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Elephant Nature Park:
The day was amazing from start to finish. We were picked up from our accommodation in Chiang Mai, in a very comfortable van, and while we were making our way to the park, they showed us some videos, so we could have a greater understanding of the history of the park and some of the horrifically, sad stories of the elephants they have rescued. There was one particularly sad story of a Mahoot who purposely blinded his female elephant. She had just given birth and unfortunately the baby, who was still in it's sac, rolled down the hill and died. The elephant was beside herself with grief and wanted to mourn her loss but the Mahoot wanted her to carry on working. The elephant got angry at him as and for this reason the Mahoot gouged her eyes out. She is now blind but thankfully was rescued from the evil owner and is now living at the park. There were equally some other sad stories but I won't share them all with you.
When we arrived at the beautiful property located in a lush valley, thick with vegetation and a picturesque river, we were taken on a tour with our small group and then we set out to start feeding the elephants. Our tour guide introduced us to the Elephants and we learnt so much about them, that we felt we were connected to them after such a short time.
There were no touristy things here, like riding the elephants or watching them perform circus tricks. Visitors come to just observe, feed and to wash them in the river. The money from the tourists goes directly back into the park to care for them.
After a quick cup of coffee we started feeding an elephant and were able to take photographs. In the basket were bananas and watermelons which the elephant loved. We put the food in it's trunk and then the elephant put it in it's mouth. It was a great start to the day!
Lunch was a delicious, vegetarian feast and one of the best lunches I've had in Thailand.
After lunch we were taken to a hall where they showed us a video describing a 'training crush'. This is all about the methods used to torture and abuse an elephant from the wild to succumb to humans. After that they are then trained to become an elephant where tourists can ride them. I had no idea about these methods before I did my elephant ride a couple of months ago in Phuket and I now wish I had never ridden one. A video about these methods, which the Elephant Nature Park are trying to pass through the Thai government to be banned, can be found at this link:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YcvGGe-zpIA
Warning! Not nice to watch.
When we walked out of the video room I felt extremely sad but to lighten the mood the guide took us to a part of the river where we could throw buckets of fresh water over a few elephants to cool them down in the afternoon heat. The elephants seemed very docile and enjoyed the water. We all got a bit wet but really enjoyed it!!
The other areas in the park were also very interesting to learn about, like their rescued water buffalos and rescue dog centre. Also, the veterinary clinic where poorly elephants are treated. Whilst we we there one really old elephant was being treated for a bad leg. We also were taken to the skywalk where a few of the elephants came to be fed and then taken down to the river to watch a baby elephant with two females. It was lovely to watch.
We spent a very long day there and I believe it was great value for money to have an opportunity to learn so much and be educated on how we must all work together to save the elephants and protect them.
We were also very lucky to meet the founder and owner of the Elephant Nature Park in the late afternoon, a lovely lady called Lek. She has made it her lifelong goal to rescue working and tourist elephants who have suffered terrible abuse and give them a loving home. She currently has 37 elephants and three babies who have been born at the park. I took masses of photographs as we could get so close and I hope you like them. You will notice one of the elephants has a very deformed back and this was because she broke her hip. She's okay now though and not in pain.
All in all it was one of the most memorable days I have had in Thailand and I was lucky to have shared the experience with Claire and Archie. Truly wonderful!!!
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