A day with the elephants

On Saturday 23rd November, we were fortunate enough to be able to spend a day getting to know some pretty amazing animals. We had booked a day with Thai Elephant Home to spend a day with elephants! We were picked up from our hostel in Chiang Mai for the hour long drive to their base in the jungle. Once there, we were given some traditional mahout clothing to wear for the day and then introduced to the elephants. My elephant was called Bhuna and was a 44 year old female. Lindsay’s was called Ruby and was a 12 year old female. We were taught some basic commands and how to get on and off the elephants before setting off for a trek through the jungle. We crossed the river and climbed into the jungle on the other side before stopping for a lunch of Pad Thai.

In our traditional mahout clothing

Riding the elephants down to the river

The scenery we passed was stunning

After lunch we fed any leftovers to the elephants and then gave Bhuna a mud bath, which she seemed to really enjoy. After this, we bought some bananas to feed to our elephants on the trek back to base and then set off down the hillside towards the river.

Giving Bhuna a mud bath

At the river we washed the mud off all of the elephants and enjoyed playtime with them! The elephants all seemed in their element as they washed and played in the river and it felt amazing to be part of it.

Playtime in the river

From the river it was a short trek back up the hillside to base, where it was time for a shower followed by a cup of tea and some fruit to round the day off nicely.

Riding elephants through a village

Photos from our day with the elephants can be viewed below or at http://photos.andywicks.com/ADayWithTheElephants

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