My Elephant Awakening

Posted November 8, 2019

I’ve never given elephants a lot of thought, except when I was decorating my second son’s room before he was born. I carefully put up his jungle themed wall border, half way up the wall (so he could see it). It was filled with elephants, which may have sparked his elephant obsession as a child.

Other than that, I haven’t ever been too elephant obsessed myself. I, of course, have been aware and saddened by the fact that these very wise, kind, and loving animals have been treated so cruelly throughout history, and that their numbers are dwindling due to habitat loss. 

An Early Start

Yesterday all that changed. My newfound passion, love, and respect for elephants has been born.

Our all-day excursion with Elephant Jungle Sanctuary started at 8 am. We drove in the back of a small pick up truck, outfitted with two barely padded, bright blue bench seats, running perpendicular to the truck’s cab.

We picked up our truck-mates. One young couple was from California, San Mateo (shout out to my mom and dad’s home town) and Mountain View (where Steve and I had our first apartment together), respectively. The other young couple was from Krakow, Poland. 

The Drive

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Our drive was about 1.5 hours in total, through Chiang Mai, then the “suburbs”, and then the rolling countryside. When we hit the highway, the six of us in the back of the rickety truck suddenly bonded. The driver floored it, driving way too fast for comfort. We looked at each other with wide-eyes, grinning, and giggling (nervously).  We rationalized our situation, agreeing it was all a part of the experience, which I suppose is true, and, considering we didn’t have a lot of choice at this point, we sat back and enjoyed the ride and the wind in our hair. 

After climbing high into the mountains we turned off the paved road onto a winding and steep downhill facing dirt road, barely wide enough for the trucks wheels.  We hit areas where the road was crumbling, and the wheels would slip, just a bit. Some of the turns were so tight that I’d close my eyes so I wouldn’t see the drop off just below the side of the truck. 

Into the Valley

Down, down, down we went, through the trees into the beautiful valley below. We parked.

We were still up the hill a bit from the camp and the valley floor.

I hopped out of the truck (ok, full disclosure, that was a very generous description of my disembarkation. With my bad knee, it was more like I awkwardly crawled out of the truck). From where we stood, we had a birds eye view of the valley and camp.

We stood gasping, pointing, and staring at the maybe 10 elephants below us clustered in two family groups. We had made it. 

A Stunning Setting

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The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Camp was a dream setting. Set remotely in the mountains of northern Thailand, where it is green and lush with expansive vistas. Add in a meandering river, with a waterfall or two thrown in, complete with calm pools for swimming. I couldn’t have dreamed up a more beautiful setting to learn about and fall in love with the elephants.

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The Three Warnings

By far the best part of the day was joining the elephants in their giant mud pit.

Seriously, it was crazy. And it all started with three warnings. 

The First Warning

Firstly, our host told us to only wear or bring waterproof items, or items that can be washed, into the mud pit.

The speaker tried to drive home his point, in his thick Thai accent, over and over, even citing statistics. Twenty one cell phones, fifteen pairs of sunglasses, and multiple cameras now call the bottom of the mud pit home. And that’s just from the last few months. He gave example after example of people who didn’t heed his warning, complete with impersonations of people pleading with him, outraged at their loss. 

The Second Warning

Secondly, our host talked about the folks who don’t want to join in the mud pit (there’s always at least a few). They decide they only want to watch and take pictures. But then they see all the fun, set down their camera, or slip off their shirt, and join in, carefully leaving their items up on the “shore”. Big mistake. The elephants love to play and they love toys. Anything left near the mud pits is fair game, and it’s guaranteed the elephants will be happy to play with the “toys” you’ve so thoughtfully left for them. Your items will never be the same. Kiss them goodbye. 

The Third Warning

Thirdly, watch where you are in relation to the elephants legs and back end. The elephants like to lay down on their side and stretch out, wiggle, and roll in the mud. If you’re in their path, well, you might be in some trouble. If you end up at their tail end, they may inadvertently kick you all the way back to Chiang Mai during a particularly big stretch.  

To See, or Not To See

After our warnings, Steve decided to leave his glasses at the camp, where they’d stay safe. I decided to keep my glasses on, since I’m so blind without them.  I needed to be sure I could see well enough to distinguish the front end from the back end, so I’d make it through the day in one piece. 

To the Mud Pit

We had been advised to go barefoot, since the mud is very sticky and sucks sandals down like quicksand.  So, with one of us bespeckled, and one not, and both barefoot, we headed down to the mud pit.

The elephants were just entering the pit as we arrived. Some people plowed straight in, but I held back for a moment, surveying the pit for my best entry option. Nothing was really jumping out at me. All entry points looked similar, shiny, slippery mud, with opaque, murky puddles all around. Steve was already in the pit, up to his calves in muck. I flashed on the ride up, when Steve said there may be snakes in these parts, specifically in the water. Shaking that sweet tidbit from my mind, I waded in. 

The Bad Place

I was busy looking down, quite focused on my feet sinking deeper into the mud, and the water hitting my thighs, when suddenly a larger (much larger) priority emerged. A huge elephant (actually they are all huge) was in the process of lying down directly in front of me, its back getting larger until it filled my vision. Water was being displaced in droves, creating a wake spurting in all directions.  Everything was happening quite quickly. It was impossible to tell what the elephant had in mind (if anything) regarding his ultimate landing plans. Steve was in the bad place, per warning number three, when the elephant finally finished his roll-over move. 

Thankfully a camp worker, strategically placed for our safety, came to the rescue. He yanked Steve out from the elephants back end to a safer location, over by the elephants mid-section, where I was standing. Just then the elephant farted, complete with bubbles, just like in a bathtub. It was a near miss for Steve. I was laughing so hard I could barely stand. 

A Mud Massage

We proceeded to grab big handfuls of mud and spread the thick goo all over the elephant’s back, head, trunk, and ears. He was loving it.

His hide was mostly rough, with one notably smooth section on his forehead. His feet looked like they belonged to a dinosaur.

He had long, thick, and straight hairs sticking out all over the top of his head and lots of softer looking hair by his mouth.

His eyes reminded me of a horse’s eyes, soft and knowing.

After everyone was good and mudded up, including the elephants, we moved on to a beautiful waterfall, complete with a tranquil pool, to wash off. Before entering the pool, we were each handed a brightly colored plastic pail to splash the elephants (and each other). The hosts were purposely drenching us all, which turned into a giant water fight. We splashed, played, and laughed. It was chaotic and loads of fun.

As Hungry as a Dinosaur

From what we were told, the elephants eat about as much as a Brontosaurus. They are always hungry and will always eat, kind of like a Labrador Retriever.

We fed the elephants three different “courses” that day. Locally grown, tiny sized bananas were served for their appetizer. The bananas were short and stout, about four to six inches each and several inches around. Huge bunches were handed out to each of us. We pulled the bananas off our bunch and stuffed them in the giant front pocket of the traditional shirt were were all given to wear. The bananas were overripe, black, and mushy.  We hung on to the stock end too. The elephants will eat it all.

“Bon, Bon!”

Per our coaching, I’d raise up my arm, and loudly shout “Bon, Bon”. This told the elephant that I was going to hand feed it, putting the banana directly into his mouth. We entered the elephant field. The elephants ran towards us, knowing we had bananas. It’s a bit difficult to stand your ground when an excited elephant is galloping towards you, even if it’s a slow gallop.

“Bon, Bon”!, and the trunk flies up, exposing a very large, “V” shaped mouth. I reached up and placed a banana on the giant, warm, soft, pink tongue. Then again and again. It’s never something I dreamed of doing, but I’m so glad I can say that I touched an elephants tongue, multiple times. Now that’s up close and personal.

The Corn Stalks

For the elephants second course, we all walked back up the hill and were thrown a stack of dried out corn stalks. One by one, we carried them back down the steep steps into the valley, to the waiting elephants.

Steve was fascinated watching the elephant’s trunk in action, curling and twisting with perfect control.  We’d watch the elephant pick up a corn stalk with his trunk, then adeptly strip all the leaves off with one or two swipes of his trunk. Apparently the stalk is what’s yummy in this equation.

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

If you’re In Thailand, I highly recommend Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. Our day with the elephants was glorious. And fun. And muddy. And more fun. And educational.

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Elephant Jungle Sanctuary has camps in Chiang Mai, Phuket, Pattaya, and Samui. They were a tiny bit more expensive than some of the other camps (of which there are zillions), but the selfless work they are doing to give elephants the life, care, love and respect they deserve is nothing short of incredible. And you get a cool shirt to take home, a lovely lunch, and lots of elephant love.

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The camp directors consider the elephants family. It’s a continual struggle to maintain the camps, fighting against big-money investors that exploit the elephants for profits. Their dedication to continue expanding and creating sustainable camps is beyond admirable. Learn more about Elephant Jungle Sanctuary here:

Elephant Jungle Sanctuary, Chiang Mai

The day was long, but so worth every minute and every penny.
#❤️elephants 

Wins and Losses

Wins

• Hearing an elephant trumpet. At least five or six times throughout the day. Soooo cool. 
• Watching the elephants finger-like appendage, at the end of his trunk, that gave him amazing precision dexterity for picking up and manipulating small items. 
• Touching the huge bulge protruding from the side of the pregnant elephant. 18 months down, 6 to go. Gestation is two years for elephants. OMG. 
• Getting educated about the real struggle to save the elephants from abuse and extinction. 

Losses

• Noticing big, floating blobs in the mud pit as we exited, and realizing what they were. Hint: what goes in must come out.