Adventures in Thailand: Visiting an Elephant Sanctuary
After Cambodia, it was back to Thailand for the rest of our two week trip. We started our Phuket adventure with a bang: a trip to an elephant sanctuary!
When I was planning this trip with Jessie, I was apprehensive to do something with elephants. I thought it would be so cool to see them in person, but I didn’t want to support anything that would cause them harm, like elephant riding. I did my research, and talked to people who had visited Thailand before, and ended up picking Green Elephant Sanctuary in Phuket.
They will arrange a private pick-up from wherever you’re staying, and offer a morning and afternoon time. We arrived at the sanctuary and were directed to a large, covered outdoor space with lots of picnic benches. Each session is broken into two groups, which each take one herd of elephants, so that the animals aren’t getting overwhelmed with people all day.
An employee took us over to the first space, where we’d be feeding the elephants. Before we approached them, she told us each of their names, ages, and backstories, along with instructions on each one’s preferences. We were warned to only give them the food near them, and not from another elephant’s area, as they were all on specific diets to fit their needs. Plus, each had their own mahout to make sure they were comfortable, happy, and treated well. The animals were definitely looked after here, which made me so happy!
Unfortunately, there were elephants who were used for riding and one who had stepped too close to a land mine. She explained how sadly, when elephants are used for labour or entertainment, they’re trained with weapons like whips and sticks with nails in them. Their newest rescue was eating peacefully in the corner where couldn’t be reached by humans as she wasn’t trusting yet after her traumas. It’s such an unfortunate side to the tourism industry there, and I was glad that I had done my research!
Finally, it was elephant time! We got to feed them bamboo and bananas, and interact with them up close and personal. I was surprised at how course their hair was, and just how much of it covered their bodies! I expected them to feel leathery but because of all the hair, it felt like petting a porcupine in some places, albeit a very big porcupine.
Next, they showed us where the elephants sleep, and gave us more back story to how the rescue works. Then, the really fun bit: a mud bath! We hopped into the first pool which was pretty shallow and started scooping up handfuls of mud to rub into the elephants’ skin.
At this point, we were nearly as muddy as the elephants, so we all made our way over to the fresh water pool to start rinsing off. Elephants are tall, obviously, so we had to use buckets to get water up to the top of their bodies!
Last stop: car wash, or, well, elephant wash. Fresh water rained down on the elephants while we used scrub brushes to get the remaining mud off.
After cleaning up in the showers at the sanctuary, they provided us with a full buffet of Thai food to end our afternoon. It was actually some of the best food I had on the trip! Then, they organised private cars back to everyone’s hotels.
This was one of my top favourite experiences of the trip. Getting to interact with such amazing animals was absolutely incredible. I’m so glad that this sanctuary is so well-organised to keep both humans and elephants happy!