The Elephant Nature Park has been my favorite part of the trip so far! It is a beautiful sanctuary for elephants who have been abused by their mahout (trainer), put through the phajaan torture training (a torture phase to turn the elephant submissive so they know their owner is in control), used for illegal logging, trekking, breeding programs, and trained to perform demeaning circus tricks. A lot of the elephants suffered in their past but are now living the life they deserve in "elephant heaven" all thanks to the park founder, Lek.


Apple was our tour guide and made this experience memorable! It wouldn't of been the same without her. During the week, our chores were to scoop elephant poop, fill sand bags to make beds for the old lady elephants, prepare elephant food, cut grass with a machete, and bathe them. Laughing and hanging out with the group made everything so much fun! My favorite part was bathing the elephants because they looked like they were smiling and loved getting pampered while enjoying fresh watermelon... (sounds like the life to me!) Each of us were also assigned an elephant that we had to learn about and on the last day, we visited everyone's elephant and told their story.


The area we stayed was beautiful! Every morning I loved listening to the elephants roar and making their noises. I was not a fan of the spiders that snuck into our rooms that were the size of fists. The nature park also had a clinic where Lek has rescued over 400 dogs. All of us were able to walk the dogs for a day which was fun. Overall, the weather was perfect, food was great, and we met new people from all around the world. It is definitely an experience I will never forget!

Shannon Brown


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Author Shannon Brown Posted

Category Thailand Departure 2014