While staying at the fantastic Manichan guest house in Luang Prabang, Laos- I learned of a special package deal with an organization called “Elephant Village” just a short 30 minute drive away. The space was founded by a German man who was inspired by the plight of the endangered mammals and whom then created a refuge for retired female elephants rescued from the damaging logging industry.

We decided to do the “mahout” package which gives you special training to become an elephant guide (which is what mahout means). We learned about the health & well-being of the animals, their habitat in Laos and surrounding Southeast Asian countries, learned to communicate with them using special commands, and fed them. This was far more intimate than the deals you’d see in Bangkok or the distant vantage point an errant circus might provide.

Getting up on an Elephant is certainly not easy. They are tall, you know. In my opinion, they also find it just as humorous as the rest of us do when a human struggles to swing a leg over and then hoist his or herself up onto the neck of a beast that obviously wasn’t designed for our transportation pleasure. There are no saddles when you are mahout. Once you’ve achieved the summit, it’s a wonder anyone would ever get down. The view is amazing and the sense of humility and respect you have for an elephant is immediate.

We walked for an hour with our elephants in their local habitat of trees and riverbank. We took a break for a complimentary lunch after first feeding our elephants their meal of bananas fresh from the trees. Then we took our big baby girls for a swim and a bath. It is at this point that the humor of an elephant becomes increasingly clear. My elephant decided to completely submerge herself in the water and considering I was riding on her head, you can imagine that this of course meant that I went under as well.

Where is my elephant? UNDER ME in the water!!

After falling off her head I could have sworn I heard her laugh at me. The current of the Mekong is not to be taken lightly and I think she let me struggle just long enough to make me panic and provide her a giggle before stepping forward and offering her ear to me (which is the climbing tool). There were only four of us in our group so we had a grand laugh as we watch each others’ elephants spray us with their trunks, dived off their backs and scrubbed them in appreciation.

The guides at this particular camp are also fantastic young men and added tremendously to the experience. They are completely attached to the animals, cooing at them and joking with them and each other. One mahout is assigned to one elephant for life, so their connection is palpable and appreciated. The girls are so well taken care of that the slightly expensive price (just under $70) for the experience is so worth it knowing that it goes to giving elephants such a fantastic retirement.

After bath time, we hopped into a small fishing boat and took a 15-minute journey up the Mekong to the Tae San waterfalls. It’s dry season at this time of year and even then, the beauty of the water trickling along the limestone was fantastic. What I mean to say is, I dove off a waterfall and hiked into the mountain and drank Beer Lao while thinking I was the luckiest girl in the world.

I’ve been blessed to travel all around the world. I have so much more to see and experience. Even knowing that there are so many adventures ahead of me, I can’t help but feel secure that this day in Laos will always be a favorite.

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1. Angkorian Sunrise

KIDS
The exhibits are state-of-the-art and extremely interactive. If bringing small children, take them over to the Splash Zone, a hands-on experience equipped with kid-friendly exhibits and complimentary antibacterial hand spray.

All of the various displays are colorful and include great signage and explanations, though it will be important to have a guide (either a parent or teacher) be present for the multitude of questions that small ones will have about this invisible world under the water. If you don’t feel qualified to lead a personal tour, worry not! There are plenty of helpful staff members floating throughout the aquarium and some helpful pamphlets, movies, and public speaking sessions throughout the day to take the pressure off.

A jelly in Monterey

ADULTS
For the mature animal-lover, the highlight has to be the exhibit on Jellyfish (obviously kids will enjoy this one as well). Each tank is superbly constructed to encourage the fish to float effortlessly right in front of your eyes. The beauty and majesty of these flowing creatures is a rare treat and in my opinion, worth the price of admission on its own.

Throughout the experience, you’ll be reminded on a rather constant basis (sometimes annoyingly so) that humans pollute and hurt the underwater ecosystem. If you’re a fish eater, be prepared for a guilt trip you may not be expecting- Disneyland sure doesn’t make you feel bad for eating salmon for dinner. Alas, they also give quite a few useful and easy suggestions about how to be more responsible, and why not stare at some penguins, pink flamingos, and sea turtles while being taught how to be a responsible human?

FINANCES
The price tag is getting up there, I must say. Even a child costs $18 with regular adult admission skirting ever-so-close to $30. The good news is, it’s worth it to cough up the dough, especially when you consider that the admission ticket actually goes to fund much of the environmental programming that the aquarium supports.

If you’ve got some money to spend, I’d highly recommend investing in one of the boutique experiences the staff at the aquarium offer. From diving into the reef exhibit, feeding the otters, sailing with the staff and even a New Year’s Sleepover, there are some awesome opportunities to get up close and personal with out friends in the water.

LOCATION
If you’re coasting up or down the 101 Freeway, take a little detour into Monterey. The surrounding Cannery Row restaurants are rather kitchy and definitely overpriced, but the view of the bay and marshlands feels like a welcome departure from the bustling California metropolises that I’ve come to associate with the Golden State.

Parking can be difficult and pricey, but once again- it’s all worth it.

Related posts:

1. A Review| Bhaktapur, Nepal
2. A Review| Phokara, Nepal
3. A Review: Kutná Hora (The Bone Church)

My Fair Trade Loot

This past fall, after finishing my stint as a volunteer for that one guy (Barack Obama), I was honored with the opportunity to travel to Washington DC and work with an organization called Free the Slaves (www.freetheslaves.net). As it’s name clearly states, their mission is to eradicate slavery.

Yup… there are still SLAVES in the world. The majority of the communities that still commoditize human beings are also deeply effected by poverty. The poverty is usually tied to grossly discriminatory wages. Take for instance, the communities of Africa that make it possible for you to enjoy your Triple Grande non fat vanilla latte.

When I learned about the concept of “Fair Trade” products, I was intrigued and excited that there was something I could do in my every day life to be cognizant and aware of my impact on a world level. While I still get myself a little carmel macchiato every once in a while, I notice the signs on the wall that state that Starbucks is buying more fair trade coffee. Read more HERE.

If you don’t know, “Fair Trade” means:

Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries and promote sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a higher price to producers as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods.

The Coffee section at my local Grocery Store

In the mean time, whenever I go to the grocery store to refill my coffee supply, I now choose to purchase fair trade. It’s not an option for me, it’s a promise. Depending on the store, it is surprisingly easy to find fair trade options. And the good news is, it’s not necessarily more expensive.

If you’d like to learn more about buying FAIR TRADE, check out the following website: http://www.transfairusa.org/content/WhereToBuy

In the mean time, I’m finally going to cross #36: Choose to drink fairtrade coffee when available off the Life To Do List.

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As I mentioned a while back, Asheville is an ideal vacation destination for someone like me. As Suze Orman would call me, I am Young Fabulous and Broke! This means that the mini vacation meant experiencing sites, sounds, and tastes, that were affordable but also yummy and different than what I could get back home.

The good news is, Asheville has suprisingly GREAT Mexican food dripping with a red sauce that rivals my SoCal fave El Compadre.

We picked some up on the way to an amazing concert by Susan Tedeschi at the Orange Peel which happened to have the largest ceiling fan I’ve ever seen (the diameter must have been twenty feet!). For a video from that incredible show, see below!

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On my list is #33: Watch 25 of the last 10 years’ Academy-nominated Documentary Feature Films. One of the films that I’ve chosen to watch is An Inconvenient Truth which went on to win the Academy Award in 2007 for Best Documentary Feature. You know, it’s that one film with Al Gore in it. Somehow, I never saw the film (insert gasp and tisk tisk here).

Watching the film was scary. There is an animated scene with a Polar Bear that is trying to find a piece of icecap to rest on and can’t. Even though it wasn’t a real polar bear and the scene was a dramatic extrapolation of what could be, it literally brought tears to my eyes.

The film inspired me in many ways, particularly in that it re-energized my commitment to documentary film as a medium of social change. One of the quotes in the title sequence at the end of the film is “Pray while moving your feet.” I take that as a direct order. I demand that I do better.

Here’s the connection from the To Do List. My #72 is Calculate my carbon footprint, reduce it. I felt compelled after watching this film to move my feet while praying that the Earth is saved. That said, I moved my fingers to my computer and calculated my Carbon Footprint at www.climatecrisis.net. I nervously filled out the simply form about my vehicle, flight, and energy consumption.

The embarrassing truth

I was appalled to find out that my Carbon Footprint is “Larger Than Average.” The Majority of my consumption actually comes from my travel (which is particularly upsetting because I feel that because I travel and see the world, I love it and want to protect it). Ways that I, in particular can reduce my footprint are:
1. Lowering my electricity bill.
2. Lowering my gas bill.
3. Driving less miles per year.

All of these are really easy to do and make me feel particularly good about completing #34 on my list: Host a roommate discussion about how we can be more environmentally mindful in our apartment. To read more about how that discussion went, click here.

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It’s amazing how much a maintenance man can incite change! Especially a gray-haired, half-toothless Israeli one named Jerry.

I live in a duplex, you see. And for years now the apartment below has attempted to get the attention of the landlord to explain that our shower/tub combo (situated directly above their bathroom) has leaked. A string of adjustments have been made slowly but surely over the years, but to no avail. The leak persists. That is, until the ceiling caved. Well… it more or less just started peeling apart.

Alas, our duplex is FINALLY getting some attention from the landlord. We are getting new shower fixtures, he is fixing the gap between the moulding and the floor, and making sure that all the faucets easily close. We even got new back steps!

This productive sense of renewal in the apartment incited my desire to handle #34 on my list: Host a roommate discussion about how we can be more environmentally mindful in our apartment. So today, my roomies and I sat down to have a group discussion about going Green!

We decided to enlist Jerry the maintenance man in some of the options, particularly with fixing the faucets in both bathrooms so that they don’t drip and don’t take the full force of an elephant to close properly. We are also going to be more mindful about turning off lights, unplugging our chargers when not in use, and waiting until we have a full load of laundry.

Related posts:

1. #72: My Inconvenient Truth