India, Nepal & Bhutan

Another unique way to travel. Our mahout is gentle with our elephant as he guides him through the jungle. Even so, when Dumbo wants to stop and eat, it can take some encouragement to get him moving again. We see deer, a wild boar, and about 5 single horned rhinoceroses on this excursion. The rhinos are the biggest attraction. Photography is somewhat difficult because elephants don’t stay still too long.

When an elephant blows his nose, it sounds like an air hose blowing off. Once Dumbo decided to get some leaves overhead. He grabbed the branch with his trunk and pulled down about a 6 foot section. I though he just wanted the leaves. Turns out he wanted the branch to pick his teeth as he walked along, then he ate the branch too.
I would say elephants are friendlier than camels. That has been my experience. They also appear to smarter. We all were riding on three differently pachyderms, and when we got back to the elephant stairs, the elephants remembered the order in which we boarded. They let us get off in the same order, with no directions from the mahouts.Read more