We opted to visit a sanctuary over trekking as we had heard about the cruel and inhumane treatment of elephants who are beaten into submission to carry people and perform tricks on command. I chose this particular sanctuary due to its transportation, proximity and itinerary which worked well with our schedule during our time in Chiang Mai. 

We chose the single day visit with a pickup from our Airbnb between 8-8:30 in the morning with a return around 5. In addition to the transportation and visiting with and feeding the elephants, it included a vegetarian buffet. 

The drive to the sanctuary took about an hour and a half. During the early part of the drive, we watched a video about how the sanctuary came to be, the woman who runs it and some of the atrocious crimes some of its residents had suffered prior to making the sanctuary their permanent home. The latter part of the drive was quiet and serene filled with picturesque scenery. We drove past verdant, rolling hills dotted with elephants and water buffaloes, some elephant trekking parks, a zip line park and other sanctuaries.

We arrived a bit before 10 a.m. During the first half of our visit, our guide Bee Bee talked about how each elephant we met came to live at the sanctuary, how one elephant was blinded by its owner, how another had been hurt logging but to make money off of her she was bound while forcing a much larger elephant to breed with her. There were other equally horrific and sad tales but what was important was these gentle giants now had a peaceful place to wander, eat freely and just be one with nature. We learned on the drive over and on-site that it’s always best to be in the elephant’s periphery, not to take flash photography, not to stand behind the elephant, not to tease the elephant with food and if the ears are flapping, that’s its happy. 

The sanctuary serves not just a home for the elephants. It has volunteers who stay overnight, a week or sometimes two weeks to help with the elephants. On a more permanent basis, each elephant has a person assigned to him/her who sits by the elephant all day making sure he/she has anything it needs and that person lives on-site in the event the elephant needs anything overnight or runs off and enters the neighbor’s property, resulting in a steep fine. There are also 80 water buffaloes that live amongst the elephants as well as rescued dogs and cats. 

We were taken to the kitchen for the elephants and saw just how much food the sanctuary stores to feed the 79 elephants it shelters. The oldest elephant in the herd has few teeth so they make her a special diet of rice with coconut and banana leaves. 

By 11:40, it was time for lunch. It was a massive spread of food with two rows of options. We had free time until 12:50 and then we set off to walk the rest of the sanctuary’s grounds which was quite expansive. Bath time is private at this sanctuary compared to others in the area. They discontinued visitors washing the elephants because it was distressing to the animals and took the pleasure and joy from their experience. We did, however, see an elephant they had to convince daily to take her bath because she just did not care for water. On the video we captured, she was the one making sounds resembling a rooster as a way of complaining. 

We witnessed bath time for the rest of the elephants followed by mud time which is a natural sunscreen for them and then they headed to the scratching posts. It was an extraordinarily hot and sunny day with a few mists of rain interspersed so as the elephants moved, we hid under the huts to shield us from the scorching hot sun.

We observed as a truck pulled up with more branches and saw the herd quickly make a beeline in its direction. It was lunchtime and it was interesting to watch how certain elephants would steal food from others despite having food right in front of them. We saw others take their helping and turn their backs to the others while eating. There was an elephant who was super picky which bananas were good enough to eat as it would feel the texture of the banana and decide whether it was good enough to eat it or overripe so it should be tossed out. We watched the oldest elephant who is 103 years old pick the leaves off the stem and put a trunk full of greens in her mouth. It was mesmerizing and almost hypnotizing to watch her strategically pluck the leaves. 

All in all, it was a fantastic experience and is on my personal recommend for a Chiang Mai excursion. Our guide was sensational and knew all the elephants by name and their history. We loved getting up close to the elephants and watching them just live their lives, enjoying their lazy days and being sheltered from harm’s way.

Elephant Nature Park

Welcome to Elephant Nature Park