One of the things that we were most excited about in visiting Thailand was the opportunity to visit an elephant sanctuary. Elephant Nature Park (ENP) located just outside of Chiang Mai is one of Thailand’s most renowned and reputable sanctuaries which today is home to over 80 rescued elephants. Based on the success of ENP, their founder (Lek Chailert) began a new outreach initiative called “Saddle Off” to improve the lives and conditions of elephants under the care of local independent camps.

For our adventure we decided to visit ENP’s Sunshine for Elephants program, a nearby elephant camp which previously provided trekking and riding but 3 years ago agreed to adopt a new approach to animal conservation and allow their elephants to live in a more natural environment.  

Without a doubt this was one of the most amazing days we’ve ever spent on this planet. If you’re ever in the area, go.

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After about an hour ride up into the hills surrounding Chiang Mai we arrived at the Sunshine for Elephants camp and quickly got to work with our guide (Dew) preparing the morning appetizer for the 3 female elephants we would be spending the day with.

We were first introduced to the elephants behind a small gate in order to build some confidence and allow them to get used to their new visitors. This is Sri Prai, the youngest and largest of the trio.

After their morning appetizer it was time to begin the hike up to our lunch campsite…where on the way up Sri Prai perfected her strategy of working Tara & Caden for as many bananas as possible. The older ladies of the group (40 year old Ta Mon and 50 year old Kanjana) took their time while Keira found the perfect tree to wrap a Buddhist robe around. The Buddhist Monks of Thailand began the practice of ordaining trees with the intent of protecting the environment.

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I’m not at all sure what may have been going on here, but my guess is that Caden & Sri Prai were involved in some sort of fly swatting ritual. While we may never know for certain, it’s good to see that they both found their inner peace.

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After an hour or so hike up through the jungle we arrived at our lunch campsite. While the elephants foraged through the surrounding jungle, Dew taught us how to make a traditional Thai green papaya salad (which Tara & Keira made perfectly) and then we dined on an incredible vegetarian lunch.

After a perfectly-timed rain shower, the elephants meandered their way back to our campsite.

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The video below shows the two older females talking. Kanjana (the oldest) was standing at the waterfall by herself and began trumpeting and making sounds similar to an old motor. At the time we had no idea what was going on, and then out of nowhere Ta Mon came from behind the hill at a pretty quick pace to join her friend. Dew shared with us that this is how they talk, and that the elder who is more shy than the two younger elephants was likely lonely and began calling out for her herd. Once reunited they spent a few minutes “talking” and reassuring each other with their trunks.

With breakfast and lunch shortly wearing off it was time to make an afternoon power-snack for our elephants. Luckily Caden & Keira (ok, mostly Keira) did all of the work constructing tennis-sized balls of rice, tamarind, salt, grains and what else, bananas.

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After snack-time it was back into the river for our elephant trio to get their daily bath. Good times!

With everyone washed and bellies full (or so we thought), it was time to begin our trek back down the hill. Turns out Sri Prai is always hungry!

To be fair, it takes a lot of time to consume the roughly 400 pounds of food she requires each day.

Back at the base of the hill the time had come to say goodbye to our favorite elephant trio. Ta Mon (on the left), Sri Prai (in the middle) and Kanjana (yup, still shy) are incredible creatures, and I can only hope that the mark they’ve left on us will remain for the rest of our lives.

Until next time.