Location: Koh Samui, Thailand
Date: March 2012
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View of Koh Samui, Thailand March 2012 |
Prior to this trip, my only exposure to the island of Koh Samui came from “Meet the Fockers.” Luckily, we had a chance to go there, and my eyes were opened to this beautiful island, which is much more than just a funny location in a movie. Here is more of our “Around the World” trip that we took in March.
Trent on our hike at Na Maung Safari Park March 2012 |
On Wednesday, March 8, we landed in Koh Samui and took tenders over to the island. When we arrived, there were many local taxi drivers and excursion agents trying to get anyone and everyone off onto one of their tours. (*Tip here!– Don’t just go with the first driver that tries to get your business. NEGOTIATE!) Trent found drivers that would take our group of 14 to the Na Maung Safari Park, a 15-20 minute drive, for $12.50 each. We usually like to make our own adventure and don’t always do the excursions offered by the boat because we’ve found we can save money. In this case, we found the information about the Na Maung Safari park online, and the boat didn’t even offer an excursion here. We were excited because the kids really wanted to ride an elephant and this was the place to do it!
Getting our $10 pictures with these wild beasts March 2012 |
The park was in good shape for a third world country. It had many things to offer, and there was no cover charge to get in. At the front of the park, there was a tiger and a jaguar chained up with a line of tourists waiting to get their picture taken by these amazing creatures. Clay chose to get his picture with the tiger, but we waited to watch a few others in the group get theirs, so we could make sure the tiger was docile enough to get up close and personal with. Though I do hate to see animals locked up on a chain this way, it was incredible to get close enough to touch this animal, and I do realize this is a way for these people to feed their families. For $10 each, we were able to pet the tiger and get our photo with him. When the tiger tried to look over his shoulder at us, the handler would knock him in the muzzle to have the tiger look away. At one point while I was petting the tiger’s back, and he was knocked by the handler, the tiger did a low murmured growl that shook through his body. That was my cue to move on. I was done.
Bailey choose to get her picture taken with the baby tiger and feed her a bottle of milk. It was precious and really looked a lot like a kitten with the exception of his huge paws. This also cost $10 just for a picture.
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Momma & Baby at the Elephant Nursery Koh Samui Thailand, March 2012 |
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Clay posing with the beautiful view from the top of the mountain down to the ocean Thailand, March 2012 |
He showed the kids where they could cliff jump into the pool and we all enjoyed the cool crisp water that rejuvenated our tired soaked bodies. The view from our pool was also amazing since we were so high in the Koh Samui jungle that we could see a landscape of green out before us stretching out to the ocean. It really was one of the most enjoyable moments of my life only to be clouded by the fact that my other four kids weren’t with us to enjoy it too.
At that point, it was time for our descent and since one of my flip flops had broken on the way up the mountainside, I had the pleasure of trying to navigate down with only one shoe. I know I do this every time. As my sister, Kym, would say, I hike in banana peels! It is especially stupid since I own a great pair of Keens that I have officially dubbed as my waterfall hiking shoes but that I forget to bring every time.
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The “banana peels” I tried to hike in – not a good idea March 2012 |
We did make it down and had our taxi drivers waiting for us at the bottom to take us back to the boat. We gave our Thai secret pool tour guide a hefty tip for leading us on our wonderful excursion, and the kids encouraged him to use it on a new bathing suit, but in a country like this, I’m sure that is last on his list of essentials.
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One more rope swing we found on our way back down the mountain side. Koh Samui Thailand, March 2012 |
Back on the boat, the Brits didn’t like that we had come back on with only our bathing suits and cover-ups, and one even rolled his eyes at Clay and turned to his wife and said, “He could have at least put a shirt on” which made me laugh that a shirtless 9-year-old boy in his swimsuit could cause such disdain to a grown man.
Our boat, The Aurora March 2012 |
That evening was a formal evening, and though they are not my favorite, it was nice to dress up and see our group looking so smart at dinner. Since my converter for my curling iron didn’t fit into the plug in my room, I had been unable to curl my hair so I did my best to look presentable, and we ended up having a great evening dining with friends.
This looked fun. I am sad that we didn’t go now. I want to go in a secret pool…
This is a blast to read and picture being there with you! Keep these coming Courtney…how incredible of an experience! Thank you so much for sharing!!