Elephants

When we were planning our trip we learnt that the Thai people regard elephants as special and sacred animals and that there were several different opportunities to interact with elephants. As always, after much research my trusty travel partner Z found an elephant conservation farm called Patara Elephant Farm where we could be an elephant owner for the day. This was a once in a lifetime experience not to be missed, but don't get me wrong, it was a lot of hard work. Patara has a great philosophy: " Extinction is forever".

The experience at Patara was very educational and I left with a lot more knowledge and a much deeper appreciation for elephants. I was quite amazed to witness how the elephants used their trunks and at times shocked at what they could do with them.

The elephant population in Thailand is approximately 2500 today, about half of what it was 40 years ago. Patara is proud in that they stress the health and well-being of elephants in their activities and are about conservation and breeding. The elephant population has been declining due to human exploitation, poaching, and deforestation.

Our day started with an early morning pick up and we arrived at the remote farm about an hour later. Our first introduction to the elephants was while we waited to get started. There was a mother and a playful baby elephant (4 months old) there to greet us. The baby had quite the personality as he tried to nudge us out of his way.

At our initial briefing we learned more about elephants and how they are similar to humans. We also learned more about the farm and their purpose. With the declining elephant population, they are trying to provide a healthy environment and habitat for the elephants. We also learned more about what we were going to do throughout the day and what was expected of us. Again I stress, this was not a sit back and watch kind of place.

We started off by meeting our assigned elephant and trainer/owner. My elephant was named Nui and my trainer was Eh. Nui is15 months pregnant with her first child. Gestation period ranges from 19 to 24 months and the baby will weigh around 150 lbs at birth. After Nui gives birth, her name will change to Maenui. Mae means mother. Female elephants can breed to age 55 and some will end up having many babies. The farm was proud to have experienced 5 births the last year and currently have 2 pregnant elephants.

The safest way to approach an elephant is from the front and in this case by calling their name and waiting for a friendly reaction before actually approaching. Nui was quite friendly and also quite playful with me at times. Z was paired up with Maebutong and her baby 8 month son.

Our first task was feeding time. Elephants will eat all day long so long as food is given to them. They are vegetarians and so feeding included bananas, sugar cane and grass. It was quite an experience to stick the food right into Nui's mouth...thankfully her teeth are well back in her mouth and so when she would close her mouth with my hand in there all I would feel was her tongue and gums.

After feeding was a health inspection where we had to make sure that our elephant had slept properly the night before by checking for signs of dirt in areas on their body. Elephants sleep for about four hours a day and sleep lying down for 45 minutes then stand up for 15 minutes and repeat. We also checked to make sure our elephant was happy, sweat properly to expel heat, and well....inspected their poop for signs of sickness. Eh let me skip that process because Nui was used as the example for everyone else.

Cleaning and bathing was next. We were taught the proper way to scrub our elephant in the river. Did I mention this day was hands on? Reaching the top of an elephant can be tricky so in most cases we learned the command to have them lay down. In Nui's case they didn't want her to lay down because she is pregnant so I climbed on some rocks and cleaned off her back before her bath. After bath time we posed for a group picture and unbeknownst to us the real owners instructed the elephants to spray us with water.

By now it was time for a short break and then we learned how to get on and off our elephants in preparation for our bare-back riding trek to a nearby waterfall. These elephants are trained in this regard so they are quite helpful with this task. I still felt bad because I thought I could be hurting Nui during the process. But she was gentle and helpful bending her leg so I could step up first on her ankle, then her thigh while she slightly lifted her leg so I could climb on. I found her to be very intelligent and mindful of me riding her. It took me a little time to get fully comfortable riding her mostly because we had to sit in a rather awkward position to begin with and because you are quite high up...seemed like it would be quite a long fall if I fell off but Nui didn't let that happen. Riding was quite fun. We disembarked when we approached a road and walked with our elephants. This is where Nui was rather playful and would put her trunk in her mouth and then slightly spray me. She would also occasionally get her flapping ears to hit my head. While walking we were to say certain commands so our elephants could hear our voices and Nui would be looking at me the whole time. It was quite special to feel that she trusted me.

At the waterfall we had a wonderful picnic lunch on a bamboo hut and then got a chance to swim and play with a couple elephants in the river. Maebutong and her baby were in the river and were very playful. Z and I were sitting on Maebutong and she was partially immersed in the water and would lean from side to side as though she was trying to make us fall off. After I got over my initial hesitation, I admit it was tons of fun and so glad I did it. I would have regretted if I skipped this once in a life time opportunity.

After lunch it was time to ride back to the farm and again Nui made sure the ride was as pleasant as possible. She took it slow and even stopped to feed on the occasional bunch of grass.

This experience has definitely been the highlight of the trip so far. I know what we have planned for the rest of our time in Thailand and I'm not sure it will top this! We were exhausted by the end of the day and quite sore for the next couple days.

Patara's team does a great job in making sure you have access to ample water throughout the day and the lunch provided was more than enough to satisfy. In fact, our elephants got all the leftovers minus the meat.

For anyone planning a trip to Thailand and Chiang Mai, Patara Elephant Farm has to be on the list of things to do. This is an experience not to miss.