Karen Elephant Sanctuary-Chiang Mai, Thailand
Elephants have always been an interesting animal to me. When I was younger, my little sister (a little disclosure) would play with elephant figurines ALL. THE. TIME. and would carry them around with her constantly. Funny story, she always called them “roos” instead of “elephants” because the “noise they make sounded like roo”…how cute is that?! Anyway, being so close in age, I would find myself playing with her and her elephant figurines often and maybe that’s where the interest started?! After that, I did a research project on elephants in the fifth grade (we could choose any animal to research) and after my high school graduation I was lucky enough to go to Uganda, Africa and see African Elephants in their natural habitat. A little fun fact, the elephant “noise” is actually called “trumpeting” and elephants trumpet when they are highly stimulated…trumpeting or “roo” when you hear this sound, you know without a doubt an elephant is nearby. If you haven’t checked out my Thailand in Ten Day post, check it out here>>https://thedailyallis.com/thailand-trip/ Below, I discuss my experience with Asian Elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand, at the Karen Elephant Sanctuary!
Chiang Mai, June 11th, 2019
Our second day in Chiang Mai, Thailand, we went to the Karen Elephant Sanctuary! This was an hour and a half drive away from our hotel and 5000 baht/person (~$163.00 USD). Karen Elephant Sanctuary transportation picked M and I up from our hotel lobby about 8:10am. We picked up other passengers at their hotels (which let me explore other hotels from the outside——if i were to go back, I’d probs stay at the Chala Number 6). Anyway, about an hour and a half drive later all 12 of the volunteers unloaded the van and were in the Chiang Mai province jungle (Mae Taeng Area-North of Chiang Mai city Northern Thailand) with 5 female elephants (1 baby elephant). We were immediately instructed to apply sunblock and bug spray while preparing for our day with the elephants. Our bags were able to be stored in locked lockers while we were out in the jungle with the elephants. We were then lead to start making food for the elephants (healthy rice balls). This process included smashing the rice with the concoction below to make it softer for the elephants and easier to mix the other ingredients. The other ingredients we mixed with the rice were mashed plantains, rice and fruit. I do not remember ingredient specifics, but afterwards we formed medium sized rice balls that were then wrapped in the outside/skin of a plantain to hold the rice ball together.
We then proceeded to feed all the elephants (behind a small wooden man made fence) the rice balls, sugar canes and plantains. The baby elephant, Minnie, was two years old and enjoyed the plantains the most. We were instructed to peel the plantains for Minnie before giving them to her (SO CUTE). You can see the elephants, including little Minnie below.
We walked in the jungle with the elephants after feeding them, climbed in the jungle with the elephants (quite the hike, literally almost had a heat stroke—yikes! Also, who knew elephants could climb so high?) and had lunch as a group. We had a homemade lunch provided by Karen Elephant Sanctuary (I didn’t eat since I was currently on the verge of being on deaths door and trying to stay hydrated by pouring water on my head and shoving a personal hand held fan in my face). But, M said the food was good haha. Afterwards, we went to the mud bath area and spread mud on the elephants to help cool them down and were directed to the water area where we bathed the elephants. This was such an amazing experience, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to participate in such kind, loving and healthy environment for these animals. Honestly, if you do anything in Chiang Mai…it has to be this!!
The importance of choosing an elephant sanctuary for this amazing experience should be a priority. I don’t want to preach here…but…actually yes, I want to inform you on the importance. Sorry not sorry. 🙂 The Karen Elephant Sanctuary saves elephants from being abused from circus acts, riding farms etc. Whenever you see an elephant show or have the opportunity to ride an elephant, please know the elephant is being physically, emotionally and verbally abused in order to follow the commands of a human. Some of the abuse that occurs when an elephant is in a circus or riding farms would include, hitting the elephants, starving the elephants, only allowing the elephants to stay in a cage if they weren’t “working” and last but not least, they will not let the elephants be with their family (including female elephants not able to nurse or care for their offspring). Have you ever seen Dumbo? Unfortunately, this movie highlights the abuse these elephants experience if they are in circus acts, riding farms etc. BUT it also portrays the reality of the situation and has helped save many animals and bring light to Elephant Sanctuaries.
Karen Elephant Sanctuary saves abused elephants from their abusive owners and house them in a loving, safe and supportive environment. These elephants are unable to live in the wild due to their abusive upbringing and unable to forge for themselves since they never have. The Karen Elephant Sanctuary project is one of the largest elephant sanctuaries in Chiang Mai and uses their profits to feed, care and support these (and future) elephants. IF YOU TAKE ONE THING FROM THE BLOG POST, IT IS TO SUPPORT AN ELEPHANT SANCTUARY WHILE IN CHIANG MAI. Okay, off my rant. Thanks for reading. Later in the afternoon (~3:00pm), we were loaded back into the van and headed back to Chiang Mai old city where our hotel was located. We arrived back at our hotel around 4:30pm and still had enough time to explore the old city again that night.
M and I decided to experience the Karen Elephant Reserve-Half Day (Morning) retreat. Karen Elephant Sanctuary has 28 different experiences to choose from. This includes, half-day, full-day and overnight stays. Our guide was informative, had strong relationships the elephants and had our safety and the elephant safety as a main priority. This post is not sponsored, I just highly respect this foundation and had an amazing experience, I hope you do too!
Do you have experience with Asian elephants? Been to Karen Elephant Sanctuary or looking for fun experiences in Chiang Mai? Let me know below in the comments, I’d love to hear your feedback!
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XO
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Elephants are awesome. I read today that they are often a keystone animal in an ecosystem. That means the system depends on their presence to maintain the stability of the entire food chain. We must support and protect them.
Thanks for the comment, John! Very interesting information on elephants, I did not know know that. I learn something from my readers every day!