Arriving in Chiang Mai, visiting an elephant sanctuary was not at the forefront of my plans as a tourist in this thriving city and surrounding rainforests. But, after seeing a brochure for elephant rides -I took one look at a picture of a fat white man riding an elephant, a huge grin on his face, and a menacing sharply hooked cane in his hand, and I had second thoughts. With a recommendation from several friends to visit a small elephant sanctuary outside of the city, I began looking into the tour. At first I balked at the price: $2500 baht for a one-day visit (to give you an idea of how much this costs: meals are about $30 baht and a nights accomodation is around $150, an all-inclusive 3-day jungle trek including an elephant ride was only $1600), by the time I left the Elephant Nature Park, I was wishing I had $25,000 baht just to donate to the place!
Driving out to the park, I became painfully aware of why sanctuaries are needed in Thailand. We passed several elephant camps in which the animals looked overworked, underfed, and stooped with heartbreaking indignation. Pulling into the Elephant Nature Park, we were immediately greeted by a healthy looking 10ft tall bull elephant who had decided the park's driveway was a good place to have a snack from the hanging tree limbs. His mahout (trainer) had to resort to bribes of banana's to get the 6-ton animal to move out of the way.
After unloading from the van, our group was immediately given a safety briefing. I was humourously impressed by the examples of innapropriate (idiotic) behavior the tour guide gave us; it continues to amaze me how stupid people can be, especially in the presence of the worlds biggest and strongest walking animal. With a healthy dose of caution, we were led to the feeding pens where I had my first interaction with the big guys. I was obviously struck by the sheer size of both male and female elephants, but when their trunks wrapped around my hand to pluck the fruit from my grasps, I was shocked by the grainy thick skin and sheer muscular power of even the smallest elephant's trunk. Within minutes I was thouroughly in awe of the majestic nature of these huge creatures.
Next came bathing and a chance to meet an incredible woman who began the park in 1995. The elephants were led to a large and muddy river where they stood patiently as groups of tourists, including myself, hucked buckets of water all over their grey and pink bodies. Not many animals would take kindly to being drenched, but the elephants seemed happy to help us by hoovering water through their trunks before spraying it along their own backsides. Wet, muddy, and feeling overjoyed through my interaction with the gentle giants, I made my way toward the main buidling to washup before lunch. Wandering along a viewing deck, a petite Thai woman greeted me. After asking my name and where I was from, she kindly inquired how I was enjoying my day. Mid sentance I realized who I was talking to: Lek, the Park's founder and director. I almost stopped speaking just to hug the tiny woman, who's name means "little" in Thai. Not wanting to take up the busy woman's time, I told her I was having an incredible day, commended her for her dedicated work, and took her business card in the event I can ever manage to give back to the inspirational sanctuary.
I left Lek to her work, and the rest of the group settled in for a delicious Thai-style lunch. The mood was almost festive as complete strangers joyously talked and interacted, even the dogs were happily about. But it was not to last: shortly after lunch we were shown a documentary about the Park. It focused on the plight of the 34 animals who had been rescued and brought to the park and the incredible odds Lek defied to make the sanctuary a reality. We learned of Hope - a young elephant rescued as an infant after his mother was killed by farmers for wandering into their crops (which were located sheer feet from their encroached natural habitat), Chang Mae -a former working elephant who was blinded after her hours-old baby was left to die and she refused to work, Lilly -who's back was visibly broken in several places from carrying too-heavy tourists on too-heavy riding chairs, and Mae Do a 70-year-old female who because her broken hip (caused by being chained to posts during forced breeding) had been begging on the streets for her owner's profit.The film was sad but served its purpose of making even the most aloof tourist into an animal rights activist (if only for the day). For me, it was a reminder of the falability of human nature and the inpirational change that can come from the most unlikliest of people and places. With a newfound respect for the elephants we had spent the day with (and the hundreds of employees and volunteers who run the sanctuary), I said my goodbye's to the Park and it's inhabitans before climbing into the waiting van. In the fading sunlight I reflected on my day and the how unexpectedly moved I had been by the experience. My mind wandered to thoughts of Lek and how one woman had risen from poverty to create one of the most successful and inspiring non-profits in the world. That day my world was changed. Lek and her elehpants made me believe that tomorrow, I too could change the world.
-Ash
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