As the week progressed, we began to learn more about each elephant’s personal story. Some had been at Elephants World a long time, but others were very new and still showed signs of overwork or abuse. We learned which elephants were friends, and which ones were feuding. We waited anxiously for one pregnant elephant to give birth—she didn’t, but it was exciting nonetheless! We learned about the adoptive-maternal relationship between the babies and their mother figure.
During each interaction, there is something new to discover about each elephant and their personality. They seem to communicate wordlessly—a skill that I very much admire while in a country where I don’t know the language!