The Elephant Nature Park

Up close and personal with a beautiful Asian elephant
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Wow, what a day!  We met Jessica and Adam in Chiang Mai, Thailand 2 days ago after various travel issues but that was all straightened out and no big deal.  Today started our experience at the Elephant Nature Park (ENP) and it was an amazing day!

The ENP was founded by a Thai woman named Lek who was concerned about the plight of domesticated elephants after the Thai logging industry became illegal and the elephants and their mahouts were put out of jobs.  Many went into the tourist industry or roamed city streets to beg.  The ENP is special in that it combines tourist activities (feeding and bathing elephants) while providing a large piece of land for the elephants to roam and behave as they would naturally.  Also volunteers can pay to stay for working vacations for weeks or months.  The elephants are not chained at night when the tourists are done with their rides (there is no elephant riding here) and they are guaranteed a safe refuge for the rest of their lives.

At the mud hole
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Our guide was "Mammoth" (a native from a hill tribe in the Golden Triangle region) and he was hilarious and very informative about the elephants, their stories, and the background of the park.  Our first assignment was feeding the elephants- we were assigned to the juvenile Thong Jan a beautiful little creature of about 4 years old.  She was very funny- refusing to eat her bananas until she had finished her watermelon and then only eating them reluctantly after a stern word from her mahout.  She gave us all kisses for fruit!  After the people ate lunch it was time to bath the elephants.  We all headed down to the river where the elephants splashed luxuriously in the water beneath jungle covered mountains and we scrubbed their skin with stiff brushes.

Geoff REALLY liked washing the elephants- watch out for the "banana cakes"!
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After bath time they went to the mud hole where they coated their skin to protect against insect bites and the sun.  It was very cool to watch over 30 elephants rolling and playing in the mud.  The babies played soccer with car tires and were generally goof balls while their mothers and "aunts" doted over them.  After this (and a million pictures) we walked with Mammoth through the beautiful park and he told us the heartbreaking stories of some of the elephants before they came to the park- one was blinded by her mahout after her calf died and she refused to work, another injured in a logging accident and then by a bull elephant which left her crippled, still another male had one of his tusks cut off by a chainsaw- resulting in an a chronic infection that has taken years to clear up.  Beating and starvation are regular tools in the training of young and disobedient elephants- a sad fate for Thailand's most revered creature.

This poor girl was injured in a logging accident and then by a bull in musth.
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I was so happy we were able to come here and cann't wait to come back for a longer volunteer experience in the future.  Being able to enjoy these beautiful animals in a setting close to what was intended by nature was a rare treat and learning about Lek's inspiring cause enough to touch anyone.