I'm not an animal lover. I've had pets that I've loved, but I've never referred to them as "my children." I don't eat much meat, but I'm not opposed to animals as food. Like most normal people, I balk at animal cruelty, but I balk more at people cruelty. And, when it comes down to it, I'd rather we spent our resources taking care of children than stray dogs and cats.

But for some reason, I go absolutely crazy for wild animals. Trekking through the Sumatran jungle to see wild and semi-wild orangutans counts as one of the highlights of my life so far. A few months later, I trekked through another forest to get a look at the elusive and adorable tarsirs. And I can't even form cogent sentences about the beauty of fish and coral that I've discovered while snorkeling around the islands of Indonesia.

So, it was with a child's sense of wonder and excitement that I set out for the Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary. There are places in Malaysia where you can see Asian elephants in the wild--and believe me, I plan to park my ass up in a jungle treetop viewing platform overnight to get a look at them. Until then, a trip to the sanctuary was a good introduction into the world of Asian elephants.

At the center, they take care of elephants that are being relocated from more populated areas of Asia into the remaining jungle as well as babies that have been orphaned. On the day I visited, they had 22 elephants in residence. For a couple of hours each afternoon, they trot out eight grown elephants and a couple babies. Guests get to feed them, which I did, and ride them, which I did not. They also get to go into the river and play with the babies while they bathe. I also skipped this part. I wanted to, but we didn't know that we had to call ahead. Only 150 people per day are allowed close contact.

Before going, I had some reservations about elephants forced to perform tricks to amuse humans. But after my visit, while it still feels a bit wrong, I am glad they do it. The center is free, but donations are accepted. They are also necessary to sustain the work that is being done there. Do you have any idea how much an elephant eats every day? No? Well, let me tell you. A lot. An awful lot. That food costs money, so if a few of the elephants have to sing for their supper, so be it.

The elephants that are part of the daily viewing are what they call "working elephants." Imagine that you are an elephant handler tasked with taking a wild elephant from a farm that used to be a junge somewhere in Thailand or Myanmar. If you don't capture and relocate the elephant, somebody is going to shoot it. But if do capture and relocate the elephant, he or she is going to be terribly frightened, not to mention more than a little pissed off.

How do you stop the wild elephant from trampling you to death? You surround it with two mature working elephants who rumble their stomachs to calm the newcomer down. Then, you use the working elephants to lead a trek into the jungle where you will leave the wild elephants to make a new home.

How cool is that?

The elephant sanctuary is a couple hours from my new home and I will probably make another visit to play in the river with the babies. If there is anything that comes close to feeding my soul as well as interacting with kids every day, it's watching in amazement as wild animals do their thing.

P.S. Today, while driving down the road that leads to my apartment, I saw in the distance what looked like two big, hairy dogs loping along. As i got closer, I realized there was something not quite dog-like about the way they were loping. Then, one ran across the road just in front of my car. I swear it was a freaking baboon! I live amongst baboons now. I'll ask again: How cool is that?