This morning after having a quick breakfast downstairs in the hostel we were picked up at 830am to visit the elephant nature park for the day. There were so meant sanctuaries in Chiang Mai it was a bit of a mine field of which one to go with but we finally book d one that recommended by a guy we met in Koh Tao whilst diving. The were a few pick ups in the minibus, once finished we watched a video on the history of Thailand’s elephants, how humans have used them and the horrendous cruelty that came hand in hand with the domestication process. People really can be evil!
The drive was about an hour, once we arrived we immediately met 3 Asian elephants who were to our pals for the day, they were all female, and aged 45, 72 and 80. 85 is usually the top life span for this animal. You could tell which ones were the oldest by the muscle wastage from their foreheads. They had been saved 2-3 years ago from the logging industry and neared some terrible scars on their legs.
First of all we cut up some watermelon to feed them, they knew exactly the routine for the day and were getting impatient. We then fed them by handing it to their trunks, the older 2 had to have their watermelon peeled to make it easier on their teeth whereas the older one could have the lot, skin and all!
Next we were to make protein balls and hand them these too, the man showed us how to hand them into their mouths but this meant getting past their strong trunks which were so strong and they were too enthusiastic to get the food!
After applying a thick layer of cream and insect repellent we were off for a short trek to the river and to the mountain for lunch. To ensure the elephants wanted to follow us for the entire journey we were each given a banana bag full of bananas, being advised not to wear it across the body because sometimes the elephants try and get into the bags and may pull you.
David was almost out of bananas within 5minutes, it was definitely a game of ‘no food, no friend’ . As we walked alongside the river the staff started to get excited, pointing at the dogs in the river, throwing stones in the water to point something out, it was an anaconda swimming in the water! The guide quickly said if you see any snakes out here don’t play with them, most are venomous and will kill a human within an hour…. great!
When we reached the little check point at the base of the mountain it was time for elephants to have their bamboo stop, however the local grazing cattle had got there first. The dogs weren’t happy at this and started barking and snapping at the cows ankles which disturbed the elephants who started stamping their feet and making a lot of noise.
A guide also had a bucket of tamarin, a large pod from a tree, when he put it down and wasn’t looking one of the elephants just started tucking into the bucket 😂.
The elephants took a break and we walked part way up the mountain side for lunch in a hut with a view. Lunch was awesome, lots of different Thai dishes, all vegetarian! And they even had roast potatoes which made David very happy, he went up for seconds… a full plate of roasties with ketchup!
After lunch we headed back did we and the elephants were a,ready in the water, it was time for a quick change and to bathe them in the river…. a little bit cautiously never mind given the snake spotted earlier in the day. Everyone was having a great time and buckets started to get thrown between people too, David had a sense of humour failure though and told a guy not to throw any at him….. I was mortified that he couldn’t enjoy a simple thing like a water fight- the fun police was well and truly out today with him!
After a good tree scratch we started heading back, again with a banana bag each and 2 huge bunches of bananas we went back to base camp…. it was heating up and I was worried that it would be a repeat sunburn day, despite using factor 50- how I escaped this was a miracle!
We said goodbye to this older group and moved by minibus to the head quarters to see some more hers with different stories to tell. The elephant nature park also rescues other dogs and has a dog clinic, cat clinic and herds of water buffalo, and horses. Pretty cool place actually! We walked round the park where we saw a 53 year old female elephant giving herself a mud bath, she had to be kept alone because she would get aggressive and try and steal the baby elephants.
A family of elephants including 2 orphaned males of 2 years old. So,e staff were having a picnic and one of the babies stole an entire bunch of bananas from them, they were so inquisitive.
There was also a huge group of water buffalo wading in the river, the only thing you could see was their head and horns, did not blame 5em, the heat was incredible!
Finally we met a female elephant who was completely blind, she had been rescued from a local farmer who had gauged both of her eye out with a knife as a punishment for her breaking someone’s arm. She was trying her best to get the fruit from the trees.
Finally we met a young elephant who got his foot trapped in a tiger trap a year ago and after his herd couldn’t rescue him they abandoned him in the forest. He still had a bandage on his foot and his forelimb was twice the size of his other. The rescue was doing their best to bathe it twice daily and bandage it but it still looked horrific, and amazing he was still living to be honest. They are so intelligent! He had a foster mum who was also blind but lead him to the treatment area at specific times to have his treatment, he even went to bathe it himself with a bit of bribery in the form of watermelon. His mum literally had to push him to the treatment area, probably because she knew that their was food in it for her!
That evening we went over to the night market! Wow I’ve never seen anything on that scale, streets lined with stalls, plazas with stalls, all pretty much selling the same stuff but some it quite nice stuff. Perfect place to get a bargain and even better that it’s our last stop so we can fill our cases the beat we can! We ate light street food tonight, didn’t want to sit in another restaurant with Thai food that we were fed up of!
South East Asia 2019 