Elephant Nature Park
Visiting Pachyderm, sister organization of the famous Elephant Nature Park, has been something we have been looking forward to for months. It was the very first activity we planned for our trip and it far exceeded our expectations. We chose this particular organization because of the mission and values in which it is built on...saving the Thai elephants and educating people about elephants.. Our particular tour only allows six adults per day to interact with three elephants for the entire day so you can truly see their day-to-day activities. The Elephant Nature Park itself has over 40 elephants and quite a few tourists visit everyday and get to observe the elephants from a distance. We wanted to be as up close and personal as possible. It was extremely important to me that we visited somewhere that only had elephants in their natural habitat and that no one was able to ride them. Southeast Asia
On our way to Pachydem, we watched a documentary that confirmed not going to a trekking camp. Most Thai elephants have been domesticated either as logging and building elephants or tourists elephants who do treks and carry people on their backs. The traditional "training" that elephants go through called Phajaan is probably one of the most cruel things we have ever seen...it actually was quite difficult to watch in the documentary. Elephants are put in a bamboo cage that is no bigger than them. They are kept there for at least 5 days, while around the clock, the owners and fellow Thai abuse the elephants to make them become submissive to their every command. The relationship and dymanic between Thai people and elephants is an ironic and complicated one that I will never quite understand. You see beautiful religious shrines and offerings of elephants but yet they are some of the most ill-treated animals in Thailand. Even our tour guide, Yo, says it is something he will never quite understand. While learning more about this was definitely a debbie-downer, meeting our new 4000 kg friends in person was one of the beautiful things we have experienced. We spent majority of our day with three special female elephants, Baanyen, Tilly, and Mae Kaw Paen. The dynamic between these three and their stories was incredible. Baanyen, my favorite, served as a trekking elephant for over 35 years! Each day for 35 years, she carried tourists on her back for at least 10 hours a day and only received about 25 kilos of food a day...elephants should average 300 kilos a day. Baanyen came to the Elephant Nature Park about 9 months ago...and you can always find Baanyen eating. Girl loves to eat! She is known for eating all of the food or stealing other elephants food, so she is often alone...but as long as she has food in her mouth, she is a happy girl. Hence, why she is my favorite! Sister from another mother :) Fat kids unite! Tilly and Mae Phae Pen are best friends! You will not find one without the other. They have both been at the Elephant Nature Park for about 4 years and both came from illegal logging businesses. Tilly has a dislocated hip she has since she was 11 from abuse...she is now 45 years old. Mae Phae Pen is 90% blind due to abuse as well. It is quite amazing though because she uses her trunk as her form of a walking stick and often depends on Tilly to show her the way. The bond between these two is remarkable.
We spent our day with these three amazing elephants 100% in their element and experiencing their everyday. Starting the day with a delicious breakfast and the opportunity to feed them. All of the elephants, especially Baanyen, love bananas! And boy, do they know when you have some. As soon as you put a banana in your hand, they smell it and their trunk finds you quickly. It was an absolutely amazing and unique experience being able to feed such large and incredible creatures. It was amazing how unbelievably gentle and friendly they were...even with everything they had been through, companionship meant the world to them. After Lord knows how many bananas, we went on their daily walk with them. Walking through the countryside was beautiful. We crossed over a river (which had a pretty serious current) in order to continue our hike up through the mountains. Baanyen was always quite a bit in front of the other two elephants and we didn't understand until Yo told us that Mae Phan Pen charges Baanyen almost every day for stealing food. I would walk really far ahead too if that happened to me! It was just another funny and incredible thing that taught us so much about their unique personalities and relationships. We spent majority of the afternoon just walking with them as they played together and most importantly, ate. It was amazing how much they ate...especially Baanyen!
On our way back to Pachyderm, we had the opportunity to bathe the elephants in the river. Elephants absolutely love water! And apparently, love to swim even more! Seeing such a massive animal roll around in the water and swim was just unbelievable. So they gladly stood in the river, as we threw buckets of water on them. After we finished bathing them, Baanyen headed inland for more food (surprise, surprise), but Tilly and Mae Phan Pen stayed in the river for the rest of the afternoon! Being in the river is Mae Phan Pen's favorite thing to do and Yo said she would be in there 247 if she didn't need to come out to eat.
Leaving these three special elephants was bittersweet, but we left with smiles on our faces because we could tell how unbelievably happy they were and it was time to visit the main park. In our tour description, it has mentioned rafting to the park...I thought it was going to be one of the slow and easy bamboo rafts we had seen...but I was mistaken. We were definitely going to be whitewater rafting to the park. It ended up being great though! It was just Kyle and I plus our "captain" and the river wasn't too crazy. Just enough to make your heart stop but not enough to make you want to pee your pants :) Getting to the park from the river was just so cool because you can see all of the elephants as you are making your way down the river. When we got off the raft, we were met by a herd of elephants that had a baby boy elephant with them...um, adorable! We met another baby elephant while walking about the Nature Park and come to find out, the baby elephants like to knock you over as their form of playing, so we were told to stand clear...you easily forget that even as babies they are 800 kilos. After exploring the Nature Park, we met Lek, the founder and owner of the Elephant Nature Park. She was absolutely adorable and it was incredible being able to meet the person whose individual convictions, sacrifices and dedication made all of it possible and now, is one of the most well-known women in animal protection.
Our day at Pachyderm was more than we could have asked for and we could have only hoped to have more time. Being able to walk side by side with the largest land animal and get just a glimpse about who they really are will be something we never forget. So much so, that we have decided to support an elephant for a year!
On our way to Pachydem, we watched a documentary that confirmed not going to a trekking camp. Most Thai elephants have been domesticated either as logging and building elephants or tourists elephants who do treks and carry people on their backs. The traditional "training" that elephants go through called Phajaan is probably one of the most cruel things we have ever seen...it actually was quite difficult to watch in the documentary. Elephants are put in a bamboo cage that is no bigger than them. They are kept there for at least 5 days, while around the clock, the owners and fellow Thai abuse the elephants to make them become submissive to their every command. The relationship and dymanic between Thai people and elephants is an ironic and complicated one that I will never quite understand. You see beautiful religious shrines and offerings of elephants but yet they are some of the most ill-treated animals in Thailand. Even our tour guide, Yo, says it is something he will never quite understand. While learning more about this was definitely a debbie-downer, meeting our new 4000 kg friends in person was one of the beautiful things we have experienced. We spent majority of our day with three special female elephants, Baanyen, Tilly, and Mae Kaw Paen. The dynamic between these three and their stories was incredible. Baanyen, my favorite, served as a trekking elephant for over 35 years! Each day for 35 years, she carried tourists on her back for at least 10 hours a day and only received about 25 kilos of food a day...elephants should average 300 kilos a day. Baanyen came to the Elephant Nature Park about 9 months ago...and you can always find Baanyen eating. Girl loves to eat! She is known for eating all of the food or stealing other elephants food, so she is often alone...but as long as she has food in her mouth, she is a happy girl. Hence, why she is my favorite! Sister from another mother :) Fat kids unite! Tilly and Mae Phae Pen are best friends! You will not find one without the other. They have both been at the Elephant Nature Park for about 4 years and both came from illegal logging businesses. Tilly has a dislocated hip she has since she was 11 from abuse...she is now 45 years old. Mae Phae Pen is 90% blind due to abuse as well. It is quite amazing though because she uses her trunk as her form of a walking stick and often depends on Tilly to show her the way. The bond between these two is remarkable.
We spent our day with these three amazing elephants 100% in their element and experiencing their everyday. Starting the day with a delicious breakfast and the opportunity to feed them. All of the elephants, especially Baanyen, love bananas! And boy, do they know when you have some. As soon as you put a banana in your hand, they smell it and their trunk finds you quickly. It was an absolutely amazing and unique experience being able to feed such large and incredible creatures. It was amazing how unbelievably gentle and friendly they were...even with everything they had been through, companionship meant the world to them. After Lord knows how many bananas, we went on their daily walk with them. Walking through the countryside was beautiful. We crossed over a river (which had a pretty serious current) in order to continue our hike up through the mountains. Baanyen was always quite a bit in front of the other two elephants and we didn't understand until Yo told us that Mae Phan Pen charges Baanyen almost every day for stealing food. I would walk really far ahead too if that happened to me! It was just another funny and incredible thing that taught us so much about their unique personalities and relationships. We spent majority of the afternoon just walking with them as they played together and most importantly, ate. It was amazing how much they ate...especially Baanyen!
On our way back to Pachyderm, we had the opportunity to bathe the elephants in the river. Elephants absolutely love water! And apparently, love to swim even more! Seeing such a massive animal roll around in the water and swim was just unbelievable. So they gladly stood in the river, as we threw buckets of water on them. After we finished bathing them, Baanyen headed inland for more food (surprise, surprise), but Tilly and Mae Phan Pen stayed in the river for the rest of the afternoon! Being in the river is Mae Phan Pen's favorite thing to do and Yo said she would be in there 247 if she didn't need to come out to eat.
Leaving these three special elephants was bittersweet, but we left with smiles on our faces because we could tell how unbelievably happy they were and it was time to visit the main park. In our tour description, it has mentioned rafting to the park...I thought it was going to be one of the slow and easy bamboo rafts we had seen...but I was mistaken. We were definitely going to be whitewater rafting to the park. It ended up being great though! It was just Kyle and I plus our "captain" and the river wasn't too crazy. Just enough to make your heart stop but not enough to make you want to pee your pants :) Getting to the park from the river was just so cool because you can see all of the elephants as you are making your way down the river. When we got off the raft, we were met by a herd of elephants that had a baby boy elephant with them...um, adorable! We met another baby elephant while walking about the Nature Park and come to find out, the baby elephants like to knock you over as their form of playing, so we were told to stand clear...you easily forget that even as babies they are 800 kilos. After exploring the Nature Park, we met Lek, the founder and owner of the Elephant Nature Park. She was absolutely adorable and it was incredible being able to meet the person whose individual convictions, sacrifices and dedication made all of it possible and now, is one of the most well-known women in animal protection.
Our day at Pachyderm was more than we could have asked for and we could have only hoped to have more time. Being able to walk side by side with the largest land animal and get just a glimpse about who they really are will be something we never forget. So much so, that we have decided to support an elephant for a year!
What an amazing thing to do....I loved reading about your day! And what great pictures of such wonderful, majestic creatures. The girls loved the pictures as well! Thanks for giving us a glimpse into this very special place.
ReplyDeleteMargaret