Daddy I don't want a new horse, I want an elephant!!

 Hi everyone!
Again, been kept very busy the last couple of days. Yesterday (Thursday), I went to train and then ride the elephants. There are 5 elephants altogether on the park but 4 are kept together (the other one thinks it is a buffalo so stays with that herd!). The 4 elephants we look after are Mak, Toto, Mandevu (meaning "hairy" in Shona (the local language)) and Kutanga ("first" in Shona, as he was the first born elephant in Imire).
We taught Mak some tricks. He can touch areas of his body with his trunk on command, throw a ball with his truck and kick a ball too. I'll try and take some videos so you can see.

We then got the chance to ride the elephants. I rode Mandevu who is the female and smallest of the adult elephants. The picture to the right is Kutanga her son who is 5 years old.
The rest of the day consisted of repairing a bridge, going trekking with the horses and then having a Shona evening.
We have Shona evenings every Thursday where a teacher from the secondary school cooks us a typical Shona meal, comprising of Sadza (porridge maize thing), chicken, relish and various vegetable concoctions, and we had to eat it with our hands. We sat by the fire while we heard traditional stories and then sung songs in the Shona language.
Oh yes! We also have 2 new volunteers from Canada, Brit and Bridget. Both are horsey and Brit actually runs her own ranch and has around 20 horses - great to have a fellow horse fan out here!

 Today once again we started off training Mak and then got the opportunity to ride, this time I rode Toto (wow he is HIGH!!). The ranger (Pedros) said I could sit in front and control the elephant which was really exciting!! However, little did Pedros know this was only my second time riding an elephant. He looked a little worried when I said my first time was only yesterday! You steer the elephants my tapping the ear with a stick. Going left you tap the right ear and vice versa, very confusing, the elephants apparently respond better to it that way.

 After breakfast we went to the primary school and did some teaching and games with the 5/6 year old children. They are so enthusiastic to learn and find you very interesting! After we did some painting of the fences for the buffalo pens using motor oil - it still hasn't come off my skin yet. It just looks like I've got into a bad fight with bruises down my legs and arms!
As you can see from the picture I can not escape a dog wishing to sleep on bed - even in Zimbabwe! This is Riley's dog (Judy Travers' (who I ride with) son) and is called Kunaka. Although, Kunaka is very obedient (enough of these terriers, I'm getting a proper dog) so has obliged to sleep on the bed next to me - there really isn't enough space for both of us!
Some of you are asking what the culture and weather is like here. The culture is very much like ours just with a few different traditions, to many to list! The weather is super! It's a little chilly in the morning but it soon gets up to around 27 Celsius through the day and gets cold again when the sun goes down.
Love to all.