Travels with Tam

Still wondering about 370

April 8, 2014 By Tam Warner Leave a Comment

When Malaysian Air flight 370 vanished, I was on a boat in the Andaman Sea and did not know about it until I returned to shore. Since then, I have followed the news, not obsessively, but I check in every few days to see if anything has been found. I saw something this morning about the black box, but don’t have details yet.

What is it that is so compelling about 370’s disappearance? Planes have gone down before….but in recent history, not without a trace. Over a month, and no definitive evidence at all. The best clue yet, they say, maybe they have a ping consistent with airline flight boxes in the northern part of the search area. At over 14,000 feet deep. That’s almost 3 miles down. And “encouraging”, but not definitive.

Every time I travel and get on a plane, or a boat, or any vessel, I do ponder the possibility of losing my life. My basic thought, which is fleeting, is what are the odds? In my favor. Someone on flight 370 probably thought the same thing as they buckled in. Just that sudden, quick thought of what if? And they probably said, how likely is it? 1 in 11 million. That is correct. 1 in 11 million that you would die in an airplane crash. The odds of getting into a car accident are 1 in 5000, so we are all much more likely to die in a car than on a plane.

What is so compelling about this story? Well, it is a mystery, so far, and mysteries always get our attention. I think, though, that many people project, “that could have been me”. To see the families so devastated has been just awful, and because we all have family too, the thought of “it could have been me” is present, even if subconsciously. The thought of those people…is frightening, and sobering. People just like you and me. Gone. Disappeared. Vanished.

Scenarios have played out in my head…and I’m sure, in your head as well. I don’t want to go into detail on those thoughts, but I think it is reasonable to believe that the people on board flight 370 have left this world, regardless of what happened to the plane. In the days ahead we will hear more, much more. All I can think about are the people so closely involved in this…and my heart goes out to them. I cannot tell them I know what they are going through, because I don’t. Not many people do. But the passengers, crew, and families are in my thoughts, and I hope they can find a tiny bit of comfort knowing how many people hold them in their hearts.

Throwback Thursday: Boulders Beach, South Africa!

April 3, 2014 By Tam Warner 15 Comments

Outside of Cape Town is Boulders Beach, a beautiful spot where a South African Penguin Colony lives. They are the cutest …birds you can imagine! They are birds, but of course, they don’t fly in the air, they fly underwater! The penguins are nesting at this time of year…I had no idea that penguins made little dens and sat on their eggs. These little babies are brown and furry! We always hear about the Emperor Penguins, but most penguins do not live in such arctic conditions. These penguins are known as Jackass Penguins. I’m not kidding. They are called Jackass because of the “heehaw” sound they make! They really do sound like donkeys! We walked among them, saw their nests and their young, then walked on the beach where a small group of them came out and swam. I sat near the water and enjoyed watching them in their little tuxedos! It was a cloudy day, and “winter” (to them) as well, so we pretty much had them to ourselves. The beach was pristine, with huge boulders (hence the name Boulder’s Beach), and tidal pools filled with sea stars and crabs and other little critters. Incredible experience!

Wes and Ally...bouldering — Wes and Ally…bouldering

We also met a new animal, the Rock Hyrax or “dassie”. Strangely enough, their closest relative is the elephant! They look like rodents….they are absolutely adorable. I’m sure you will agree that Ally took some wonderful photographs of them.

The Rock Hyrax, or “Dassie”!

We stopped for lunch in Simon’s Town where Ally took a bit of a tumble (fell on her ass, actually). It is usually me, but Ally took the fall on the continent of Africa! (Of course, I have fallen on Africa too….just not on that trip!) Afterward we went up Table Mountain to see the view….endless vistas…

Another beautiful day in South Africa!

Becoming Yogi

April 1, 2014 By Tam Warner 5 Comments

As I blogged earlier, I am taking an Advanced Yoga Class Series. I have finished Level 1, and am in Level 2. I have learned a lot: about myself, about yoga, about life. My “mates”, or class mates, are a remarkable group of people, and we have created within our class, a safe space. It is amazing how much we trusted one another…right away. The group and teacher definitely have good chemistry, or energy, however you want to look at it.

One thing I have learned is that I am farther along the yogic path than I realized. I am familiar with most of the philosophy, though our class on the Chakras was particularly interesting. I like empirical proofs, and the Chakras actually have an interesting location as they are aligned with the spinal cord. Of course, chiropractors believe that the spine is the integral system of the body, and that the nerves running from the spine affect particular organs. The Chakras are energy centers of the body, each having an effect on certain parts of the physical, and emotional/spiritual body. (Check out treenuh yoga online).

Yoga is thousands of years old, and has grown into several traditions. I don’t want to give a big yoga lesson, but I find it fascinating that the chakras, or energy centers, are aligned along the spine, at nerve centers. The yoga belief system is based upon the Yoga Sutras, (c. 350-450 CE) written by Patanjali. It is believed that Patanjali, the founder of Raja Yoga (Classical yoga), was aware of Buddhism. In his 29th Sutra (sutras are rules, or “laws”) Patanjali discusses the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Eight Limbs refer to how a yogi conducts her/his life, much as the Buddhist Eightfold Path leads to Enlightenment, and the 10 commandments of Jewish origin and tradition, also adopted in Christianity, give a code of conduct to one’s life. The Eight Limbs were written in Sanskrit, an ancient language. The First Four Limbs are (I don’t want to overwhelm you with all Eight in one blog!):

Yamas (The five “abstentions”): Ahimsa (non-harming to others or to self), Satya (Truth, non-lying), Asteya (non-stealing), Brahmacharya (control of one’s senses and desires), and Aparigraha (do not covet).
Niyamas (The five “observances”): Shaucha (cleanliness of body, soul and mind), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (simple and plain living), Svadhyaya (study of the Vedic scriptures, and Ishvara-Pranidhana (surrender to the divine, whatever one perceives that to be). (Yoga is inclusive and can enhance any religion.)
Asanas: Asanas are yoga poses, including the “seat” of meditation.
Pranayama (“Suspending Breath”): Prāna means the breath, “āyāma”, to restrain or stop. The breath brings in the life force to the body, and pranayama is the control of one’s breathing.

Yoga is a practice, and people can do only the poses, or only meditation, and still be doing yoga. Breathing exercises and control is pranayama. However, Yoga can also be a way of life. And as I said, I am farther down the path of yoga than I originally believed.

Meditation is also a core practice of yoga. Basically, meditation is concentration on one object, sound, mantra, etc. I have a preference for meditation of sound. I cannot sit still in silence…I have to hear noises…water, waves, birds, chimes. I like chants, music, and the Tibetan Singing Bowls, but I have realized I have found a meditative state in nature as well. The goal of meditation is to achieve “bliss”…I have found the feeling of “bliss”, absolute joy and contentment, in my activities in nature, in my role as a mother, and in the creative processes. I think everyone “meditates” in their own way, call it prayer, song, worship, joy, a physical activity….one doesn’t have to just sit and meditate to achieve that overwhelming feeling of bliss. It goes by other names as well, euphoria, a high, ecstatic, rapturous, on cloud nine. (Why is Cloud 9 better than Cloud 8, does anyone know?).

We had a class the other day which I am still “digesting”…on nutrition and yoga lifestyle. I’ll blog about that at another time. I have been searching for a change of lifestyle, and had already begun, but now I have other nutrition practices to put into consideration. I am “off” of aspartame (a terrible chemical in sweetners which turns to formaldehyde in your body, yuck!). I am trying to eat mostly whole foods, meaning not processed. If it has more than 5 things in it (you know, fructose, corn syrup, salt, preservatives, folic acid, blah blah blah), it is over processed. It is possible to find foods that are not over processed, but you have to really look. And the middle of the grocery store is not the place to look.

Anyway, my journey into yoga is having many benefits in my life, but it still includes my sense of humor! Enjoy this little yoga video! To be continued!

Friday’s Fabulous Photos!

March 28, 2014 By Tam Warner 26 Comments

I absolutely LOVE photography, and if you do too, join me every Friday for a look at some photos! These are my favorites from my trip to Thailand! Please share if you enjoy them!

ff 14 feather star feelers — Gorgeous Feather Star group

bk 14 c ally and ladyboy — LOVE those Ladyboys!

Tam feeding elephant

With Lam Duan, a 57 year old blind elephant

elephant, ethical tourism, our planet — With Lam Duan, a 57 year old blind elephant

Everyone who travels to Thailand wants to trek with the Asian elephants who are advertised for trekking, riding, and shows. Elephants are highly revered in Thai and Buddhist traditions, and were used for warfare, much like horses in prior times. Elephants, thankfully, are no longer used for the logging industry in Thailand, as the country has been overlogged. At that time, the late 1980s, there were elephants and their “mahouts” (handlers, trainers, owners) who were suddenly without work. These mahouts began using their elephants to beg on the streets, they turned their elephants into trekking elephants with a box on the elephant’s back for people to sit in (these are very harmful to elephants as their backs are the weakest parts of their body), or training the elephants to perform in shows. The only safe way to ride an elephant (for the elephant) is to ride on their necks. There are still some mahouts who still work illegal logging camps on the border of Myanmar and Thailand, who give their elephants “speed” to make them work longer and faster, and who abuse their elephants with the tools of the mahout: chains, the thotti (hook), the valiya kol (long pole), and the cheru kol (short pole). These are the traditional tools used to “break” elephants, and to control them. The hook is particularly horrible, and if you see an elephant with scars, open sores, wounds…you’ll know it is being abused with the hook. Using the hook side of the tool is not necessary, regardless of what any mahout tells you, the elephant is hurt by it and it causes them pain and injury. Period.

Where once there were nearly 100,000 wild Asian elephants roaming the jungles of Asia, there are now about 2000 wild elephants left in Thailand. They are terribly endangered as their habitat has been so altered and destroyed; they migrate the same way they did for hundreds of years…only now there are farms in their way. Farmers do not hesitate to take action against elephants who threaten their crops. It is a tragedy that it is really not a question of IF the Asian elephant will go extinct, it is a question of WHEN. With only 2000 left in the wild, and approximately 2000 “domesticated” elephants in Thailand (including those in sanctuaries), it won’t be long until they are gone.

The elephant is a symbol of Thai Buddhism, and considered an animal who brings good luck. When I planned my trip to Thailand I very badly wanted to see and spend time with elephants, but I didn’t want to harm them. I did research, and among the excellent research I found Adore Animals blog on Ethical Elephant Tourism and another blog at Jdomb’s Travel which helped me understand what I needed to look for. Most sanctuaries are located in the Chiang Mai area, quite north of Bangkok, but I did find Elephant’s World in Kanchanaburi City, 3 hours from Bangkok. 3 hours is not super close, especially when you only have 5 days, but Alexandra, my daughter, and I were determined to spend time volunteering with elephants, and it was a enriching, wonderful experience.

Elephant’s World was founded in 2008 by Dr. Samart Prasithpol (head of the Department of Livestock of Kanchanaburi province) to function as a ‘retirement home’ for elephants who were too old to work, too injured, or too ill. Elephant’s World works FOR the elephants, to give them a peaceful, happy life. The elephants at Elephant’s World are well cared for, and enjoy a day of feeding, dusting themselves, playing in the mud, being fed some more, and then, having a lovely wash and dip in the river. (Meet the elephants here.)

Our day began with a 3 hour drive to the sanctuary, then we met and talked with the volunteers about the elephants. The volunteers were very like those I worked with in Mozambique, mostly young adults who want to see the world and make a real difference, so volunteer tourism is a great way for them to travel. I wish more American young adults would do this type of traveling. We started by learning the structure of the day, then we were given a huge basket of fruits to feed Lam Duan, a female elephant who is about 57 years old who was used in the logging industry, then as a trekking elephant. She is completely blind, and likes to be fed directly in her mouth instead of using her trunk. She also does not like to be stroked or touched. Lam Duan has obviously been worked far too much, and because she is blind she is not readily accepted by the other elephants. Elephants in the wild live in family groups and have deep emotional bonds…but elephants who are in sanctuaries lost their families long ago, and sometimes do not care for other elephants around them. Lam Duan is kept away from most of the others. A mahout would use a hook if Lam Duan was attacked by another elephant (which has happened) but mostly she just stays away from the group. She does like John, a small 7 year old bull who loves to play. Poor John was separated from his mother far too young, and seems to think that he should be able to make little elephants with the 50 and 70 year old matriarchs around him! They seem to just brush him off, but he does get excited!

During the volunteer day one feeds, makes sticky rice balls with protein powder and veggies for the elephants to eat (they eat A LOT). Then you enjoy the show as the elephants have a mud bath, which they really enjoy. After that, it is time for the river, and swimming with the elephants! What an incredible privilege to swim around an elephant, and to climb up on its neck for a ride and a dunk. The elephants really love their river swim and bath! After their baths, once again we fed them baskets of fruit. We fed an elephant who used her trunk, and it was so incredible! The elephant trunk has more muscle in it than the human body does. Isn’t that amazing? They grab that food and stuff it in their mouths very quickly, and if you don’t stuff food in the trunk, the trunk comes looking for you!

Our day ended after feeding time, but there is one thing I want everyone to know: the sanctuary is trying very hard to raise the money to build a fence to keep the elephants out of the sugar cane of neighboring farmers. Until that fence can be built, the elephants have to be chained when they are not being active. They need $20,000.00 to build that fence. Here is the link to donate: http://elephantsworld.org/en/donate. Be sure and let them know Travels with Tam sent you! It really is a good cause…these poor elephants have suffered so terribly, and it would be such a gift to them to be able to roam instead of be chained. I very much encourage you to give, even if it is just a few bucks! You can also volunteer, whether for a day or a month or a year. What a great experience! Do check out Elephant’s World in Thailand! It was one of the best days of my trip to Thailand, and Alexandra felt the same.

One final request: should you go to Asia, please avoid the touristy trekking and shows with elephants and choose Ethical elephant tourism. We can all help make change in our world with just simple, good choices. The “nellys” (nellyphants) will thank you!

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AND CHECK OUT MY VIDEOS!!! https://www.youtube.com/user/tamwarner

RESTART! REVITALIZE! REVAMP!

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