Seeing elephant feet in my sleep…. My latest adventure in learning!

Since rescuing the elephant Moey in 2012, I have been mostly staying in Thailand researching various possibilities to develop an elephant project. When my funds got low, I would return to Switzerland to work, afterwards returning to Thailand.
In spring 2014 I had some free time in between visiting friends in Bangkok. Carol was in Nepal building chain free shelters so I decided it was time to finally see her work in action. Our meeting was energetic and refreshing even though it was very hot!
I didn’t expect to find her alone and I asked her “Where is your team? And she replied “I am a team!!”
I have returned many times to the area of Chitwan National Park to follow Carol’s work, learn and help the best I can. If I was to add up all my visits during the last two years, I have spent an entire year in this part of Nepal!
All who have met her will agree that she is full of energy, enthusiasm and perseverance. From our first meeting, I was captivated by the sheer determination of Carol Buckley. I have witnessed her working tirelessly from morning to night, finding admirable solutions to everyday challenges, being able to get her ideas across with just a few words of Nepali and make those around her laugh with her incomparable sense of humor! I have become totally obsessed with watching Carol at work trimming the elephant’s feet! What a constructive way to help the elephants as well as educating their mahouts to treat the elephant in a more compassionate manner.
When Carol invited me to join her at Tiger Tops workshop as her photographer and assistant I jumped at the chance! During that year I had already helped with the construction of the Chain Free Corrals and followed the exciting progress of the elephant’s reactions on site. I was very excited to stay again in this peaceful place.
True to my habit, I arrived to Kathmandu a little early and met with Carol. We wasted no time in the city and decided to catch an early flight to go trim the feet of a few working elephants in Sauraha before the Tiger Tops workshops began.
We board a small twin-engine airplane, flying over extraordinary landscapes to Chitwan and the elephants. Carol takes a peaceful nap despite the deafening noise of our aircraft and I gaze at the sky through the window with a peaceful heart and a satisfied soul.
In Sauraha Carol has been trimming elephant’s feet for years. Everybody knows Carol and now when they see her, mahouts request foot care for the elephants.  This is such a fabulous improvement … Now they also know me and I cannot wait to be a proficient foot trimmer. There is so much great work being done in Nepal by Carol and her organization. I am looking forward to being a part of the coming changes in elephant welfare.
So Carol, along with me in training, trimmed the feet of a few privately owned elephants in different locations. The conditions there are rarely ideal, the mahouts are under pressure to take tourists for rides, their schedules often changing at the last minute. There were times when we arrived early in the morning only to find that the elephants were already gone and we had to come back later. We trim in the hot burning sun or under the rain, sometimes there are many distractions and it can be stressful. Despite it all Carol remains calm and agreeable with such changing conditions. The Elephants come first, but she always gives a chance to the mahouts to learn and benefit from the experience.
I am gaining more and more experience, getting comfortable with the rasp. Trimming nails is a lesson in patience and focus. You must work little by little. If you take away too much nail, bleeding can occur. The small knife is used to open the decayed areas for them to heal with oxygen, which helps to prevent the nails from cracking. I have received my first Khurpa and have tried it out a bit, what a great feeling but one must be very careful as it is so sharp!
Above is the elephant Beauty Kali who is the first elephant I have trimmed alone, under the supervision of Kiran, vet tech and foot trimming partner of Carol in Nepal. Beauty was perfectly calm and so patient with me. However, as it took a long time, after three feet she decided it was enough, she got up and left quietly ..

Two sensational foot trimming programs, unforgettable meetings and experiences!

After the luxury of working alone with Carol, free to lean in close and learn with no one to compete with, these workshops were a real challenge!! However, the reunions and new encounters with women united by compassion and sharing the same spirit filled me with inspiration. The groups were a mix of enthusiastic people from all over the world, many who have dedicated their life to working with elephants and other animals. Katherine from BLES, Sarah from Mahouts Foundation and  Deepani from Sri Lanka all were there. It was great to have so many people with so much elephant experience in one place. So much information and stories to share!
For most of the participants it was the first time with a rasp, patiently guided by Carol. For some it was their first contact with an elephant! It was a quiet and attentive atmosphere. I enjoyed watching the progress of the participants as they began to feel more comfortable around the elephants. Taking care of the elephant’s feet is something very special and I noticed some of the participants became addicted to rasping after only a few days!!
At Tiger Tops, the elephants and their mahouts were wonderfully calm; a cheerful atmosphere united and accompanied us throughout the two weeks. I was once again very impressed by the peaceful mannerisms of the mahouts. They have been very receptive to Carol Buckley’s ideas which have resulted in positive changes in their relationships with their elephants. It was very moving to see the elephants we followed when being released in their new corrals, savoring a new way of life.
Besides the extraordinary and unique experience of trimming elephant’s feet, we experienced all kinds of memorable adventures!! Going on safari in jeeps through the grasslands…the heat was intense, the air filled with floating tufts of white fluffy seeds.  We took a leisurely walk in the jungle accompanied by elephants, mahouts and the guides of Tiger Tops and discovered a fresh and impressive trail of footprints left by a tiger! in the mud.  And last but not least, the incomparable meeting with rhinos!
A very special time of day was the peaceful walk when we would follow 14 elephants across the grassland to the bank of the splendid Rapti river. We sit and watch the elephants bathe. These moments spent lost in contemplation, enjoying the beauty of elephants playing in the river under a flaming sunset gave us a sense of peace and serenity, uniting us and the elephants as one.
Looking back, I smile when I remember how I lost my shoes and the incredible kindness of Kathleen  who gave me hers (we must wear closed toe shoes when trimming). I laugh at my embarrassment when I found myself totally disheveled and awkward next to Carol, who always looks clean and impeccable!! And I remember the vision I had during my VERY first trip to Nepal in 1991, my forgotten dream that has waited over 25 years and now will come true!
I will cherish these moments forever and I thank the elephants and Carol for their trust and patience and for this incredible journey.
I would like to end this story with a word from a caring and compassionate mahout in Tiger Tops. After  many meetings, when Carol was explaining to the mahouts about  the positive changes … they sat listening, some not understanding what changes were to come… one mahout, listening intently said to his friends….“We need more bestary bestary”     “We need more “calm calm”.               This also makes us smile..

Sanc·tu·ar·y  (săngk′cho͞o-ĕr′ē)
A sacred place.
The condition of being protected or comforted.
A place of refuge.
A reserved area in which birds and other animals, especially wild animals, are protected from hunting or disturbance.
It was early January when I arrived back in Katmandu. I spent my first evening at the fireside of a local restaurant, enjoying a delicious and spicy dal. Winters in the city are cold, the narrow alleys are frosty and only if you find a sunny terrace on the heights you will then warm up a bit.
The next day I had a long awaited meeting with a lodge owner from Chitwan with whom I have been in touch for some time. As his final rental proposal was unreasonably high, the next day I flew to Chitwan with other lands in sight.
There I found dear friends Shanti and Lauren. We had some adventures on misty mornings and shared precious moments warming up by the fire in the chilly nights of Sauraha.
A few days later, veterinarian technician Kiran Rijal, a foot trimming student of Carol Buckley of Elephant Aid International, made some space in his busy schedule to continue my training in elephant foot care with the privately owned elephants in Sauraha. My days started then to be busy, following Kiran’s instructions and observing his work with the elephants.
Mostly due to a poor diet and a lack of proper care, the vast majority of Sauraha captive elephants have feet issues. Most of the elephant drivers/mahouts are not trained in elephant foot care and don’t have adequate tools to trim their feet.
The mahouts are often blamed for whatever happens to the elephants – but – the responsibility to improve their knowledge and the elephant’s welfare belongs to the elephant owners. Many mahouts show a real interest in trimming their elephant’s feet but they don’t have the resources to do it properly.
However, I was glad to meet an elephant owner who has decided to improve the health of his elephants by planting elephant grass in his field to feed them properly. His mahouts had calm manners when managing the elephants. The elephants seemed healthy with beautiful skin and their nails were well trimmed. For his three elephants not to be standing in their droppings, he made a slight slope, so that the urine can flow down and away. This seems a minor improvement but it makes a big difference for those elephants who spend 10 to 15 hours chained in the same place. A clean stable also allows them to sleep in a more decent manner. This case shows that it doesn’t take much to improve the life of owned elephants, but it has to be a something the owner wants to do, for the good of his animals, not for any monetary gain.
Captive elephants are still wild and will always be. They remind us of this when they have the opportunity.
Elephants will occasionally escape from captivity, run to the jungle and hide – sometime for a few days, before being irremediably captured and brought back to work. On their long walk back to the village, the sad and hopeless stares of these magnificent animals can only be read as defeat. While I witnessed this sad scene, I couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of disappointment in our species, as we have failed to live in harmony with nature. Instead we have only succeeded in micro managing and destroying it.
At the end of each day, the elephants walk through the busy traffic of Sauraha, returning from the riding stations to their shelters they left at dawn. And each evening, at the same time, you will hear from afar, two female elephants, trumpeting and rumbling at the joy of being reunited, even if only for a few seconds. When their paths cross, they run to each other and demonstrate what true love is. In this moment, there is so much joy and affectionate touching shared between these two girls that they totally ignore the mahouts on their neck, urging them onward with the bull hook. This demonstrates how much captive elephants desperately need company and how strong and important are their bonds. Sadly, these two don’t belong to the same owners and are chained in different shelters.
When not with the elephants, I spent days on the back of a motorbike, my face incrusted with dust, looking for parcel after parcel of land. Some too big, some too small, some many trees, some not at all… There were many high and low moments during this time. It was mid-March and the days were getting hotter. I returned to my guesthouse at the end of each day feeling optimistic and energized. Some areas were very wild and the energy of the jungle was incredible! The search still continues. It is a long and complicated process but I have good contacts, they are searching for me and sending me info each day.

The goal is to create a fresh and unique project  – a humble Sanctuary for animals, whether wild, captive or domestic.
‘Sanctuary’ is a term often mis-used and misunderstood. A place does not have to be big or contain many animals to be a Sanctuary. True Sanctuary is about priority of care, consideration and above all – RESPECT and autonomy for the animals within the boundaries.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
This project is in its early stages and needs your generosity to become a reality!
Funds are needed to lease a lodge and the surrounding land, build chain free enclosures as well as for ongoing maintenance so the project can run smoothly.
Once we have the lodge, limited numbers of guests can come to stay and learn about elephants while supporting our work. Income raised from guests will directly support the project.
We look forward to sharing this journey with you!

Help us help them!

Thank you for your support.

During my next visit to Nepal I have an appointment to go speak with a lodge owner who is interested in leasing his property. This means that a full time Elephant-Project in Sauraha could be a reality!!

I will keep everyone posted regarding how this exciting development progresses. If I decide to go ahead with this project, startup funds will be needed….. and soon YOU can join me in Nepal … to learn, observe and participate.

Stunning Rapti river view, ideal for watching the elephants bathing…

Great accomodation on a wonderful land with many beautiful trees…

A perfect place for Elephant Footcare…

and many other possibilities to help improving the lives of elephants – volunteer programs, workshops, chain free shelters…

Stay tuned … thank you for your support!!