Arriving in Thailand, I knew I wanted to see elephants. I just had no idea what was in store for me! God is good!
So, we had heard and been adamantly reminded to go to the elephant SANCTUARIES and NOT the places where the elephants are chained up and people ride them around like simple pack mules. Just disgusting.
Once we reached some Wi-Fi and a bit of rest after 48 hours of traveling, my trusty teammate Lindsay was on the case. She found the perfect spot for us.
Early Saturday morning, we were picked up in our air-conditioned van and bused away to an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Upon arrival, we were given some “traditional” elephant-playtime-clothing (probably not the correct terminology but whatevs, have you ever cuddled an elephant?). They started things right off the bat with informing us on how to go about interacting with elephants. We learned that an animal is an animal, tame or wild, and that if we did not correctly interact with them we would suffer their wrath. By wrath, I mean sass, because elephants are total divas!!
We were shown how to feed them one of their fav snacks, bananas, and how NOT to get your arm broken by teasing them or accidentally dropping it on the ground. Did you know that elephants won’t eat bananas once they’ve been on the ground? And they will totally beat you up if you try to make them? Lol, same.
We were then released into the elephant territory to fill our straw bags with bananas for the feeding frenzy. They told us various Thai commands to use with the elephants that they recognize for feeding. At first, WOW it was scary. Those babies are massive!!! And did I mention sassy?
There was one elephant tied off to the side that they called Jackie Chan. They said he was the troublemaker. They all seemed a bit mischievous to me, but so cute. I feel ya, Jackie Chan.
Despite the cuteness, we were all completely in awe of those creatures. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for some people, and we felt the sacredness of the moment. They are a true display of God’s creativity and intentionality in creation.
After about an hour of feeding, we were taught how to make organic herbal medicine for the elephants, and how they keep them healthy. Many of the elephants came from backgrounds of abuse used for entertainment and tourist attractions. These animals were so happy and free and you could definitely tell.
After a quick lunch of Pad Thai, a typical meal in Thailand, we geared up to go on our trek, armed with sugar cane sticks to bribe the elephants into following us or to reward them for great behavior. Little did we know, we’d be leading these elephants one by one through a mountain path with mud that was about knee deep. We split up into pairs, and each got our own personal elephant to take care of along the journey. Some of the staff accompanied us to keep the elephants in check, but we were taught to shout commands for them to follow along the trail. It was the craziest experience of my life!! Here I am, walking along in a Thai jungle, being trailed by a massive animal that I can only dream about being in such close quarters with. Their footprints in the mud literally looked like something from Jurassic Park. Actually the entire experience was extremely canny to basically every scene in Jurassic Park. A couple times I was almost trampled but its fine, mama I made it!
After hiking about two miles up a mountain, the elephants making many pit stops to eat some bamboo or scratch a back or two on overhead rocks, we stopped in a ravine to give the sweet darlings a quick mud bath. That’s right. WE GAVE ELEPHANTS A MUD BATH IN A THAI JUNGLE. But wait, it gets better.
After hiking a bit longer, enjoying some scenic views, and walking/sliding/tumbling down the mountain on a steep muddy path, we came to a river. We stripped to our swimsuits, walked right into the totally non-sketchy, muddy brown, and extremely fast current. The elephants were led into the water and we were given brushes and small buckets to clean off all the mud we’d just massaged into their skin. As we began to scrub, you could see the pure bliss by the light in their eyes and also in the way that they sprayed us all with river water and starting pooping downstream. As my teammate Caitlin lovingly referred to those little surprises, we received some “bath bombs” while bathing. Sorry not sorry!
(bath bombs not pictured above)
So yeah. WE BATHED IN THE RIVER WITH ELEPHANTS. AND I’M STILL NOT DONE WITH THIS STORY!!
After spending the entire day with our friends (literally like 8 hours), it was time to say goodbye and get harnessed for the zipline. YES, THE ZIPLINE!!!! COOL THINGS ARE STILL HAPPENING!
We jumped up and soared right over the river we’d just swam in, gathered our things, rinsed off the caked-on mud with a quick jungle shower, waved at a tiny random Buddhist man, got back in the van and looked forward to a hot shower and some cashew chicken with some stories to last a lifetime. I will never forget this day for the rest of my life, and if you ever get the chance, or even if you don’t get the chance, you should still MAKE TIME and totally check out the elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai. Worth every penny!
