From Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai, today was the day that my friends and I were going to meet elephants. I woke up excited and ready to go.
We woke up and headed to the hotel lobby at 6:30 a.m. to wait for our transportation to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. After a couple of minutes, the car arrived and we were on our way. We were in an open back truck and the weather felt nice. It was a good start to the morning. Once we got to our destination, we were taken to have a brief orientation and background of the elephants.
This organization’s mission is to offer elephants good health, freedom, and bliss. Their hope is to contribute to a positive change in the views of elephants. For instance, they spread the knowledge that riding elephants is harmful to the elephants. In addition, this organization tries to prevent other organizations from overworking and abusing elephants. The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary tried to tell others to treat elephants with love, care, and respect.
We were in Camp 8 of the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. After the brief introduction, it was time to meet and feed the elephants. The elephants were hungry and we fed them bananas and grass. When we finished feeding the elephants, it was time to have a mud bath with them. We arrived at the mud bath zone, before the elephants, in order to get familiar with the environment. After a couple of minutes, the elephants joined us and it was great. The elephants love to roll around in the mud and it got messy. When the elephants were done, we went to the river where the elephants cleaned off the mud. As the elephants were bathing, we assisted them. Once they were done and clean, we went for a little walk after lunch. After our walk around the forest, our time with the elephants was about to end. As sad as it felt to leave the elephants, it was great to know that they are in a place with people who love and treat them well.
