Elephants

The absolute highlight of our trip was spending the day at an elephant camp.

There are over 20 camps in Chiang Mai and all are a bit different....some you can ride the elephants, some you can't. Some put on "shows", where the elephants dance and paint. Others are adamantly against this, as brute force is used in teaching them these "tricks". 

I was looking for a place where we could be with the elephants in their natural environment, where they aren't paraded around or treated unfairly.

We felt good about Thai Elephant Home, and liked that all profits were going back to the elephants and environment...to reforestation, sheltering, and caring for the elephants. 

As you can see, they gave us some special denim outfits to wear...actually, by the end of the day, I was so glad my legs were covered as the mosquitos were ruthless.

We started the day feeding the elephants bamboo and learning how to get on and off of them. 

These were Thai elephants, and didn't speak English, so we were learning how to command them in Thai. See our trusty cheat-sheets around our necks??

After we were comfortable on their bare-backs, we set off in the jungle.

We stopped for LOTS of snacks...elephants should eat 10% of their body weight per day, so the entire time, they were eating vegetation, and the mahouts were running into the forest to grab them bamboo, bananas, or other fruits. 

Check out this big bite!

At one point, I was holding a bunch of bananas we grabbed from a tree...

 She would reach her trunk up, and I'd give her 2-3 at a time. 

We stopped periodically to give the elephants a rest...to re-apply bug spray, 

save a tree,

marvel at nature,

 and grab a delicious pad-thai lunch. 

After lunch, we continued onto the river for a swim...

 ...and proceeded to have a water fight. 

It was back on the trail, and we were headed back to camp. 

It was quite an amazing experience...to be so close to these gentle giants; to command them, ride them, play with them, and feed them. 

 At the end of the day, we were so dirty, smelly, and full of insect bites.

 This wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea, but I loved every minute of it. 

Hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of our day!

xx,

Lauren