next two weeks trying to get the house unpacked and organized. (Spoiler Alert: we still have two rooms that are mostly full of unopened boxes.) Micah went back to work at his new assignment within the same company. We were also officially on “any day now” alert starting about week 38 of my pregnancy.
Beginning of August. TK’s official due date! And then a week later he made his long awaited arrival. He’s healthy and perfect in every way. We couldn’t be happier.
Baby Feet!
TK and Daddy, 1 day old
TK and Mommy, 1 week old
The past 5 months have been a whirlwind of trying to figure out how to care for a baby. It still feels like we are flying by the seat of our pants and learning as we go. For two (overly-) educated people, this has been very disconcerting. We are used to being able to read and learn about something and more or less figure it out. But there is so much information about raising children, and so much of it is conflicting, it’s really overwhelming! The dirty secret we have learned is that everyone is really flying by the seats of their pants, and we should do what works best for us. Figuring out what works for us changes weekly and sometimes daily, but we are over the moon thrilled and in love with TK.
At this point, 5 months in, I’m finally able to carve out a little bit of time for my own stuff. One thing that I have really missed is having a creative outlet. I really like writing and blogging, so I’m trying to cultivate that habit as best I can. I have a few more posts in my head that are relevant to this site, and then we will see what happens. I’m debating the merits of starting a new blog and just keeping this one as a travelogue type thing- we do intend to travel again at some point in the future! I think my future posts will be loosely related to “Things I Think About”…some parenting, some current events, some education. If you have thoughts/ideas/preferences about keeping posts on this site vs. starting a new one, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Coming soon, in no particular order, and likely updating on Tuesday evening (Dallas suburb time, which is Central Time Zone in US, or GMT -06:00):
Dealing with any kind of bureaucracy is always fun in Kuala Lumpur, not least because of the language barrier. It seems like there are always multiple levels and each of these levels seems to be inefficient and potentially unnecessary from my perspective. For example, unless you would prefer to pay out of pocket for a routine medical visit that is 100% covered by your insurance and then submit a claim form to be reimbursed, you need to get a guarantee letter from your insurance provider before your appointment. Once you have this guarantee letter, and you show up to the medical center for your appointment, you start by going to general registration. Then you get a number and a form to complete authorizing the doctor to look at your medical records. When your number is called, you go to the counter where they ask for your guarantee letter and call up your patient file. If the clerk was previously able to access the letter your insurance emailed to the medical center, you should not assume that on your subsequent visit the clerk will be able to access the same letter. You need to bring a hard copy for the clerk to physically attach to today’s paperwork that you will bring to your doctor yourself. It’s a mystery why a PDF of the letter can’t be kept in your electronic patient file. So every time you see the doctor for a regular, routine visit you have to plan an additional 20 minutes to go through this process. (For readers outside of the U.S., doctor’s offices generally keep your insurance information on file there. You give them your insurance information about once a year, or whenever it changes, rather than at each visit.) This whole process just feels beyond unnecessary to me. And these unnecessary layers seem to be the case for many other bureaucratic channels also.
Recently I was fortunate enough to experience the bureaucracy of the customs office. We have bought things online through Amazon and not had a problem with receiving them at our hotel. Sure, you pay a lot for international shipping, but apparently Amazon also takes into account the customs duties so your parcel just magically arrives at your door with no further effort on your part. I have discovered that clothes in Southeast Asia are not made for Western bodies, and I have a really hard time finding my size. When I can find my general size, the cut is often not quite right for me and so it’s very uncomfortable to wear. Lately I have needed to integrate several new pieces into my wardrobe, and it just wasn’t working for me to shop here. I tried multiple stores at multiple malls, even specialty stores. So I finally ordered a bunch of stuff online. The international shipping was going to be close to $100 USD, which seemed excessive, so I had it shipped to my dad and his wife in Massachusetts instead for $7. They graciously agreed to ship it to me when it arrived, which was good because I placed the order in the middle of the night on the East Coast, so if they didn’t want to ship it to me they would have been the proud new owners of a lot of clothes they probably didn’t want in 5-7 business days. I thought the shipping would be around $50 USD (it was closer to $70 USD), so even though this was going to be a pain I thought it would save money in the long run. Famous last words.
Around the time I was expecting the package to arrive, I received a letter at the hotel saying it was being held by customs. The letter was primarily in Malay with English translation in parentheses after each paragraph. The English text was clearly written by a non-native speaker, so I didn’t feel confident I understood the full content very well. I brought the letter to the concierge guys, asked for their help, and of course they saved the day. (At this point, let me say that I have never really utilized the concierge desk before, not that I’ve stayed at many hotels nice enough to have them. The guys at our concierge desk are incredibly friendly and helpful; navigating life in a new city – never mind a new country – has been immensely easier with their help and advice.) Sharma, the concierge who was there when I asked, explained the letter to us. If Daneal is the head man, Sharma runs a close second in the hierarchy.
The letter basically said that customs was holding our package, probably because we owed some taxes, and we had three options for getting it discharged: 1) for a fee of RM50.00 we can appoint the Malaysian postal service to act as our agent and have it discharged. 2) The addressee can appoint another party to act as his/her agent to discharge it in person. 3) The addressee can go to the customs office at the airport and discharge it himself. Sharma and another concierge both recommended that we go to discharge it ourselves, they didn’t offer a reason why we shouldn’t authorize the postal service to do it for us but they “suggested” rather strongly that we would be better off doing it. We took their advice.
Since the addressee was technically Micah, he had to fill out the form to authorize me to discharge the package. So, armed with every possible piece of identification either of us possesses, the letter identifying the package, and only a vague idea of where I needed to go and what I needed to do while there, I set out late on a Friday morning to deal with this fun bit of bureaucratic nonsense. Sharma explained to the cab driver that I needed to go to the customs office, we showed him my letter and the driver said he knew where it was. (Of course he did, why would he say he didn’t know and refuse a fare?) The driver, I should note, was very nice and very grandfatherly. He didn’t speak a lot of English, but I felt OK because Sharma had told him where I needed to go. Plus I had the address, worst-case scenario I could use the GPS on my phone.
The airport is about 45 minutes from the hotel, and there are two separate terminals (actually 3 terminals, as I found out) in distinctly different locations. As we approached the general airport area, the driver said, “KLIA, right?” I said, “I don’t know, I have to go to the customs office.” “At KLIA, yes?” (KLIA is the main airport.) I have no idea where it is, didn’t you tell Sharma you knew where it was? Then I remembered something from a blog post I had read about how to collect things from customs. It’s past the LCC Terminal, which is basically the cargo terminal. So I told the driver this and he said, “Oh! LCCT is 18 km from KLIA!” Good thing we figured that out early enough. As we approached the Customs building, it was pretty clear that cabs would be few and far between. I was starting to worry about this a little when the driver said in a very sad voice, “I don’t know how you are going to get home.” I explained my plan to use the “My Taxi” app to call a cab- it uses GPS, so I thought that might be my best option- and explained that I was OK with waiting.
We arrived at the office a few minutes later and I checked in at the front gate, where I got a visitor’s badge and they told me the office was closed from 1-2pm…it was currently 12:58pm. When I looked at the office’s operating hours, I neglected to take notice of the fact that the office closes every Friday from 1-2pm for afternoon prayers. This is pretty common in Malaysia, so it should have occurred to me. But it didn’t. The guards said I could wait inside and I didn’t really see any other options. Again in a very sad voice, the driver said, “I don’t know. I don’t think you will find another taxi here.” Then, in a much more confidant voice, “I will wait for you.” That was so nice! But I didn’t want to pay for his meter the whole time. I made clear that I might have to wait a long time and I didn’t think I could afford to pay him to wait. He said he would come back at 2:30 and not charge me for the time. I really think he took pity on me because I was very clearly in over my head with this errand, and as a woman in a Muslim country I think he doubted my ability to take care of myself. Sometimes being a woman works in my favor here! (For the record, I think using the app would have worked. I would have had to wait a while, and it would have been a pain, but it wasn’t like I was somewhere off the grid. Worst case scenario I could have called the concierge guys, tell them where I was, and they could get a cab to come collect me. So I had a plan, just not a great one.)
The office was a long room with many different counters and different waiting areas. I was the only one in the building, as far as I knew, since everyone was at prayers or lunch. So I settled into a comfy chair in a corner and took the time to get the lay of the land. I think sitting for an hour really helped because I had time to read all the signs and see what was where. There were four different counters, so it seemed reasonable that I would need to visit each one in turn. Since I was certainly the only customer in the building, I felt pretty sure I would be served first when business hours resumed and perhaps they would be more patient if I needed help.
The Customs Office, empty during Friday afternoon prayers.
At 1:50pm, I took a seat directly in front of Counter 1, so there would be no mistake that I was there and waiting when the office reopened. At 2:05pm a clerk turned the lights on behind the desk and seemed surprised to see me sitting there already. I brought her everything I had, in terms of paperwork and identification. She asked me if I was the same person that my husband had authorized to pick up the parcel (yes) and she took everything I brought. She made some copies and I think added a form or two because I walked off with more paperwork. I next went over to Counter 2, where I waited for a few minutes while the clerk got herself situated even though it was now about 2:15pm and the office had been “open” for 15 minutes. She took my pile of paperwork and my passport and found my parcel. She manually logged it into her book, because apparently they keep track of parcels’ comings and goings in an actual written logbook rather than with a computerized bar code system. I signed the book and took my paperwork, passport and parcel to Counter 3.
At Counter 3 I was instructed to open the package for inspection. After I pulled out two or three articles of clothing, the clerk asked what else was in the package (all clothes) and how many pieces there were (about 10). She said, “The listed value on the customs form is over RM200, so that is why the parcel was detained. Do you know the actual cost of the items?” I had my original receipt for about $150 USD, which was definitely over RM200, so I showed that to her and hoped she wouldn’t actually check the package. I knew there were a few surprise pieces of clothing included as a present, but I didn’t know how many and I had no idea of their cost. She wrote down the actual cost of the clothes, converted it to ringgit, and then divided it by the number of items. She took this, along with all of my paperwork…but not the package…back to an office. Apparently some bean counter with a Magic 8 Ball would determine how much I owed in customs duties. About 5 minutes later, it was decided I owed RM60, a little less than $19 USD.
In retrospect, this step might be why it was strongly suggested for me to discharge the package myself. Perhaps if we had authorized the postal service to discharge it, the inspection would have been more thorough. I also had to declare that the clothes were for my personal use, that I wasn’t going to resell them or something. Maybe without the “personal use” declaration the import duties would have been more. Without the receipt, they also could not have known the actual cost I paid (several items were on sale, so the price on the tag wasn’t necessarily what I paid), which could also lead to more import duties. Besides, who knows how long it would take the post office to get itself together to clear it and how long before I got it at the hotel.
Leaving Counter 3, I take my growing pile of paperwork, my now-open parcel, and my passport to Counter 4 to pay my tax. The clerk there looks at the paperwork and tells me again how much I owe. Of course it is cash only, no credit cards. I was prepared for this, but I thought I’d ask anyway. Nowhere in the original letter did it say “cash only.” If I hadn’t read it in someone else’s personal blog, I would never have known and probably wouldn’t have brought enough cash with me.
At this point, I have been through Counters 1-4 in order and I think it’s likely that I’m done. I have my parcel and I’ve paid my fee, what else can there be, right? After getting my receipt, I asked if I was finished. “No. Go back to Counter 3 and then back to Counter 2.” Ugh. Seriously? I take everything back to Counter 3. I have no idea what I’m doing there as she’s already inspected my parcel and rendered a judgment on the amount that I owed and have now paid. So I just handed her my stack of paperwork. She looked through it, stamped several pages, and took one copy of the receipt for her records. Rather than having all of this information scanned into some central database that could be easily accessed by everyone in the building (with less tree death), apparently multiple hard copies of the identical paperwork are the preferred method. Then I went back to Counter 2 and handed that clerk my pile of paperwork. Again, I have no idea what I’m doing there, because as far as I know she is just responsible for handing the appropriate parcel to the right customer- a duty she has performed admirably in my opinion. She did the same thing: stamped several pages and took a copy for her records. She also handed me my visitor’s badge back, apparently I would need this to leave the compound. At this point, I have been counter hopping for a little over 30 minutes. While I think the process was incredibly inefficient, the overall time wasn’t terrible. Someone at the hotel who had gone through this process suggested it might take as long as three hours, so the hour and a half to include afternoon prayer time felt like a real win to me, even if much of the process was a mystery.
Finally released from the bureaucratic maze, I walked outside and, true to his word, my grandfatherly cab driver was waiting out front. He waved to me, as if there were a large queue of cabs for me to choose from when in fact he had the only taxi in the vicinity. I got in and he said, “So! You got your parcel! Back to your hotel now?” I explained I had to check out at the guardhouse and he said, “Ah, of course.” Even he expected more bureaucracy, because 30 minutes clearly isn’t sufficient. At the guardhouse I returned my visitor’s badge and signed out in their book. They asked to see my paperwork and my parcel. Apparently no combination of the 6 different stops I had been through so far was sufficient to make sure that I did in fact have the right parcel and all of my paperwork was in order. The guards briefly looked over everything and said I could leave. Woo hoo!
When we made it back to the hotel, it had been about a four hour round trip. Not my preferred way to spend an afternoon, but it could have been worse. The driver pulled in and I was very nervous to hear my fare total since I had neglected to negotiate whether he would charge the regular flat rate airport fee or use his meter on the return trip. I thanked him profusely for being so nice to me and said how much I appreciated his help. I hoped this would be sufficient kissing up for him to charge the flat rate rather than the meter, plus I was genuinely very thankful. He made a stressful situation much easier for me. He did in fact charge me the flat rate for each leg of the trip and did not charge me for the time he was waiting. Whew! Tipping in Malaysia is not expected, but it’s acceptable in some situations- like if someone has gone above and beyond for you, as in this situation. Standard gratuity is 10%, so I gave him about that (a little more, to make the math nice), for an even RM200 or about $62 USD.
Remember 2500 words ago when I said “Famous last words”? This whole adventure was because I had my new clothes shipped to my dad because $100 USD seemed like too much to pay for shipping. So let’s tally this up. I paid about $7 USD to get the parcel to my dad, he paid about $70 USD to ship it to me ($77 USD so far). I paid about $19 USD in duties, for a total of $96 USD in overall cost to get the parcel into my possession. Considering the international shipping from the original source would have been $100 USD, I managed to save a whopping $4 USD. But then I also had to spend an afternoon dealing with it as well as pay cab fare, so the overall monetary cost was about $158 USD plus my (clearly priceless) time and the stress to collect it.
The moral of the story: Just pay the international shipping when you order online because they will also pay the import duties, and your package will magically show up at your hotel. You won’t have to deal with the ridiculous and inefficient bureaucratic processes. But you will also miss out on meeting a really nice cab driver.
Micah had a four-day weekend for Chinese New Year. Our original plan was to go to Cambodia to see the temples at Angkor Wat. But we waited too long to buy the tickets, and everything was much more expensive…so we booked that trip for March, instead! Our next plan was to rent a car and drive to Melaka to see what we could see there, but because of the holiday weekend we decided we didn’t want to pay for exorbitant hotel fees. So Plan C was to rent a car for two days and see some places near KL that were outside the reaches of public transportation and/or not convenient for a cab.
This seemed like an awesome plan, but then we realized we didn’t really know anything about renting a car in Malaysia. Is there a more reputable service? Is there one near us, or will we have to go to the airport to pick it up? Will we get taken advantage of, because we don’t know what we should ask for in terms of price and extra services? So Micah asked Daneal, who appears to be the head concierge guy. (He might have an official title, but I don’t know it.) Micah asked for a recommendation on a place to call, assuming that we would then make the arrangements. Instead, Daneal said he would take care of it and call us in 15 minutes to confirm the details. The perks of living at a hotel! Do you remember that scene in The Shawshank Redemption when Andy introduces himself to Red and says, “I hear you’re a man who knows how to get things.” Daneal is certainly a man who knows how to get things! It worked out perfectly. The price was right, we got a GPS included, AND they dropped it off to us at the hotel and picked it up again.
Adventure #1
On Saturday we went to FRIM, which is the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia, but everyone here just calls it by the acronym. It is about 30 minutes away from our hotel, still within KL but outside the main metropolitan area. The cost is pretty reasonable, too, but we did feel nickel and dimed. The entrance fee was RM5 per person, plus a RM5 car fee, and then they asked if we had a camera. Bringing a camera is another RM5. The Canopy Walkway is an additional ticket at RM10 each. All in all, it cost us RM40 or about $11 USD. FRIM is a working research facility, so there are labs and work buildings around the grounds. For tourists, it has several hiking trails, a café and picnic area, as well as a campground and mountain biking trails. The main tourist draw, though, is the Canopy Walkway. You are encouraged to book tickets in advance, as they only allow 250 people per day on the walkway. Of this, they reserve 50 tickets for walk in customers. The park itself opened at 5:30am, and the walkway opened at 9:30am. I assume they start selling tickets as soon as the park opens. By the time we arrived, around 10:30am, they were just selling out of tickets…glad I emailed for a reservation! Tickets in hand, we happily followed the park signs to the walkway.
I wouldn’t say that we are really experienced hikers, but we enjoy hiking in general and try to take every opportunity to hike somewhere. We weren’t sure what kind of trails to expect, so we prepared for basically anything. We wore wicking shirts and UV-blocking pants…though to be honest, this is just a smart policy in Malaysia in general. We didn’t know what the terrain was going to be like, so we decided on our hiking boots instead of Tevas/Keens, and we prepped our Camelbaks the night before. I also packed our waterproof bag with snacks and a few “just in case” items like bandaids. Since the trails were basically a tourist area, I was pretty certain we could forego a full first aid kit and survival rations. At first, it seemed like we had over prepped. The trails were really wide, like almost wide enough for two vehicles to pass, and were graveled. Everyone else we saw looked like they were out for a casual walk in the park, many people wore flip-flops and it didn’t seem like many people were carrying packs or even water bottles of any kind. And here we are in our full hiking gear! As we left the main trail to take the trail to the Canopy Walk, however, we were glad we had worn our boots and brought Camelbaks! The trail got very steep, very narrow, and had a lot of switchbacks. It also became a more “natural” trail- it was still clearly marked and very well maintained, but it felt more like “real” jungle trekking over roots and rocks and things as opposed to walking along a gravel walking path.
The walkway itself was amazing. I am not typically afraid of heights and I used to enjoy doing ropes courses and “adventure” stuff, but my legs were more shaky than I thought I’d be! Micah, who doesn’t enjoy heights, was fine. It was a great experience, and we agree that we would do it again if one of his colleagues wanted to go or if we had visitors. The views were phenomenal. The sense of being that high in the trees was really unique and just very cool.
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We knew from the website that we wouldn’t be able to take pictures while we were on the walkway itself. And what kind of blogger would I be without pictures of it? (Pics, or it didn’t happen!) So we talked about buying a Go Pro video camera. We have toyed with it before, and decided we would have enough opportunities to use it, between the canopy walkway, the Cambodia trip, and a few other things we have planned. So we bought one the day before. I really liked using it, it was pretty lightweight to wear on a head strap, but after hiking with it for a while felt like the strap was trying to burrow into my scalp and I took it off. I don’t have a lot of patience for editing videos, either, so that will take a long time to learn the best ways to do it. Other than that, the Go Pro gets my endorsement!
Here is the video from the first leg of the walk. (It’s also available on our YouTube channel.) According to this, it took about 3 minutes, but it really felt longer. I think the whole thing probably took us about 15 minutes, including time to enjoy the scenery at the platforms, but it felt like we were in the canopy for a really long time! I highly recommend doing this particular walk, or one like it, if you ever have the opportunity.
Adventure #2
After acclimating to driving on Saturday, on Sunday we went far outside the city – to a different state, even – to check out the National Elephant Conservation Centre in Kuala Gandah. According to Google Maps, it should have taken us about 1.5 hours to get there. We made it there in 2 hours, thanks to the GPS not being speedy enough about which turns to take. Overall, it was not too bad of a trip. Their website is a government run site, and the information was pretty minimal. Lonely Planet talked about it a little, but it didn’t get a rave review or anything, so we weren’t too sure what we were getting ourselves into. The drive there was really beautiful though, through the mountains and some palm plantations, and we kept saying things like, “Well, even if the elephant thing sucks, this is a nice drive!”
We finally arrived and parked easily, which was nice because FRIM’s parking isn’t well marked and was a free for all. We found the visitor’s center, also clearly marked and easy to find, and filled out our registration form releasing the center of all liability. The entrance is by donation, whatever amount you want to pay. This is really nice because it makes visiting the center affordable for everyone. We elected to pay extra for tickets for the baby elephant “bath time” which also included a guide and some behind the scenes stuff. For two adults, this cost RM50, or about $15 USD.
After we registered, there was still time to feed the elephants before the suggested/required introductory video, so we went down to do that. For RM3 you could buy a bundle of about 10 pieces of sugar cane to feed the elephants. At first we just watched the elephants, but then we couldn’t resist feeding them. These elephants are kept in what appeared to be pretty small paddocks, and both of us were a little surprised. We expected it to be more “free range,” since it was a conservation center and all. But it was fun to feed them, so we did that for a bit, then had lunch and went to watch the video. The video was actually really interesting, and detailed how the center rescues rogue elephants that are endangering villages or plantations. There’s an argument here about “maybe people shouldn’t be encroaching on the elephants’ habitat, and there would be less rogue elephant behavior.” That’s certainly true, but outside the scope of my tourist expertise. And, quite frankly, it’s hard to tell people they can’t make a living or live in the jungle because an elephant might want that part of the jungle. I think the center takes the view of “Unfortunately this is inevitable, so what can we do to help the elephants given that these are the circumstances?” So that’s the view I will take here as well.
After the video, we met up with our tour guide. Kamil was amazing, very knowledgeable and patient with all of our questions. We first learned more about the elephants in the paddocks. They are there in the afternoons for the visitors to see, but in the mornings they get “free roaming” time in the jungle surrounding the center to acclimate them to being independent. They also get some “free play” time with toys for stimulation. The elephants in the paddocks are being rehabilitated to be reintroduced to the wild in various national and state parks; they are at the center while they are getting medical treatment and/or growing up to where they can be released. Some of the elephants will also be trained to be rescue elephants. The rescue elephants go along to help with the rogue elephants. Obviously, being captured and relocated is very stressful for an elephant, so the rescue elephants help the rogue elephant calm down and feel better because elephants are very social animals. They called the rescue elephants the Big Elephants, and they were big!
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After a ranger told us more about what kind of work the Big Elephants do, and after we saw the Big Elephant bath time, it was time for the baby elephant bath time. Our guide got us in the first group to participate, which was cool. There were two baby elephants in the river and about 5 people would help bathe the elephant at a time, along with 3 or 4 guides. We scrubbed his back and head with a brush and played and splashed water around. It was really fun for us, and it seemed like the elephant enjoyed the playtime also. After our turn was over, walking out of the river, Micah and I agreed that those few minutes were amazing and well worth the trip there. (It also completely validated the purchase of the Go Pro as we now have an awesome video!) If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Conservation Centre, pay the extra money for bath time, you won’t be disappointed. And bring a change of clothes and some towels.
After we changed into our newly purchased t-shirts and toweled off with our newly purchased towel, we met up with our guide again because it was time for more behind the scenes stuff. The center has three babies. The two bigger ones, 2-3 years old, were the ones we bathed in the river. The third one was about 6-9 months and was about the size of a motorcycle. This baby, Lanchang, is the one we got to play with. He came trotting out with his “Uncle,” that’s how the handler was introduced to us, and looked so happy to be out for a walk. He was really curious about everything, trying to find things to pick up with his trunk. Lanchang was really interested in walking around, so when it was our turn for playtime, we basically just walked around with him. It was surprisingly fun! The other people on the behind the scenes tour had two little girls, so we reluctantly finished our playtime so the girls could play.
The baby elephant! Just playing with this guy made the extra tour worth the money.
Kamil told us more about some of the other elephants, including one that lost a foot. Selendang was caught in a trap and was so injured that her foot had to be amputated. Not to worry though, they designed a prosthetic leg for her so she can go out in the jungle for her free roaming time still. She shares a paddock with another elephant, and they figured out how to remove her prosthetic and play with it. So while she is in the paddock, the handlers take the prosthetic off because it is too expensive to be used as a toy. Because of her injury, her other leg is bowed out since it does all of the front weight bearing. Kamil said a vet was coming in soon to design a brace to help support that leg. She will likely have a shorter life span than the other elephants and won’t be able to be rehabilitated to go back to the jungle or to become a rescue elephant. If she were in the wild though, she would have already died from her wound most likely.
Selendang elephant uses a prosthetic leg when she goes to play in the yard!
She was so sweet!
Part of our “behind the scenes” tour involved doing some chores.
The behind the scenes tour also includes doing some “chores.” Some of the families cut up fruit for elephant snack time, some made milk for the baby elephants, and Micah was handed a shovel. Fortunately for me, Kamil just told me where to stand and to get my camera ready. I’ll take the light duty over the poop shoveling any day!
After this, it was sadly time to go. We really enjoyed the day, and I think having access to a private tour made it worthwhile. We learned so much more and came away with a much different impression of the centre and the work they do than we would have otherwise.
The drive back was awful, by the way. What should have been a 1.5-hour drive took 5 hours. Including about 30 minutes at a rest stop, 28 of which I spent in line for the bathroom. I’d characterize the traffic as “stop and go” but it was really much more “stop” than “go.” Micah did an amazing job navigating the traffic and the unfamiliar road rules…apparently it is OK to make an extra lane in the breakdown lane…when this happens, all the cars shift over to accommodate the extra lane, meaning that the far lane is really close to the center divider and the middle lane is basically on the lane divider. Oh, and it also rained the entire way through the mountains. It was really stressful to be a passenger, I am very thankful I didn’t have to drive in those conditions!
To end on a happy note, please enjoy the video of highlights of feeding the elephants, playing with the baby, and bath time. (Also available on our YouTube channel.)
adventure pengembara 