Elephant Parade Part 1

I first heard of the Elephant Parade in 2010, when I was in London.  I happened upon two elephants outside a restaurant across the street from Buckingham Palace.  I thought it was a one time thing, but it's not, there have been elephant parades in London, Amsterdam, Luxemburg, Milan and now Dana Point.  Yes, Dana Point.  Not San Francisco, L.A., San Diego, Chicago or New York City, but our humble little Dana Point.  What is the Elephant Parade?  I've included the press release below from their website: www.elephantparade.com.   To find the street map and dates for events in Dana Point, here is the website: http://www.mydanapoint.com/elephants

We Love Mosha/USA by Artist Thiti Suwan

Meet Mosha. She needs your support. In fact, a whole species does. Asian elephants are on the verge of extinction, and the commitment for their preservation started with special elephant known as Mosha. After stepping on an abandoned land mine, Mosha was fit with the world¹s first-ever prosthesis for a baby elephant. Her powerful strides inspired father and son duo, Mike and Marc Spits, to create Elephant Parade®in 2006. As a socially-conscious business enterprise, Elephant Parade has since rapidly grown from a grassroots movement into a global crusade combining a powerful mix of corporate, celebrity and community support. Through the sale of merchandise and auction of the original art pieces, the exhibition has raised over $6 million dollars to help support the world¹s most majestic land mammals and raise global awareness of issues affecting their dramatic plight.

Maa Lii by Artist Chris Chun

One of my favorites

 So I downloaded the not to scale or even precise map to find the elephants around Dana Point and one hot evening I set off with the Handsome Husband to find some of them.  Thank goodness I brought the Handsome Husband with me because he had an eagle eye and could spot these babies from far away.  They are actually hard to spot even when you are close by, but it was fun spotting them.  We walked quite a bit and saw 9 elephants in about 2 hours.  On the map they look like they are all lined up in a row, but actually they are along the street, the harbor, inside the Ocean Institute, on the pier, you get the drift.  The map is handy though, giving you an approximation of the location and the name of the elephant and the artist.  Finding them is like going on a treasure hunt.

 I loved how different each elephant was.  Some I liked, some I didn't.  Ones that I had high expectations for, disappointed me and others that I never heard of were incredible.  I love their eyes, all different.  Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.  Some of the elephants that I didn't like, others loved and vice versa.

 Corn by Artist Nat Posila

 Beady by Artist David Nguyen

I had to wait my turn to photograph some of the elephants,  Families were taking pictures with their kids on the platforms.  This little boy just played on this elephant the whole time so what the heck, he's in the pic.  There are plaques asking you not to touch the elephants, but as usual, people weren't paying attention to their children or they just didn't care. 

 Gentle Guardian by Johanna Enriquez

 Is Anybody Listening? by Lily Tomlin and Erin Boyle

 Is Anybody Listening?

 Caesar's Pack by Cesar Milan

 Brittany by Artist Loree Rodkin and Skinny Lewis

 Sea the Point by Artist Laura Seelay

This one was very intricate and the other side was incredible, but I was having a hard time with my flash and it didn't come out.  

Betty Boop by Max Fleischer d. 1972 

  

A couple of days later, I set out with the dogs in another search for more elephants.  We found quite a few and among them another favorite.  This is quite a fun outing for me.  What's not to like, you are by the beach, beautiful scenery, and cooler weather. (It's been in the hight 90's here). There are some that are at the Ritz Carlton and the St Regis and I am loath to pay $10-$25 for parking just to see their 4 or 5 elephants, but I might!

I'll be back with more elephants later.