a few weeks ago (Sun May 30, to be exact), Dan and I were wandering through Chiang Mai in the late afternoon, doing a few errands before leaving the next day on a 2-day hill tribe trek. And so, the next morning we hopped onto the bus to elephant nature park for a week-long volunteering trip on an elephant sanctuary. Wait, what? I thought you were going on a 2-day trek!?! Oh, right, that. So, while we were wandering Chiang Mai, we saw the Elephant Nature park office building, and went in, looking for information about a potential post-trek visit to the park. After learning more about their volunteer program which was starting the next day, we were hooked - we quickly canceled the trek, warned family/friends that we'd be offline for the next week (no internet at the park!), and got set for a week of volunteering with the elephants.
Elephant nature park is this amazing sanctuary for elephants, many of whom have been abused, injured, or orphaned. One elephant (Jokia) was blinded by her handlers for insubordination, another (Malai Tong) badly damaged her foot by stepping on a landmine, and another (Hope) was found as a baby wedged between two trees after his mother passed away. All have thrived at the Elephant Nature Park, and Malai Tong is now pregnant, expecting a baby in a few months! Oh, and it's not jut a sanctuary for elephants: the park has 60+ dogs, a bunch of cats, some pigs, water buffalo, and even a pony! Definitely a very cool place to hang out.
We had an absolute blast volunteering. In fact, Dan changed his flight so he could stay longer at the park. Our days were filled with activities: there were a variety of chores to be done around the sanctuary (preparing food, cleaning up after the elephants, chopping bamboo, etc), and we also got to spend tons of time with the elephants: we would feed them, help them bathe (basically stand in the river and throw pails of water onto them), and even give the baby elephants a lemon-grass infused mud bath (to help ward of mosquitoes etc).
We also had a variety of special activities, and chances to learn more about the elephants, the sanctuary, and Thai culture. Some of the many highlights include:
- trying to sing the elephant song ("chang! chang! chang!") and perform the accompanying hand gesture while doubling over with laughter
- a very nice welcome ceremony put on by locals in the town. However, while attempting to kneel respectfully, I cut off all circulation to my legs, and took a good minute to be able to walk afterwards
- dodging kicks from the baby elephant Fah Mai while attempting to finish up her mud bath
- turning corn-shucking into an impromptu hook-shot contest
- having an impromptu search-and-rescue session for my camera which was dropped into the river by an unnamed person while we were tubing (you know who you are, Lauren :-P). Luckily we recovered the camera, and since it's waterproof, no harm was done, and we had a heck of a story afterwards!
- hiking up with a family of elephants to "elephant haven" where they spent the night wandering free, and where we slept in a cool cabin structure
- and much, much more!
Needless to say, it was an incredible experience, and I'm definitely hoping to return to the park some day for another week of volunteering.
When all was said and done, I'd taken over 900 photos! After a lot of culling, I was able to whittle that number down to 231. If you'd like to see all of those pictures, check out my picasa album. Here are a few favorites:
Dan and I feed one of Elephant Nature Park's 30+ elephants. Each one eats a huge amount every day, so we're kept busy preparing food / feeding all the elephants.
elephant bath time! This is great, as it's an excuse to beat the heat and take a dip in the river. You just have to be careful to not get stepped on by an elephant as it's exiting the river!
in addition to the elephants, there are 60+ dogs here (a well as cats, water buffalo, and a pony). Clearly the dogs know that they rule the roost and act accordingly. It was great having all the dog around, except when they decided to get into a fight at 5am outside your bedroom door . . .
a volunteer's life at the sanctuary isn't 10% glamorous - we've still got to pay our dues and spend time shoveling elephant poo.
an elephant chomps happily away on dinner (banana or cucumber)
elephant youngsters are just like kids - full of energy and causing trouble! Here one of the babies distracts the Mahouts (elephant handlers) with water while the other goes for the hose!
we pent one morning visiting a local school, where I was quickly mobbed by kids who wanted piggyback rides, rides on my shoulders, and even one kid who seemed content to grab my leg and try to gnaw on it. Good times.
the volunteers give the baby girl elephant (Fah Mai) a lemongrass-infused mud bath (to help protect her from the sun and flies) while her mother looks on . . .
it's tubin' time! Dan and I recreate a picture of as at Tubestock during our Sophomore year in college which made it into the yearbook
elephants like cucumbers. Lots of 'em. And before they can get them we have to scrub them to remove dirt and any lingering pesticides. I realized that rather than lean over the side of the tub, it would be easier to just sit in the tub! This led to some trouble when Rosco, another volunteer, tried to dump in a many cucumbers as possible, raising the water up past the seat of the chair - luckily I was on the lookout for this and was able to hop up before getting a wet rear end
the elephant family enjoys a mud bath
during our trip to elephant haven, one of the elephants enjoys a snack along the trail. Maybe that's one of the reasons I like elephants - we're both constantly snacking!
group photo of all the volunteers after the last day of poop-shoveling. (not pictured: Dan, who had to leave a day early)
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