Tags
Chiang Mai, Elephant Nature Park, elephants, memories, nature parks, photography, Thailand, travel
Looking for something different to do? Consider volunteering. Several animal shelters in Chiang Mai welcome help feeding and playing with abandoned pets. Elephant Nature Park – A conservation-based project north of the city with programs including some mahout training and bathing with the elephants is a must-see in your itinerary if you want to make sure you do not missed out a day’s fun!
Elephant Nature Park is the result of the inspiring vision of Sanduen ‘Lek’ Chailert to create a better world for Asian elephants. Lek is from a little known hill tribe group called the Khamu and has been fighting for the rights of the Asian elephants for decades. Lek has received several awards including ‘Hero of the Planet’ by Time Magazine in 2005 and the Earth Day Award in 2006. Her work has been featured on National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, BBC and in print media throughout the world.
There are currently more than 30 rescued elephants living at Elephant Nature Park ranging from calves to grand old matriarchs over 80 years old. The elephants at the park are free to choose a family, form small herds and live amongst people who love and respect them. The uniqueness of this elephant camp amongst a myriad in Chiang Mai is that they are not expected to work or perform. Instead, they are able to wander the park, feeding at their leisure, bathing in the river and playing together in the mud pit. Each elephant has a distinct character, which becomes more evident as they come to regard the park as their home and leave heir past behind.
The park offers an exceptional Eco-tourism experience. Visitors have the opportunity to observe and interact with Asian elephants and learn about their way of life. Volunteers who stay at the park for a week or more work on projects that directly benefit the elephants including collecting and preparing food, cleaning shelters, digging mud pits and bathing the elephants. They also have the opportunity to walk alongside the elephants through the jungle to Elephant Haven and discover how elephants live and forage for food in the wild.
Elephant Nature Park educates both tourists and locals about the Asian elephant and the challenges faced by this endangered species. Each elephant at the park has a mahout/caretaker, who is responsible for the well being of their elephant. Lek and her mahouts are pioneering a more enlightened approach to teaching young elephants by using love and positive reinforcement instead of pain.
It was certainly an awe-inspiring day that we spent the the Elephant Nature Park. All the documentaries and time spent with the elephants was one that was enlightening and never to be forgotten. It is through this adventure and through this first encounter that I really learned about the elephants which I once thought were as normal as every other creature on this planet but ever since then I knew how wrong I was about it. So, I would definitely say it was an incredible, eye-opening experience in which I hope to spread to every one of you out there. Who knows, you might then develop a “thing” towards elephants just as much like I did through this.
Below are the photos taken and I have compiled them. Be sure to tell me what you think!
You can also refer to the first part of this post here about how I came about in sharing my experiences with elephants. And as usual, photos are also uploaded in my Flickr.
Elephant Nature Park – 209/2 Sridorn Chai Road, Chiang Mai 50, 100 Thailand.
Or you can make your booking at one of the town offices required – Charoen Prathet Soi 6, 053-272-855 / 053-818-744.
