An Eco Friendly Elephant Adventure - Phoenix's 1st Birthday

When it comes to Elephants over here in Thailand and in other parts of the world they get a pretty raw deal most of the time. We are completely against riding elephants or visiting any tourist attraction that involves the use of animals for entertainment or any 'photo opportunity' with wild animals including circus, zoos, tiger shows, snake shows, monkey shows... the list goes on. You can see why for yourself by watching this video, and I urge you to talk with your friends about this in hope of spreading the word and in the name of education. Luckily there are quite a few different Eco Friendly "NO RIDING" elephant camps here in Chaing Mai and across Thailand to choose from, and you can find a list of them here.

We opted for the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, and what an amazing day it was. Like any good story, I shall start from the beginning...

Booking Our Elephant Adventure

This part was easy. You simply jump over to their website www.elephantjunglesanctuary.com and choose your location (They have sanctuaries in Chaing Mai, Phuket and Pattaya.) Then choose what sort of package you want. You can choose half day adventures, Full day visits, a one day walk with the Elephants or an epic 2 days and 1 night visit!

We opted for the full day visit which cost 2,400 Baht per person and Phoenix was free because he was under 3yrs of age (bonus).

What The Money Is Used For

At Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, the money raised from visits, volunteers, merchandise and donations is primarily used for elephant rescue, food, veterinary care, infrastructure and land so they can keep growing and expanding the capacity of the Sanctuary and continue to receive more elephants. Some of the money is also designated to compensate the local owners of the elephants so they let the sanctuary take care of them, instead of making the Elephants work. Some of the income gets saved so in the future they can buy their own elephants so they can live free and happy at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary.

Let the Day Begin!

We were so excited when our friends Lenny and Jess who are also staying in Chaing Mai decided to come along with us to celebrate and enjoy the day. As a bonus Lenny's mum was also here and came along with us. We had our Squad and we were ready to go!

8:00am - We were picked up from our condo in Chaing Mai by the folks at the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. We all piled into the back of something similar to the Red Trucks you see in Thailand and joined a few other people who had been picked up before us. I really loved this as it felt like we were all about to go on a real safari!

The trip took approximately 1.5hrs from Chaing Mai heading up Doi Inthanon. It was a great drive there through rural landscapes, agricultural areas, and forested hills. I was so happy that Phoenix had a bit of a nap on the road there as we were in for a huge day!

As we were approaching the sanctuary we drove down some crazy and muddy jungle tracks that were along some very step descents which kept us all on the edge of our seats! Our driver had amazing 4wd skills though and was very mindful he had a baby on board so took is time which was nice and comforting.

The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

10:30am - We arrived (CLOSE) to the Elephant Sanctuary but due to the rain, even our experienced driver wouldn't risk going down the tracks any further, so we had to get out and walk down a big, slippery hill to get to the bottom of a valley where the Elephants roamed. Lucas slipped 2 times so was a little muddy and had a few grazes before we even got there. We all had a bit of a laugh afterwards as at one point it actually looked like he was going to slide and slide and keep sliding into the river!

We arrived at the Karen Village and before our very eyes roamed freely these beautiful, prehistoric creatures. We were guided to a little hut where we all off loaded our bags and sat before the guide who gave us a brief introduction and history behind the elephants and the sanctuary along with some safety guidelines.

We were then given traditional Karen Clothing to wear, bamboo and bananas and instructed to head down to the Elephants where we could freely interact with them and feed them. This was beyond words amazing! Elephants eat a huge amount, needing to consume an average of 150kg of food each day just to survive! Larger elephants will eat much more, with some known to eat up to 300kg/day.

It's worth noting that the Sanctuary has a number of different 'Camps'. We were in Camp 8 and were blessed with interacting with a herd of female elephants (Cows), two of which were pregnant and one with a baby. Feeding the baby Elephant was super cool and I was amazed at how naturally playful he was! Elephants are self-aware and highly intelligent. They exhibit human-like behavior such as learning, mimicry, play, co-operation and the creation and use of tools. At one point Jess was holding out a flip flop and the baby was in it's element trowing it around!

I was surprised to learn that a female elephant is pregnant for a total of 2 years (poor thing!!) After that the baby (Calve) stays with it's mother for 4 years before becoming independent.

Initially I had Phoenix in the Ergo Carrier but after he felt a bit more comfortable with what was going on I let him out to walk around. The Guides at the Sanctuary though literally couldn't put him down, he was being passed from one person to the next. They loved him so much and I think it was a real novelty having him there. They took great pride in showing him the elephants, letting him feed them, taking possibly hundreds of photos with him and of course loads and loads of cuddles.

12:00pm - Lunch Time! We all took a break and sat down together and enjoyed a wonderful lunch prepared by the Karen Tribe. Almost all the dishes were vegan as well so we were super happy. It was a mix of Thai Dishes and fresh fruit.

1:00pm - 3:00pm - After lunch it was time to get wet and muddy with the elephants! We headed down to this muddy waterhole and our job was to cover the elephants in as much mud as we could.

In the wild, elephants bathe and will cover themselves and others in their herd with mud or dirt as a natural form of insect repellent and sunscreen. This part of the day was crazy fun, not only were the elephants covered in mud but so was everyone in our group and a few mud fights broke out. I didn't realise this at the time but prior to heading in to the mud one of the elephants did a massive poo and pee. The workers and the sanctuary quickly lifted the poo out though. This didn't seem to bother anyone to much, after-all their diet consists of plant matter and only 40-50% of the food elephants eat is successfully digested.

After the fun in the mud we made our way over to a free flowing stream where we got to then wash the elephants off and the mud fights soon turned into water fights and loads of splashing! I couldn't believe how much the elephants loved rolling around in the water! They literally submerged themselves and just stuck their trunk out to breath! One of the elephants even had water in her trunk and sprayed us with it! The trunk contains up to 60,000 muscles, and can hold around 4 litres of water at any one time!

Phoenix really got in on the action. If there is one thing he loves its getting in the water. The guides took care of him in the water and let him get right up to the elephant and he had his turn at washing them! He was also pretty content sitting at the waters edge splashing around.

Saying Goodbye

3:00pm - After many photos and memories that will last a lifetime we were ready to get dried off and prepare to say goodbye to our elephant friends. Phoenix was well and truly exhausted! I can't believe he lasted the whole day without a nap! The day went so quickly and I often now look back and feel like it was such a whirlwind of a day that I forgot to be 100% present in the moment - That could also be down to having a toddler walking around 4.5 Tonne mammals!

Before we left we were given a free Karen Hill Tribe Traditional Shirt to take home and the birthday boy was given something VERY extra special - A real elephant hair! which we will put into a resin for him so he can keep it forever!

Jess, Phoenix and I were the last to leave and as we were heading across the river and back up the muddy hill, the mother elephant and her calf came up to us and lifted her trunk out as if to hold onto us and say goodbye, it was a very special moment.

We all jumped into the back of the trucks and headed back to Chaing Mai where we were dropped back off at our accommodation.

I have to say that this was an amazing day and a perfect way to spend Phoenix's first birthday. We will cherish these memories forever.

Elephants need our protection, understanding, love and respect and Sanctuaries like this are a great step forward in the right direction.

If you enjoyed this blog please let me know by leaving a comment down below. I would love to hear about your Elephant Sanctuary experience or Eco Tourism ideas!