Dubare Elephant Camp

Next morning, we left the home stay at around 9 AM and headed towards Dubare Elephant camp near Kushalanagar. On our way we saw a domesticated pig relaxing beside the road. First we thought it was injured but a villager told us that they tied sticks around its neck so that it would not enter the fenced areas of a farm and eat or spoil the crops.

I choose to drive via Harangi dam and backwaters. The drive was scenic despite a dearth of water in the river.  

At Dubare camp too the water had dried and so we did not need a boat to reach the island were elephants are trained. We crossed the river by foot. Lots of tourists followed one another stepping carefully over slippery rocks to reach the island. It was challenging and adventurous. Deeku and Varun enjoyed it a lot and so did we grown-ups. 

At the island, the elephants were taking a good shower. The Mahoots were cleaning them as they lay relaxing. Some were naughty to spray water on the tourists. A little one was camera shy and hid itself behind its mother. 

We then took a walk around the area where the other elephants are trained. One of the elephants was undergoing rigorous training to move logs; perhaps a way to tame them.

Looking at the crowd, we decided to skip the elephant ride which anyway was a small round around the area and was rather unimpressive. The river crossing again was lot of fun.