A Day With Elephants

I knew, coming to Thailand, that I would want to have some sort of visit with elephants.  Ideally, I would have volunteered with an elephant rescue for a week or two.  Unfortunately, my procrastination and shallow pockets prevented that from happening.  Instead, I went with a place recommended by my hostel:  Baan Chang Elephant Camp.  A fellow hostel-ite and myself decided we would go together to save a little money.  She wanted to do a two day, one night package that included some hiking and white water rafting, so I agreed.  We left in the morning, heading for a day of adventure.  After stopping at the elephant camp to drop off our belongings, we headed further into the jungle to start a fairly easy one hour hike to a waterfall.

There was a small stand set up at the waterfall that was selling snacks and drinks.  The lady running it had a baby monkey that apparently fell off it's mama and was left behind.  It was adorable...shown here with our tour guide:

A side note:  Most of the construction is done using bamboo scaffolding and such.  There was a man cutting down bamboo in the area and carrying it out by himself.  It's amazing how hard people are willing to work!  It's also amazing how strong bamboo is...

After hiking back, we went on a bit of a rafting adventure.  I'm not sure it can really be considered "rafting"...there were more rapids in the lazy river at the waterpark I use to work at.  But, nonetheless..we floated down the river in a raft.  The water level was low, causing us to get stuck on rocks a few times.  The most adventure came from all of us jumping up and down, trying to scoot off the rock.  Next up was bamboo rafting.  15 minutes of it.  It was actually extremely relaxing...floating down the river on a raft made of bamboo...some other guy doing the paddling.  

After lunch we visited a local tribe village where there were no fewer than 10 women selling the exact same thing at different stands.  I didn't buy anything, but I did play with an adorable puppy:

Finally, we headed back to the elephant camp to spend the rest of the day relaxing on the beautiful property.  They made an incredible dinner, that seemed to be bottomless.

We spent the night around a camp fire.  Bananas were grilled, and sticky rice was cooked over the fire in bamboo.

Before bed, we took turns releasing paper lanterns into the night sky.

The next morning we were up early to begin our Mahout training (elephant trainer training).

Now before I can really tell you about my day, I need to tell you about my thoughts.  I had extremely mixed feelings about the day.  I am a bit of a sucker for animals.  I love them.  I think they should be allowed to live as they were intended to live.  I didn't go to Tiger Kingdom (where you can get your picture taken with tigers) in Chiang Mai because I don't agree with it.  I don't agree with these tigers being kept in small cages and drugged (if they are) so that we, as humans, can pose and take pictures with them.  I love animals.  I feel for them.  So - when it came time to decide on an elephant place, I tried to do my research to find a place that let the elephants live as naturally as possible.  There are so many opposing stories out there...it's hard to know what to believe.  After visiting Baan Chang, I still have mixed feelings.  The elephants here are supposedly all rescues...either rescued from a life of street begging (people walking around with elephants, begging for money to "feed the elephant"), or a life of performing (painting, standing on two legs, dancing, etc).  Many elephant parks actually rent their elephants, but claim they are rescues.  The elephants are kept in what seems to be a fairly small area with a chain around one leg.  This is for the safety of the guests, as well as the elephants.  If left to roam, they may fight with one another, or travel into surrounding farms and get attacked.  Regardless, I couldn't help but feel bad for them.  

This little guy was trying to reach some food:

They are fed and exercised throughout the day, but left to stand in their own mess.  They sway side to side, bobing their head.  I read online that this is a sign of boredom and stress, but they assured us that's it's just "what they do".  I also read that once they begin to perform this behavior, it's generally something they will do throughout life...so is it stress, or just habit?  Do you see my dilemna?  Many elephant places offer elephant rides - in a massive seat on the elephants back.  Elephants can carry some weight - but typically that of about 2 people.  These seats way about that, plus the people in the seat, plus the Mahout sitting on the neck.  Baan Chang allows elephant riding, but only one or two people and only bareback.  I'd be lying if I said that the elephants here looked like they were in bad condition.  I felt like most of the Mahouts cared a lot about their elephants.

So, about the day...after breakfast we fed the elephants.  They eat bananas like I eat ice cream - the more, the better (who needs to chew, anyways?).  The older elephants also LOVE sugar cane.  Weaving through the elephants to get to the ones in the back can be a bit tricky, as they are constantly trying to grab things from you as you walk by...and they are strong!  One of the elephants trumpets every time someone comes close with food...needless to say, it scared the bejeebers out of a few people.

After feeding time, we had a lesson in Mahout training.  We learned the basic commands to control the elephant (straight, turn right, etc).  Let's not pretend that the elephants would listen to any one other than their trainer...While we were out on a walk, one of the elephants kept heading straight into the bushes (with the "guest mahouts" yelling for it to stop).  So...training.  Then we practiced getting onto the elephant.  They tell us to jump up, get settled quickly and hold on because once you start to jump, they start to stand....and that's a height you don't want to fall from.

Once we were trained up, we took the elephants out for some exercise.  We rode bareback, with one person on the neck, and another on the back.  We took two laps around the property and then headed to the lake for bath time!  They do this a few times throughout the day.  

A refreshing drink:

Bath time fun:

Overall, it was an incredible experience.  Just to stand next to one of these giants was amazing - but to look into their eyes and watch them eat and dump buckets of pee....simply unforgettable.

Elephants, check.

~Jac