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Guardar los elefantes de Sumatra
The Canvas of Life
We pass the villages one after another, with the stone masons, the wood carvers, the silver smiths and the painters' galleries in between. We climb hills and descend; we pass streams and ravines and glide by the green, mesmerizing, rice paddies. There is harvested rice strewn about drying in the sun and competing for space with the dogs that snooze lazily on the roadside. Rice stems twitter in the breeze, waiting to be picked, while new seedlings are scattered into the muddy field by the hands of the old bent figures. Life in full cycle. Temples and cremation ceremonies, people in their finery pass us like a fabulous walking canvas. The canvas of life.
We slow down when we reach the park where a sign reads: Elephant Crossing. Walking through the gates to the museum that displays an array of interesting exhibits from ivory carvings, to tusks, to a full size mammoth replica, which has been purchased and brought from an Ice Age exhibition in the USA, you are left with no doubt that elephants are the main attraction here. A huge skeleton of a 30-year-old Sumatran elephant in the foyer greets us. Enlarged billboards scream about the atrocities done to elephants, with pictures of dead elephant bodies: for what? For greed, certainly not for need.
Very Polite Elephants
Considering my experience with Pogli, I'm not sure I want to meet the elephants but Iwan assures me their elephants are very tame, polite and civilised. Having seen uncivilised elephants, I'm not convinced but I soon change my mind.
Elephants that can paint, do arithmetic and play basketball are civilised, if not a little showy. One elephant paints with a brush in her trunk, then demands different colours although she is virtually colour blind. Three elephants in a row on a raised platform parade with their tails in each other's trunks confidently strolling the catwalk. Another answers the question to 2+1=?,by picking 3 from the hand of the ringmaster. Then she is off to slam - dunk the ball into the basketball hoop while her friend kicks the football but misses the goal. See, they're not perfect. But it is showtime and the elephants seem to love being the centre of attention.
Building Awareness
My guide, Ketut Nursyarifah, the assistant park manager, tells me the objectives of the park are to provide a venue for awareness about elephants, educating tourists and giving them a first-hand, close encounter with elephants.
We go through a beautifully-designed landscaped garden. Everything is well balanced and blended naturally into the jungle ambiance. Statues of elephants in many shapes and sizes and positions are found throughout the garden without being gaudy or overdone. Koi chase each other in the pond, and an imported African orchid spreads its giant green palms skywards. Over 200 trees, including 30 different species of palm and thousands of local and imported orchids, were added to the garden in 2004.
Steve Irwin - 'It's the Best'
Steve Irwin, the late 'Crocodile Hunter', had declared the place, "The best elephant park I have ever seen."
I am taken to the landing point where I meet Kade, the mahout. I mount an elephant by stepping on its neck and then sit in the wooden bench made for two atop. My elephant is called 'Ola' or as Kade calls her "Ola Ola, Coca Cola." After a few pictures, we set out on a 35-minute serene walk through the green jungle park.
Ola is always hungry, Kade tells me, and true to form she starts wandering and with her trunk, feeling around the bushes, tearing grass and munching constantly. Kade controls her by a wooden stick that he maneuvers and touches her right ear with. He is perched comfortably on Ola's neck but tells me to hang fast to my bag, as she can go and then stop with a jerk if she sees something delicious.
The park is green and gorgeous and Ola enjoys walking elegantly with a rhythm. It feels like being on a swing. I look around the peaceful surroundings: it is still early in the morning and the foliage looks fresh and birds are chirping. I enjoy being high up, looking down on the jungle.
Home Sweet Home
Kade and I talk about his training as an elephant handler and his life in the village. He says he enjoys working here as it is a good way to earn a living. He provides me with facts such as how each elephant drinks 80 litres of water and 250k of vegetarian food. They are very powerful animals and can uproot trees very easily.
"How did these elephants reach Bali?"
"In huge trucks," Kade responds. "They had to be tranquillised." He shows me the elephant parking spot. "Home sweet home, where they eat and poop," he says. Every elephant has its own spot where it is chained up when it is not providing rides, swimming or mating.
Recycling Waste
We end the ride in the pool: one of the deepest elephant wading ponds in South East Asia. Ola Ola Coca Cola goes in with a splash, enjoying herself. Later she will be unsaddled and have a swim. There is a park ranger who is constantly clearing elephant droppings from the pool, to be shipped to an elephant manure processing plant in Renon, Denpasar to be turned into an environmentally-friendly fertilizer.
I am one of the first riders of the day and Ola has provided a pleasant and tranquil ride. Lots of tourists are coming to enjoy the park and to ride the elephants. But we are not done yet. I must go and officially meet Ola on the ground for more Kodak moments. She puts a garland around my neck and I feed her fresh coconut bark. Wanting to show off his talented friend, Kade takes her to the edge of the pool and she kneels and her trunk goes up and she wants to be immortalized in pictures again. I oblige.
The park boasts a water treatment plant and waste disposal system, a brand-new breeding area with public access and viewing area. I walk with Ketut and we visit the viewing area where Debby, the baby, is trying to learn to pick food from her head. "She used to be very malnourished and sick. Now she looks a picture of health," Ketut says. "She is a very naughty girl indeed."
A Fresh Chance
We go to the 200-seat restaurant and bar, where I am offered a cup of cappuccino. I sip the delicious coffee and enjoy the breathtaking views of the park and the elephants enjoying a swim in the water. How lucky for these 27 elephants to be rescued and given a fresh chance at life.
And such a transformation this is! What were once degraded rice paddies is now an elephant paradise frequented by international travellers. It is a professionally-run world-class venue.
The buffet lunch is extensive and well presented. I hit the salad bar with its great selection. The families and kids are enjoying themselves and the staff is very efficient. Everything runs like clockwork.
I pop into the huge gift shop offering many elephant souvenirs. Too many things to look at. I linger on in the restaurant, have another cappuccino and look through the information kit Ketut has brought me. I want to meet the person who is responsible for all this. I am told Nigel Mason is at the park, overseeing the completion of his Safari Lodge. I wonder who this gentle soul is who has a soft spot for the giants of the jungle?
An Australian Adventurer
Nigel is an Australian entrepreneur conservationist: an adventurer who was born and educated in England and spent time as a youngster in Egypt. After leaving England at the age of 15 for Australia, he has tried it all: fruit picking, timber cutting, hunting kangaroos, and he had a hand in the construction of the Sydney-Melbourne standard gauge railway line. He has rubbed elbows with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Chubby Checker and Roy Orbison, when he was in the music industry in the late 60s. Many careers later, in 1980, he visited Bali where he met his wife, Yani, and here he has remained.
The couple started Bali Adventure Tours in 1989 with five-star rafting tours, and added on new tours including river kayaking, mountain biking, jungle and rice-paddy trekking, amongst others. All tours offer knowledgeable and trained guides and provide new equipment. In 1996, the safari park was established with nine elephants. Another eight were rescued the following year. They travelled six days in a convoy of 10 vehicles covering thousands of kilometres by road and sea to get to Bali. Amongst them the two-year-old Ramona turned out to be an accomplished painter in later years, and has had some of her paintings sold at Christie's in New York.
No Easy Feat
It took Nigel almost four years to rescue more elephants, and this time 10 elephants were saved, bringing the family total to 27. But it was no easy feat.
"The number of elephants is rapidly declining due to human and elephant conflict," Nigel explains, "which is a direct result of increased illegal logging of the forests they once freely roamed. They are captured by the forestry department, and held in 'camps' indefinitely with no hope of ever returning to the forest. The camps lack funds to properly feed or maintain the health of the animals; therefore, the animals are doomed to a short life of boredom and ill health." And these horrendous conditions prompted Nigel to take his life in his own hands and try to add the last herd to his park.
Operation Jumbo
Operation Jumbo, a 55-minute documentary made by THREEFOLD Films and directed by Australian Brad Cone, outlines the passion and commitment of Nigel, who risked a fortune - each elephant costs about RP100 million (US$10,000) to rescue - and possibly his very life, to save 10 endangered Sumatran Elephants and bring them to his elephant sanctuary in the hills of Bali. The movie follows almost three years of Nigel's struggle with bureaucracy and the ongoing problems of Bali. The film graphically shows Indonesia's perplexities and how terrorism caused the massive downturn in tourism, which it so heavily relied on.
The film was recently shown at the Cannes Film Festival to the television industry by international distributor lsquo;Beyond', and was very well received, with more than 20 networks from more than a dozen countries interested in showing the film. It is being translated into many languages with subtitles in DVD format and will be available for sale at the gift shop at the park with proceeds going towards food, medicine and upkeep of the elephants held captive in camps in Sumatra.
The New Safari Lodge
Now Nigel and his team are putting the finishing touches to the Safari Lodge: a first class overnight stay accommodation project, due to open in June. It includes a full range of rooms, from VIP to standard to suit every budget. "You can get on an elephant from your room," says Nigel. "A first-in-the- world."
The elephant safari park has enhanced the company profile as market leaders in the adventure tourism business and the company's image as being socially responsible for its efforts in saving the elephants. The Elephant Foundation receives part of the park fees. Being big on protecting and enhancing the tropical Balinese countryside has also created a favourable image on the island for the Masons.They have received numerous glowing reports from the environmental and wildlife organisations praising the innovative design and landscaping of the park.
Tormented by Memories
Heading Nigel's team is his park manager, Dedi Ramlan, a young Acehnese, who is still tormented by childhood memories of his father, who along with other angry farmers, used to slaughter many elephants in order to protect their land. Dedi has devoted much of his adult life to taking care of the elephants, a passion he regards as payback for the atrocities his father committed.
Compassion and determination for a good cause are what has kept Nigel, who turned 63 in April, young in appearance and heart. It is all good karma that envelopes the kind soul who has given so much of himself to preserving the giants of Sumatran jungles and giving voice to their plight.
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