Our Island Safari and elephant trek started with a drive along the Eastern coast of this "boutique island" we saw beautiful beaches beyond the shops and homes along the way. We ended up at concession offering different glimpses of island life but mainly for tourists. First we had a demonstration of how monkeys can be trained They did various tricks, but mainly monkeys are trained to harvest the coconuts. They can throw down several hundred an hour which makes a coconut industry viable.
Then we saw an elephant show. Two elephants did circus style performances and then gave whoever wanted one,
an elephant foot massage.
Next we had our elephant ride around the concession. This time we sat in a chair device. The Indian elephant had a mahout drived who sometimes used a stick but the elephant knew where he was going. He wove us necklasses, a bracelet and even a small ring out of coconut fronds.
Then we had a demonstration of rubber. First they score a gash in the bark in the morning and let the latex drip into a cup. The cups are collected and poured into a pan. Then the water is squeezed out by various means, finally by a roller like the old washing wringer. The slabs of rubber which look like placemats only twice the size and about 1/4 inch thick are further dried on a clothes line. Rubber used to be a big export there but the price decreased and farmers have planted other things.
Then we had a cooking demonstration of Thai cooking - green papaya salad. This is a staple and you use various ingredients depending on availabilty.
We continued our drive around the island stopping at a waterfall before returning to the ship.
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