Elephant Olympics

The "Elephant Olympics" are held in Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal every December. Elephants and their "team" are sponsored by local and international companies or organizations. Elephant "foot race," elephant futbol (hilarious), ox cart races, horse runs- all are included in the three-day event.

I went with a few of my friends up to Chitwan to observe this crazy and unique tradition. A few weeks before, the annual elephant polo tournament was held in the same area. This brings in teams from all over the world to compete in polo competition for prize money. A guy from Seattle is actually a big sponsor for the polo here and comes every year apparently. How does one practice elephant polo in Seattle?!

Elephant futbol was my favorite. They have been training the smaller elephants for two years to kick the ball, with trunks and feet. People take it very seriously. At one point in the 4v4 match, one of the elephants, or hatti, in Nepali, scored on his own goalie. Oops, buddy. He was promptly whacked by his rider with a long stick. You can imagine it being a scene from a five-year old match at home (minus the sticks).

The crowd huddled around the field which was much smaller than a regular futbol field. One would think the pitch would be a bit bigger given the size of the players! When the ball would go out of bounds, into the massive crowd that was stacked up right on the sidelines, everyone would give a big yelp. Women in saaris scattered and kids high-tailed it off to the side. I tried to position myself far enough to be safe, but close enough to catch the action.

You know you are watching elephant futbol when...

-The goalie takes a big heaping poo in goal and then goes about his business guarding his territory
-The ground rumbles beneath your feet from over 40 tons of thunder
-The jungle is the stadium
-The players can juggle with their nose
-An autograph is not an option

After futbol I took a jungle safari on one of the elephants and saw some one-horned rhinos, crocodiles, spotted deer and heaps of other creatures. The rhinos were my favorite. I saw two groups of mother-child pairs. They look so prehistoric and fake, almost robotic. Beautiful grey color. The elephant I was riding was the oldest and tallest elephant in the park. We bonded a little bit and he invited me to come back to the jungle anytime for a chat.



This is so cool up close.



Cristiano Ronaldo.

Manchester United vs. Arsenal...jungle style!

Front row seats.

Canoe trip down the river.

My ride for the morning jungle safari. Kindred spirit.

Those are not mechanical creatures.

Spotted deer.

Prehistoric like.

Mother watching over her dead baby. Apparently she gave birth the night before and the baby died. Too weak to survive. Very touching moment.

This is not a statue.

Tharu women in the jungle.

THUNDER at the races.

Lagging behind...

Enjoying it all from the sidelines.

Runners on your mark...

The jungle makes me sleepy.

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