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Published: June 23rd 2013
Oh my oh my ... what an experience we had at the Patara Elephant Farm in Chiang Mai. Let me share a bit about it!
I had read a lot about the elephants in Thailand before our holiday and I found out many of the elephants here today are used for tourism and not treated very well. I didn't want to take the boys somewhere to see elephants painting pictures or walking on their back legs ... this is not what elephants should be doing. Also, if we were going to ride elephants ... I wanted the boys to experience it the "proper way." That's what led us to Patara today.
Anyway we had a very early start and made our way into the mountains south west of Chiang Mai. We soon met our elephants ... who were matched to suit each of us. Scott and Dylan spent the day with Maria ... a 34 year old female who was rescued from the jungle in a bad state. Blake and I spent the day with Moomoo, who was moved to Patara from another elephant conservation park 2 years ago. Moomoo was 24 years old. Kobe spent the day with
a pregnant elephant (can't remember her name or her background but Kobe will remind me in the morning). We did not have time to learn about anyone elses elephant as it really was a "hands on" day with our own elephant.
We started out with a meet and greet ... basically we had to spend some time with our elephant to ensure they were comfortable with us and vice versa. It helped that we had a basket full of bananas and sugar cane. We hand fed the elephants right into the mouth! Already our hands were dirty and this was only the beginning of the experience! We also learnt some basic commands to help us get through the day.
Then it was time to brush off the dirt from their back so they were clean before we hosed them off to cool them down. WE made them sit and then wacked them with a bunch of leaves ... fun but hard work!!
The fun part began by learning how each of our elephants likes to be mounted. There are three techniques people can use to climb up onto the elephant's neck. Scott had to do the leg
and side mount ... using the elephants foot and leg to climb up. Dylan then got lifted up by over the trunk by the helpers. Kobe was a trunk mount ... basically you climb up the trunk and pull yourself over the head and then turn around to face forward. Blake and I also had a front mount with Moomoo ... it was not as hard as I thought it would be and we all got up safely to the sitting position.
Riding the elephants in this was was a little scary at times ... but quite comfortable once you got the hang of it. For Scott and I, we each held someone in front so it made the process a little more difficult - especially when we went on tracks up very steep hills ... and then down the same. I felt at times like the elephant's head was hanging over the edge of the cliff ... before he turned and continued downhill. The heart skipped a few beats at times! These animals are SO MASSIVE but so stable ... it really was incredible.
We rode to a waterfall and then had the job of washing the
elephants in the water hole ... a refreshing job in the water ... but hard work! We used scrubbing brushes and had to get into every crease and fold in their skin. They get very dirty! Apparently this process is very good for their skin ... and it helps them to avoid infections and skin irritations. It got a bit tricky when Moomoo rolled over in the water and Blake and I had to move around on top of her to ensure we stayed on her back! Kobe managed really well ... considering he had to look after his own elephant all day. Dylan loved it - every part of it. He was scrubbing away and making sure Maria was sparkling clean.
WE then rode the elephants to a quiet area where a picnic lunch was waiting for us ... lovely food - all local and we really had no idea what most of it was! Some tasted great ... some ok and some terrible. We tried most things on offer I think (well I speak for Scott and I). The boys ate bananas and chicken drumsticks.
Then it was time to ride our elephants back to where
they are let off to feed and roam overnight. It was actually sad to say goodbye to them. You can form quiet a bond with this type of animal in such a short space of time. They have such loving big brown eyes that look straight at you ... when you are up so close to them you can see the emotion in their eyes.
I tell you what ... we were told that the elephants form a special bond with the children - more so than adults. And this was certainly the case. Maria LOVED Dylan and was SO GENTLE with him. She wrapped her trunk around him in a beautiful way. Blake was very cautious most of the time ... but Moomoo was also very gentle with him. Kobe formed a beautiful bond with his elephant and enjoyed having one to look after all by himself. He did say at the end of it all that it was hard work at times ... and I agreed with him. This was never going to be a typical "tourist" type activity.
We then got to see a mother and two baby elephants ... one was hers aged 1
year and the other belonged to another elephant that one in our group rode for the day. The second was 2 years old. We fed them and Dylan got to sit on the 2 year olds neck and feed it bananas! WE didn't get a photo of this ... but a lady who was with us has promised to email some through as she took photos at this time. Because Scott and I had the boys it was hard to carry anything else ... so we relied on the photos supplied to us from the trip organisers (who took photos and video footage all day). Then the babies had a swim with the Mum ... it was so lovely to see them in their natural environment - up so close and getting so personal.
Oh ... I forgot the say ... one lady in our group had a mother elephant with an 18 month old baby. The lady rode the mother and the baby came along for the trip to the waterfalls with us all. It was SO SPECIAL. So we got to enjoy the company of an 18 month old baby elephant all day too. The baby was
so naughty!!!! It was like an 18 month old child - honestly! It pulled things out of the ground ... threw them away ... played hide and seek in the bushes ... ran in amongst the other elephants. It was really funny ... so beautiful though.
So the boys slept on the return trip to the villa ... so we made a last minute call to take the shuttle into the Sunday night Street Market - quite a big event in Chiang Mai. I think we were all tired ... so we didn't stay long. We did eat some more street food for dinner (even the boys) and had a nice walk around for a couple of hours .. but then headed back for a good nights sleep.
What will tomorrow bring .... will touch base again soon.xxx
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Xavier and Pete
non-member comment
Wow
Xavier and I here Jennos. This looks like an awesome day. Xavier wants to go.......unfortunately no elephants in yamba! Keep blogging.........Pete and little man