About eight years ago, a friend and I went to the zoo in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We had been staying nearby so it was great to finally see the source of all the weird noises we heard at night!
There were a lot of things that stuck in my memory from that day. The giraffe that snuck up on me and tried to lick my ear; the bears that desperately wanted to climb the wall we were standing behind; the hippo that farted; the hill that never ended...but I seem to have blocked the scariest part out. I stumbled across these pictures yesterday and suddenly remembered feeding bananas to the massive, ginormous, humungous elephant!
Okay, so he doesn't look so huge in the pictures. He's probably pretty average, actually. I never would've suspected that I'd be afraid of an elephant. Not after watching Dumbo as a kid. But woah! That is one powerful beast! Talk about a larger than life presence. It's not just the size; he was moving, and intelligent, and aware of me, and he was just so...alive! He really wanted that banana too! And I couldnt get far enough away from him!
I don't mean to say I thought he would NOT be any of those things. It's not something I ever really analyzed. But being close enough for a stretching trunk to grab food out of your hand really puts things into perspective. He was not a passive piece in a museum, that changes only by the dictates of a curator; he was making his own decisions, and interacting with us. It was awe-inspiring, to say the least. And terrifying. Not for my friend though. She got right up close and cozy with the big guy! Makes me shake a little just remembering!
