Credit to Joanna for the blog title. Today was absolutely awesome because it was Elephant sanctuary day. There’s a bunch of different companies in Chiang Mai that do basically the same thing but this is the one we went with: www.elephantjunglesanctuary.com/. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures or videos in the past of people riding elephants or elephants painting pictures. It’s actually a very cruel practice that involves taking the babies away from their families early on to break them so that they are trainable. Their anatomy isn’t build to carry loads on their backs as they lift things with their trunks so riding them is not good for their bodies. Also the trainers use something called a bullhook which is a sharp curved pointy thing that is used to beat and train the elephants. This sanctuary has only been around for 3 years and they’ve managed to save 55 elephants so far.
I booked online and was told that they were picking us up at our hostel at 8 in the morning. They picked up a few other people and the 8 of us were crammed in the back of a pickup truck for 2 hours driving past really nice scenery, rice paddies, and eventually dirt roads up a mountain.
We arrived camp 6 of the sanctuary which had 2 baby elephants. One was 5 months old and the other was 8 months old. They gave us a quick orientation instructing us not to touch the elephants on their bellies or their hind legs as they’re ticklish and could kick you. Also when feeding them, you want to yell “BON BON” to have them open their mouths. They handed us bananas and sugar cane and let us feed all the elephants. Their skin is so weird, it’s very wrinkly and dry with very coarse hairs on it. I really like how their trunks feel, its very flexible and can grab anything.
It’s so crazy how smart they are. The workers told us to keep our backpacks in the hut because the elephants will assume you have food for them and take your bags from you. I tried pushing against one and it’s like a big fleshy wall. Even though the babies were small, they charge through you and you have to get out of their way otherwise they’ll step on your foot. The morning was spent feeding the elephants. The bananas and sugar cane were treats but we also had to get corn and banana trees to feed them as well. Elephants only sleep 2-3 hours a day, the rest of the time is eating and pooping, pooping and eating.
They fed us a human sized lunch which was delicious: fried rice, chicken, soup, and fruit. During the break we needed to make vitamin balls for them which consisted of cooked white rice, raw brown rice, salt, tamarind, and bananas. This provided them with iodine, vitamin c ,and fiber. Everything was throw into big mortar and pestels and you pound everything until its mushy then you form balls of mush for them. Afterwards we stripped down to our swim suits because it was time to give them a mud bath. The baby elephants had such a good time, they were rolling in the mud and making squeaking sound while we literally threw piles of mud at them and rubbed it into their skin. This is good for them as it adds a layer of protection from the sun and bugs. After the mud bath we all got into the river and started throwing water at them.
This was such a fun experience of a lifetime to do. I would highly encourage everyone to consider doing an elephant sanctuary if you’re ever in Thailand. One of the guides told me they have a week long volunteer program where you stay at the sanctuary working with the elephants. I would totally do this if I only had the time!
At the end of the day we were sad to go but felt lucky to have a such a close intimate time getting to know these very smart animals.
I filmed this video on my way out, I’d like to think the elephants were saying bye to me.
We got back to our hostel and took a well needed shower. My swim suit is permanently brown now from all the mud. There was a guy and girl that were at the sanctuary who we got along with really well who are from San Francisco. Christine is starting med school this year and totally connected with Joanna since she just finished dental school. Our hostels weren’t too far from each other so we all met up later on at night and walked one of the food markets. Hopefully we can hang out again before Joanna and I have to leave for Bangkok on Sunday night.
