Day 7 - Elephants Large and Small

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Geo: 7.97501, 98.3515

On Tuesday we visited the Kok Chang Safari with a group of people who regularly post on Trip Advisor, Sunsets'r'Us, with Sunsets'r'Us (Lee and Trevor), Max'n'Max (Max and Maxine) and Anne, Dave and Matt. (I hope I got the names right).

We had a terrific day, in my opinion the best we had in Phuket. The weather was great, the views spectacular and what a lovely cool breeze from the top! This was a not to be missed experience.

Richard from Phuket Pro Dive picked us up in a mini bus. The others mentioned above were already in the bus as they had been picked up in Patong first. We headed out of Kata up the hill to a cafe called the Small Viewpoint.

What at view! This timber cafe/bar clung to the side of the hill overlooking Kata Noi beach and the Katathani Phuket Beach Resort. We could see the beautiful coastline for for miles. This cafe is definitely one to come back to.

Richard spent some time explaining about the elephants and the riding process. He also told us about the two gibbons that run free at Kok Chang and explained to us that they love to be groomed by people, just as they would be groomed by other gibbons in the wild.

We all rode elephants and took the longest ride of about one hour which climbed to the top of the mountain and gave sensational views from the top. It was great fun riding an elephant, and also a little bit freaky - especially when the seat swayed as they elephant walked uphill.

After our ride we got to the feed bananas to the elephants and then moved to the bar for cold drinks and spending time grooming Charlie and Lum Yai.

That evening we went to the Dino Park for dinner and to play mini golf. This was a great
place for kids, but again the heat knocked me around a bit so I didn't play golf. It was incredibly hot inside the mini golf building.

They had a baby elephant outside the Dino Park. We felt very sorry for this baby, it seemed very stressed by the large number of people, mainly children, surrounding it.

Stephanie and I looked at the shops and market stalls along the road also had a look at Marina Phuket Resort with a view to staying there on a possible future visit. This was a really beautiful place so hopefully Lee and Trevor enjoyed their stay.

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