A Thai Adventure for Grammy

There exists a crazy contradiction in Thailand these days: the elephant is the quintessential symbol of the country but its population is diminishing in scary proportions each decade, despite its seemingly revered status. In the 20th century there were an estimated 100,000 elephants in Thailand. This year that number is 5,000, half of which live in domestic situations, subjected to cruel and inhumane living or working conditions. 

Enter "Lek" (Small) Chailert, a tiny Thai dynamo, championing the cause of elephants in Thailand. "Her love for elephants began when her grandfather, a traditional healer, received a baby elephant as payment for saving a man's life. Lek would spend many hours with her newfound friend, named Tongkum (Golden One), resulting in a passion that would shape the rest of her life, as well as the lives of others." (WWW.saveelephant.org) Lek rescued her first elephant in 1992 and has spent the time since rescuing as many more elephants as she can. Their stories are shockingly sad, leaving them visibly broken and often blinded, rescued from begging on the streets, the illegal logging industry where many have lost feet to land mines, and the trekking and tourism industries. She has founded six sanctuaries throughout Southeast Asia. I had heard much about the one just north of Chiang Mai, The Elephant Nature Park, and have been wanting to go there for some time. Grammy's visit seemed the perfect opportunity.  

After reserving spaces for an overnight stay, we arrived at the downtown office early Saturday morning to take the van out to the Park.

On the way there we were shown a video with information about the plight of elephants in Thailand, Lek's efforts at conservation and the efforts and goals of the Park to provide true sanctuary for the elephants that have come to live there. Yes, it made me cry.

We arrived shortly before lunch and were given our first tasks: feeding some of the elephants.

Vivi wasn't too keen to get close but Conrad was loving it!

After our own lunch, our guide Apple took us for a walk around the property to get a quick overview of the Park and a glimpse of many of the 39 resident elephants. As it is rainy season, gum boots were a must! Conrad and Vivi quickly put theirs to good use.

 The views of the surrounding countryside were stunning and dramatic on a misty afternoon.

Grammy showed no signs of trouble with jetlag this past week, recovering from her 24 hour journey here and the 12-hour night-to-day time change, and she did a fantastic job of making her way around the property, letting nothing slow her down or keep her from experiencing all that the park has to offer.

Soon we had our first close up glimpse of the family herds, each one centered around one of the babies currently in the park.

Look out Grammy! Here comes baby Dok Mai! (We were told to stay away from the babies as their numerous nannies in each family are incredibly protective of them and see advances into their space as a potential threat upon which they might decide to act!)

Hi Gorgeous!

Next it was time to check in to our 2-room cabin. 

 The inner sanctum!

 From our balcony we watched the elephants play in the river .

After getting all of our stuff settled and enough beds, mosquito nets and fans set up, it was time for dinner. We were served traditional Northern Thai dishes, sitting on mats on the floor, (except Apple brought a chair for Grammy) and it was recommended that we eat with our fingers. The food was delicious.

 We were entertained by some local children performing traditional Thai dances.

The next morning the elephants joined us bright and early for breakfast.

We took a walk to visit parts of the Park and elephants we had not seen the day before.

Upon our return to the lodge, we fed sweet, blind Jokia, an elephant whose story of abuse is so heartbreaking that it is amazing she trust humans at all after all she has been through. Their trunks are so strong, the skin so tough and the hair so bristly but their ability to be so gentle when they take the food they are fed is just incredible. It is an honor to serve them.

Just hanging out: "Psst! Have you got any more watermelon?"

After lunch we had two more tasks. The first was to bathe Medo, whom we had also bathed the day before, a gentle girl whose back legs are misshapen as a result of injuries sustained during forced breeding encounters. She stood patiently and ate her pumpkins while we washed her down.

We had one last task to complete before we had to say goodbye. A number of elephants in the sanctuary have lost their teeth (one because she is 84 years old!) so special meals must be prepared for them. The first step was to select the bananas from the "Elephant Kitchen", the old, very ripe, very yellow ones. We peeled them into a large tub, added corn kernels and corn meal and mashed it all up by hand. Conrad and Vivi weren't interested in getting their hands all squishy so Grammy and I did it as a team.

When it was ready we took it to the feeding platform and fed this precious girl who, at only 64 has prematurely lost her last set of teeth (elephants have 6 in their lifetime) due to the abuse she suffered in the illegal logging industry. To feed her we had to roll the mash into little cakes and place it on her trunk. Again, the gentleness with which she touched us with her trunk and her dexterity in maneuvering these globby balls of goo into her mouth, and in picking up the bits that dropped were truly amazing. To be up close to her and to look her in those big, brown, liquid eyes as we fed her was such a beautiful experience.

Eventually it was time to say good bye and thank you to Apple, our awesome guide and climb back in the van. She gave Conrad and Vivi each a little parting gift!

 What a weekend!

Let me know when you are headed our way. I'll be happy to make a reservation for your own adventure at the Elephant Nature Park~