Welcome to Jennie of the Jungle!

Lions and baboons and cheetahs, oh my!  Hi folks! I just wanted to share the video that JOJ leader Aron made of our recent trip to Namibia, Africa this September. Check it out and tell us what you think! I'll be offering this trip again October 2021. Get in touch for more info or to reserve a spot, or sign up on the website. Enjoy!

Photo courtesy of Tripfuser.com Myanmar! Also known as Burma. I'd been wanting to visit this country for a long time, and it all started with a photo. I saw a beautiful photo of Bagan at sunrise, showing temples upon temples in front of layers of pinkish, glowing trees. Hot air balloons floated over the scene. I had to see this place. And it truly lived up to the dream! After spending a week in the jungles of Chiang Mai, Thailand at our elephant rescue project, my volunteers and I flew to Myanmar for our one-week tour of the country. We would see Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lake, and Yangon. I had no idea what to expect, as there isn't a whole lot of information about this country. Myanmar just opened up to tourism about twelve years ago after being fraught with internal struggle and war. They didn't even have cars in Bagan until five years ago! Despite the warnings about the dangers of tourism in a country strife with war for so many years, I found it to be one of the m...

I just got back from an amazing volunteer trip to Thailand to work with rescued elephants in Chiang Mai. Myself, my co-leader Aron, and our four JOJ volunteers spent a week in the hills of Northern Chiang Mai with the Karen tribe, who have owned elephants for centuries. These elephants were once used for subsistence by putting them to work in the logging industry. They were captured, brutally tamed, and put to work hauling large felled trees from the forest. After the advent of tourism, they were put to work in the trekking and entertainment industry, forced to learn tricks, perform, and carry tourists on their backs all day in the hot sun. Suffice it to say these animals are not treated well. Abuse and cruelty were the only ways the owners knew to keep their elephants in check. Many organizations are now trying to help Thailand's captive elephants have a better life. On the forefront, Save Elephant Foundation, run by Lek Chailert, is running a number of different proje...