Day 26 & Day 27: Chiang Mai and at Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai province
We have been thinking about visiting Elephant Nature Park (ENP) for at least 10 years, ever since our friends Tracy and Nathan had visited and kept coming back (thank you!).
We were delayed a day due to a health issue – see below for more – and we finally are here. It is quite an impressive sanctuary. When it was started in 2003, it was one of the first of its kind, rescuing elephants from logging and harmful tourism, to just allow elephants be elephants. Many did not think it would be financially successful. Who would actually pay to just watch elephants and not ride, bathe, or touch them?
It is now seen as one of the most successful models of how to do this work. It now has 112 elephants on 300+ acres. It is not without its blemishes, as many things in life, but I am impressed by just the impact on the community. I stumbled on a monthly staff meeting take place and I wish I had a translator. There were the typical speakers and the few Q & A’s, but what was most impressive was the diversity of ages – 16 to 60 year olds. All local Thai, some from the minority Karin and other hill tribes, and at the end of the meeting, each one received their paycheck in cash. It is quite the commercial success in an area that is mainly subsistence farming.
The founder, Saengduean “Lek” Chailert, is now an internationally known and awarded woman in conservation. You can check out her whole story at elephantnaturepark.org
Our first day was a short orientation, we settled into our nice room and bath, enjoyed a wonderful vegetarian lunch, then had a chat with Lek’s husband and key partner Darrick about everything from conservation, to climate change, to the future of Asian elephants. Then we walked with the elephants and started learning their stories. Most have significant trauma and disabilities from forced work. Some have broken bones, dislocated hips, land mine injuries on their legs, and some are blind. They are all amazingly resilient in just being an elephant now with the freedom to move. It is quite the moving place and one is often brought to tears seeing the recovery of these enormous animals after the horrendous conditions they have come from.
At the end of the afternoon, a herd returned from another part of the park and it felt like homecoming. One younger elephant almost ran over us as she went to greet them. Their trucks intertwined in what must be the universal elephant handshake. Later, I saw Lek working with this younger elephant to help get her to a safe place for the night. She kept putting her trunk around Lek and pulling her close, not wanting her to leave. It was touching to see the love and care that is given everyday here.
Tomorrow we have a real work day – we are “volunteers.” We missed the digging out the mud from the dog kennels this morning, but tomorrow we have “clean up park” and “collect woods” on our chore chart. Not sure what those mean but we will soon find out.
Now for some elephants.
And for those still reading – why the delay? As some of you may know Siri has been having a health issue and it has flared up a couple times during this trip. Yesterday morning was one of those times. We decided to take a day off and take it easy. It did involve a telehealth visit with a doctor in Bangkok and trying to fill a prescription – only had to go to three pharmacies. All is good for now and we continue to monitor things. Hopefully, it has been resolved for now and we will be able to finish our whole trip. The important thing is we are all currently healthy and doing well. Oh, and we already met our objectives this trip – hang out with elephants. So, everything from here on out is just icing on the cake – we have already done five days previously and now have five more planned. Woohoo.
Let the being with elephants continue on …
Siri and David Adventures 