Elephant Sanctuary, Need We Say More?
By Lauren Gerzina & Justin Hayes
Jungle Trek, Mud Bath, and River Swim
We woke up early to get ready for a very special excursion – a trip to an elephant sanctuary! All of Chiang Mai seems decorated with imagery of the beautiful animals and shops sell endless types of elephant paraphernalia. We have been looking forward to this excursion since we decided to come to Thailand.
We grabbed smoothies from a shop across the street (Mango/Passionfruit for Justin and Watermelon for Lauren) and brought them back to the apartment to add protein powder. We were ready in the lobby at 8:30, but because they didn’t seem to be coming anytime soon, we decided to enter the café that was on the bottom floor of our building. We both ordered coffees and sat waiting for our ride. At around 9am, a songthaew (think truck with a cover over the back of it and 2 long benches for people to sit) pulled up. There was no room in the back, so we were put in the cab of the truck (which was very uncomfortable and very cold [for Lauren]).
After about an hour, we stopped at a little village market for people to use the restroom, grab snacks, drinks, etc. Twenty minutes later, we were back on the road headed to the elephants. It took another FULL hour up a steep mountain with switchbacks on a “normal” road plus a weird partially paved private road down into the elephant camp.
The camp was beautiful and had five elephants happily hanging out near a wooden deck where many people were already petting the animals. We joined the crowd and then the main tour guide asked us to get ready to feed them! We washed our hands and headed down to where there were buckets and buckets of bananas, sugar cane, and grains. They kept the elephants on the other side of fences so that they did not go after the food directly and so we would have a chance to hand feed them. It was so much fun giving them tons of food. Some of the elephants liked to collect every single thing you were holding to feed them into their trunks and then they would shove it all in their mouths and chew for several minutes. It was incredibly amusing.
After the feeding, we put on sunscreen and bug spray and started a jungle trek with the elephants. The sanctuary takes them on 2 walks a day to help them with digestion and to keep them from getting too lazy. The jungle is also a good place for them to eat all manner of vegetation. They seem to love bamboo and several kinds of vines that we encountered on the hike straight up the side of the mountain we came down earlier in the truck.
We gained a lot of elevation and were so surprised to see how quickly and gracefully they could walk amongst the trees. And they also camouflage REALLY well. Some of the elephants would take different paths from the trail that the humans would normally take and, if we lost sight of them between the trees and vines, the only way you could tell where they were was the noise of their movement. We hiked for about an hour and a half with the elephants, which stopped frequently to eat or give themselves a mud bath.
When we got back to the main wooden deck (building?) of the farm, food was served on the tables. They provided sweet and sour chicken, massaman curry, white rice and fruit platters. Unfortunately, Justin could not eat the main dishes, so the kitchen basically made him a bunch of scrambled eggs. Upside, it was lots of protein. Downside, it was pretty boring. We chatted a bit with the other people on the tour (many of them were scuba divers) while we ate.
After lunch, the full group worked together to crush up all the ingredients needed for elephant vitamins (turmeric, bananas, salt, bitter root, tamarind, grains) with a large fulcrum. Water was added, and we all grabbed a handful of the mess to feed to the elephants. Then it was time for a mud bath! Everyone changed into bathing suits and wandered over to a giant mud pit. The elephants were coaxed into the area with bananas, and we picked up tons of mud and spread it all over their skin. This is apparently very good for keeping their skin healthy. We were all sloshing around in the mud and many people started spreading mud all over their friends.
After the elephants (and all of us) were super muddy, we walked down to a large eddy from the river running down the mountains. We splashed all the elephants and washed the mud off them and us. The water was very cold, so many of us only got in up to our stomachs. Lauren got into the water deeper than many others to ensure she got some good “Instagram worthy” photos. When the elephants were tired of the water, they all got out and of course we all followed. We all went up to the bathrooms and took a rinse in their outdoor showers.
Once everyone was showered/changed, we loaded back into the songthaews and headed back to Chiang Mai. It was a two-hour ride with no stops. We sat in the back of the truck on the way home. We can confidently say that the back is ALSO super uncomfortable. We don’t recommend riding in them for an extended period of time.
Once back at our apartment, we showered and threw a load of laundry in. We got a Grab and headed to a restaurant in the old town called “Dash”. There was a long wait, so we put our names on the list and went to the next-door bar to get an appetizer of fries and some drinks. When our name was called, we got a table in the back of the outdoor area. Justin ordered the Gluten free Koh Soi and Lauren got the Pad See Ew. Both were so good, we decided to order some mango sticky rice, which was also delicious. We got a Grab home to finish laundry and relax before hitting the hay.
For reference: The elephant sanctuary was called “Into the Wild”. We would definitely recommend – other than the ride to and from the sanctuary.
