Who doesn’t love a baby elephant? My day at the refuge gave me a jumbo dose of pachyderms, and I’m glad I did it. It is definitely a scripted day… lots of the activities are contrived for photo ops to sell to you later. For example, when the guide holds out a pile of dung to explain how it indicates the elephant’s health and says that a healthy elephant’s dung does not have an odor, there will be a picture of you smelling dung. I avoided this because I don’t have a good sense of smell, for which I am frequently grateful, and I just told the guide that I believed him. Also, you are going to get wet!
There will be lots of hokey pictures of you attending and waiting on the gentle giants. The images from the photographer are available for purchase at the end of the day, but the pictures that the mahout took on my camera were much better. I think there are more pictures of me on an elephant than there are of me in a wedding dress.
What is an Elephant Mahout?
It is an elephant keeper. Each elephant has its own mahout who was with him all day and night. The new mothers and babies stay at the clinic for more attention.
the elephant clinic
The first hour is spent at the clinic, oooh-ing and aww-ing over the newest arrivals. There was a one-month-old baby who thought that he was a lap elephant ~ so cute! We were later told that they were using clinic time to evaluate us and match us with our new friend for the day.
I’m not sure what about me indicated that I should be on the most giant momma elephant in the group, but that was what happened. She had a two-year-old son, who followed us around all day. Finally, he would run off, hide in the bushes, and be very still, like we couldn’t see a 300-pound elephant in the bushes… Then my handler would yell for him, and he would come running back. That happened every few minutes for the entire ride to the river.
Baby Elephant, who wants to be a lap-child
my mahout duties
some things to know
What to wear… it is hot, so it might be tempting to wear shorts, but the elephants have prickly hair, and the pants they provide are also itchy, so I was glad I was wearing long pants, but I would choose yoga pants, if I had it to do over again. That would have given me more range of motion for the awkward process of getting myself on top of the elephant. Also, you will be getting wet, so I had a tee over my bathing suit, and we all brought dry clothes for after.
You ride elephants barefoot, so flip-flops are fine.
Your mahout will hold your camera and take pictures. Put it on the automatic setting and enjoy the day. They have a professional photographer, but my camera’s quality was better.
The lunch was terrific! It was beautiful and delicious, and there was a lot of food. Also, one of our group saw the mahouts giving the leftovers to some locals who needed the food.
related articles
Elephants are not always treated well in tourist destinations, so there is a lot of discussion as to whether participating is ethical. I saw nothing during the day at the Patara Elephant Farm to indicate that the refuge was anything other than what they said they were. Some of our group refused on moral grounds, and some were too timid or physically unable to ride an elephant. A couple were intimidated when it came time to ride, but they did it anyway. Elephants are rather large and can be unpredictable. Also, someone in another group was hurt the day before we went. We had no injuries or issues.
NYT … As Tourism Plummets In Thailand, Elephants Are Out Of Work, Too 24 Mar 2020
NYT … In Thailand, You Can Ride an Elephant. But Should You? 19 Jun 2019
“In Thailand, it [a group known as Travelife for Tour Operators] has audited 20 elephant camps for compliance so far. It has also trained and certified 10 tour operators, the in-country’ destination managers’ who assemble the packages that travel agencies sell to tourists. These companies are the centerpiece of the program: They make sure the camps treat elephants well and train workers, from business managers to stable hands, on best practices from the Captive Elephant Initiative. In return, they promise to send business only to these camps. Right now these camps include some of the largest and best known, such as Patara Elephant Farm and Maesa Elephant Camp.” – Donald Frasier
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