This morning the girls headed to the Samui Elephant Sanctuary to witness the conservation of these beautiful creatures. The project promotes the conservation and coexistence of humans, wildlife and environment to be stable.

Andy opted for a more sedate morning (having previously visited an elephant sanctuary in Laos) and soaked up the sunshine and finished off his latest read.

The girls really loved their visit to the sanctuary and were impressed by the commitment and love that the organisers have put into looking after these now protected animals. It’s an incredible commitment and comes at some cost, with each elephant costing almost £200,000 to buy and then covering the daily feed. The average elephant can work its way through 350 kilos per day of grasses, fruit, bushes, small plants all grown on the farm all without any pesticides. In addition the elephant consumes 175 litres of water.

The care and love these animals receive is helping to elongate their lives with many now living to full maturity and into their 70yrs+.

The stories about the elephants former lives made sad listening with some from circuses where they were beaten, marked and generally abused daily until being rescued by the sanctuary.

Amelia so loved her time at the sanctuary and especially the opportunity to make and feed the elephants and see their total appreciation.

https://videopress.com/v/D3WjDHqI?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Time to make the elephants feed which is specifically chosen to avoid any unwanted pesticides that have killed other elephants whose digestive system wasn’t able to function due to repeated infection.

The girls had a great half day at the sanctuary and were greatly touched by the connection they made with the lady owner but also the seven elephants they met and fed.

After lunch once the girls were back the intention was to spend a little more time at the pool before heading out for dinner at a beach club. Unfortunately the rain gods had other ideas and around 3pm the heavens opened and we had a torrential downpour for about 30mins.

Thankfully by early evening, and just before sunset the weather improved and we were able to get out for a walk along the beach front.

Michelle took full advantage of the sunset and dressed beautifully in her stunning white trousers purchased in Robe, South Australia a few months back.

With the return of the sun and a great view from the hotel grounds we decided to make the most of the evening. After purchasing cocktails we sat in the bar and watched the sunset playing cards with Amelia. Great memories that will stay with us when she returns to the Uk in a week’s time.

We know we are so lucky to be able to do what we are doing, and to be able to share the time with Amelia. It’s the simple things that make it enjoyable, like tonight’s card games followed by dinner in the hotel restaurant.

As Amelia was still feeling a little off colour we decided to eat at the hotel, rather than the planned restaurant further down the beach. The food and service was excellent and made for a lovely evening all together.

As the evening came to a close we had a wander around the hotel grounds on our way to our room and grabbed a few final photos to remember today.

Tomorrow we are heading to Chaweng for a look around and to check out the beach. Andy was last here in 1994, when he was backpacking but is hoping to be able to remember certain bits from his prior stay. Until then.