My elephant week

While Stephanie went down to Koh Phangan for a 10 day yoga retreat, I stayed behind in Chiang Mai to volunteer at Elephant Nature Park for a week. The park, founded in the early 1990s by Sangduen “Lek” Chailert, is a sanctuary for domestic Asian elephants that have been rescued from logging and trekking operations, street begging, and performing. Many of the elephants have serious physical and mental handicaps, due to mistreatment, malnourishment, and/or the hardship of the labor they endured.

Sangduen 'Lek' Chailert singing an elephant to sleep at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Lek singing an elephant to sleep (it was standing seconds earlier)

I learned about the park when while traveling in the Philippines, thanks to Cebu Pacific’s in-flight magazine, Smile. Their January issue had a feature on 12 must-do adventures for 2011. One of them was written by bloggers Kyle and Bessie of On Our Own Path (who I later discovered also knew Jodi, my Chiang Mai connection). I read reviews elsewhere about the park, and found people’s reactions to be overwhelmingly positive. It was uncanny. Usually someone comes away from a tourist activity with a “meh”, but almost everyone counted the visit as a highlight of their trip to Thailand—if not their lives. My curiosity was piqued.

Elephant Nature Park review in Cebu Pacific's in-flight magazine, Smile, January 2011

I expected to be one of maybe 3-5 volunteers. The online application is surprisingly thorough (educational and employment history, essays on why you want to volunteer, general interests, etc.) and it actually costs money: 12,000 baht/week (~$400 USD)—a little steep for your average Southeast Asia backpacker (though to be fair, they house and feed you, and much of the money goes to the elephants). As it turns out, there were more than 30 volunteers starting with me, many staying for two weeks.

The program was very well organized. From their office in Chiang Mai we were bused to the park an hour away, which included a viewing of a well-produced documentary about the plight of elephants in Thailand on the way. The first day was similar to what one might encounter on a day tour (which Stephanie squeezed in before she left for her yoga retreat), predominantly centered around feeding and bathing the elephants. Then we continued with various volunteer orientations, including a welcoming ceremony by the local village’s spiritual leader.

Feeding watermelon to an elephant at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Trunk meet watermelon
Two elephants vacuum up the scraps at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Vacuuming up the scraps

Mahout washing down two elephants in the river at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Mahout washing down two elephants
Elephant sitting in river at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Cooling down in the river

Each day followed a fairly regular schedule. Breakfast at 7, work at 8. We were split into groups of about 10 volunteers, and each group was responsible for a daily chore that rotated: elephant poop scooping, elephant food preparation, grass/corn cutting. Afterwards we’d do a “special project” (whatever needed to be done, like unloading a pickup truck of 4 tons of watermelons) until it was time for elephant feeding at 11:30. Then we were free to help feed the elephants or relax until lunch: a mindblowingly awesome buffet of largely vegetarian, homemade Thai cuisine. Around 1:30 we’d get together again for a project or presentation until 3:30 or so, and then we were free for the rest of the day.

Justin posing with one of the elephants at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Posing with one of the elephants during our walk around the park

In addition to the normal daily schedule, they also offered two optional field trips that we could participate in. One involved working with Antoinette van de Water (founder of Bring the Elephant Home and author of The Great Elephant Escape) at the Elephant Jungle, a newly purchased tract of land where some of the elephants will one day roam freely. The projects there included assisting with the construction of basic facilities and helping to reforest land that had previously been under cultivation.

The other trip involved hiking with three elephants to the “Elephant Haven”, where we’d stay overnight in their treehouse while the elephants roamed free in the jungle. Part of the excitement included tramping through the dense bush with the mahouts after dinner (in the dark!) to locate the elephants (and make sure they were ok), then repeating the same in the morning to bring them back to the park.

Hope's mahout pays respect to Buddhist shrines on the way to Elephant Haven at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Hope’s mahout pays respect on the way to Elephant Haven
Hiking with the elephants Mae Perm and Jokia to the Elephant Haven at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Following Mae Perm and Jokia to Elephant Haven
Hiking with the elephants to the Elephant Haven at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
The elephants acted as our guides through the jungle
Volunteers laying down on the Elephant Haven treehouse at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Everyone collapsed once we reached the treehouse
Hiking with the elephants to the Elephant Haven at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Hope on the way back to the park after a night in the jungle

I enjoyed my time with the elephants. Up close they are fascinating, mesmerizing creatures. I could easily have stayed longer. The physical labor was purifying, and the people who coordinated our tasks were lovely, funny, always-appreciative folks. At the end of the day, no matter how tired, sore, sweaty, or dirty I was, I knew it was all for these elephants, which I found deeply satisfying. I doubt there will be anything else I do on this journey that will be as meaningful.

Dirty feet and elephant poop at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Dirty feet, elephant turds

But it was actually my time with the other volunteers that I enjoyed the most. We bonded around the park’s amazing food, traded travel and life stories, worked and sweated together. People had come all the way from Canada, Holland, the UK, Switzerland, Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore. Some were on shorter holidays, others on long term journeys like my own. Given how many of my social encounters on this trip last no longer than a single chance meeting, it was nice to have real time to spend with people over the course of a week. On our return to Chiang Mai, even though everyone was thoroughly exhausted, a large contingent of volunteers felt compelled to go out for food and drinks one last time. Apparently the feeling was mutual.

Splashy volunteer group shot in river at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Splashy group shot in the river

Update: I just posted some more elephanty goodness

13 Comments

Jonathan Léonard

Hi Justin,

Superb recap of the week. The Journey to Freedom was a blast too. The volunteer work was minimal. We only dig out some potatoes, teach english to kids and collecting banana trees for the elephants. Dyno had a cold so maybe it why we mainly walked with the elephants. In the second village with Coochie?, a really big and gentle elephant and another more naugthy one. The third was the walk with the twins babies which was incredible. I was victim to a lot of girls giggling. So have fun in India.
Later,

Jonathan

How cool! Loved reading this one. Well, I love all of them, but this one especially.

Mom

I was so looking forward to these pictures and your impressions. I was not disappointed–what an amazing experience you had. Love, Mom

Jonathan, glad to hear the “Journey to Freedom” was a success. I look forward to seeing a pic of the twins. Take care on your future travels.

Terrie and Mom, so glad you enjoyed (so glad I found the time in India to put this down in words). Check back in a few days, I’m working on a follow up of some of my favorite elephant photos.

sal

Excellent, moving post! Thanks for sharing…

Wow, what a lovely story. Great pics and looks like you had a blast. I’m headed that way in August and this looks like a great volunteer opportunity. Although the price is a bit steep I know its all for a good cause. Can you tell me about the yoga retreat your friend Stephanie went to in Koh Phangan?
Just stumbled onto your blog. Adding it to my RSS feed.

Haha, you paid $400 to clean up elephant poop! Just kidding, this looks cool. The third-to-the-last picture is gorgeous.

This is an amazing experience. Just received your post card today and reading your blog post filled the gaps I wanted to ask you about your elephanty adventure. I must have been an elephant in a previous life because I love watermelons so much!:-) Thanks for sharing this great adventure and looking forward to reading the next.

Sal, glad you enjoyed.

Mica, added a link in the post to the yoga retreat that Stephanie attended, appropriately named: The Yoga Retreat. She’ll likely blog about the experience whenever the spirit moves her.

Joy, yup. More photos coming! Check back in a few days.

Visda, wow, it got there fast. Great timing. I kind of think of my blog posts as long form postcards, so it’s nice to hear it complemented the real deal.

Great article! It’s such a hard plight for these amazing creatures. Hopefully one day we will be able to see them in the wild again instead of volunteering to save them from extinction.

Patara Elephant Farm is another excellent alternative to your typical “elephant experience”. If you only have a day, Patara is a good alternative as they also rescue animals from performance venues and try to provide the most natural alternative for the elephants as possible.

Thank you for advertising alternatives to your typical “trek” that involves an elephant ride!

What a magical story! Elephants are such gorgeous creatures, they truly have the power to heal our hearts and reconnect us to the beauty and majesty of nature. Thanks so much for caring about them and doing your part to help them live better lives. Lots of Love :)

Absolutely gorgeous! These beautiful elephants are a blessing to mankind. Just coming near them helps us reconnect to our roots as compassionate caretakers of our beautiful Mother Earth. Thanks for sharing your experiences, really enjoyed to hear about your amazing journey :)

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