Elephant Encounters

Volunteering at the Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand for the past week was a wholly wonderful experience that created magical memories that surely will last me a long time. Not only did it shed light on the torturous treatment that 'working' elephants are subjected to, but on the flip side we were able to not only see, but be a part of the sanctuary that these lucky 35 elephants live in now. Over the week there countless encounters with these beautiful and intelligent creatures - here are just a few.

On the first day while wandering to my hut before dinner I snuck in to visit the elephant pen along the way. This housed two baby elephants (5 and 7 months) and their families. The elephant's mahouts (trainers) had just left for the night and the pachyderms' dinner had been laid out for them which meant all was calm and quiet. Despite this I still was quite cautious about approaching even the fence of the pen since we'd been heavily warned not to, but I couldn't resist watching these adorable and playful creatures. Over the next hour I edged my way up, making sure that the mothers were comfortable with my presence, until I was finally within trunk-length reach and made my first unaccompanied contact. The babies were the only ones interested in me and that was only briefly - well at least on the first day.

Over the course of the week I continued this pattern. At elephant lunch-time I would chat with the one 'farang' (westerner) mahout (elephant trainer) who was in charge of the 4-month old, and before my dinner I would sneak off to observe the babies and their families. By the end of the week I was doing slightly more than observe, as especially Chang Yim, the youngest one, would come over to me for some interaction. First he'd sniff me with that cute little trunk of his to know it was me, then I'd offer him some grass which he would take out of politeness since it was the same as what he'd already been eating for dinner. Then we might play inky-dinky with his trunk and my fist, or I'd just scratch his back while he tried to climb the fence. In fact he must have really wanted to come out to play with me as his favourite activity was trying to dismantle the fence by tugging, and kicking at the ropes holding the planks together. Once while doing this I suggested audibly that he try using his teeth and I kid you not the very next thing that he did was place the rope in his mouth and tug. Smart lil guy huh!?

Faa Mai was a little more aloof, being older and more mature I suppose. However this didn't stop him from playing footsies with me over and over again one evening. My hiking boot was no match for his hardened foot with toe nails, and of course his massive weight.

Away from these little ones we had the opportunity to bathe some of the older and more docile elephants - under supervision. Great fun was had frolicking in the river. On the bank of the river, I participated in one of the few 'tricks' that the elephants performed at the park (by an elephant who had been trained totally using positive reinforcement and not 'the hook'). Hope, the cheeky teenage boy, would smooch ya in exchange for a piece of bread. I stepped in front and got a wet vacuum to the side of my face which made me smile. This was all well and good until Hope was instructed to kiss the next girl but instead took his piece of bread and swung back to kiss me instead of her! This happened once more, making everyone chuckle (and me blush)! I figure he's a fan of my beard.

Finally the most incredible experience was the overnight trek that we went on. Following the elephants first over a river (they walked through, we rode a bamboo raft) we walked for nearly 2 hours up into the hillside of a forested valley. Arriving at our destination we found a 3 sided hut floor that would be our sleeping accommodations. We let the elephants roam and had a surprisingly delicious meal high up in the hills away from civilization, and afterwards I slipped off to explore on my own. Not far from 'camp' I looked out to the opposite side of the valley and could see an elephant grazing while the other scratched itself mightily on a tall tree. After a fireside sleep I returned to this spot the next morning to peer up into the sky as it brightened with the rising sun. We collected up the elephants who had grazed all night, tied blessed ribbons around to protect the trees of the forest and journeyed back to the park feeling refreshed despite sleeping on hard bamboo.

These are mere glimpses into an unforgettable week at the Elephant Nature Park. Surrounding these was hard work cutting tall grass for the elephants (yes they gave me a machete), unloading and washing fruit for the elephants feed, digging pig pits and of course shovelling poop. It was completely worth it, and the delicious vegetarian food that I gorged myself on was made that much better by the unbelievably friendly, interesting and diverse group of fellow volunteers that truly made the week even that much more fantastic.