Volunteering with Elephant - Jaipur

Hi All. This was my first time. I chose to volunteer here because I wanted to work with animals and be in a familiar country.
The communication was handled seamless by Sukret much before I travelled. All responses were prompt and Sukret was quite considerate as he took extra care to highlight, the weather, the need to carry water on the day denoted for sightseeing.
I chose to stay out on my own however was picked up and dropped off every day , on time.
Shekhar, the driver was a very nice person. Not only did he drive safely, he bargained for me at local fruit stalls without me even asking for it. He took me sightseeing being mindful of what I would enjoy which he picked up on his own. He would give the little children in the village a few bucks to buy candy for themselves and always spoke respectfully and patiently. I’m glad I got to meet him.
Now, the elephants. The mahouts involved with the elephants. It’s was a wonderful experience to be in such close contact of such a big animal having no previous experience under the supervision of the staff, Rohit and the mahouts.
I never felt unsafe, as a woman, as the only volunteer in a village.
They are all individuals, in their own person and to observe their interaction with the elephants was actually quite cool.
The elephants I worked with were gentle, except for one. She was playful too. As with animals, one must respect their boundaries.
All in all, the one week that I spent there was very well planned with enough work, enough opportunities to take initiative and enough free time to do your own thing.
The people I worked with were wonderful and I am glad to have met them.
I am an Hindi speaking person so please do note that language was not a barrier for me. The staff of VWI do speak English though.
I urge one to visit with an open mind as it is a developing country and the sights of the city’s historical grandeur juxtaposed with the current reality can take a while to digest.

I would want to go back again sometime and am grateful for this experience