On the bucket list for Thailand - playing with the elephants! But top on the bucket list was doing it ethically.
After a ton of research, we settled on Krabi Elephant Sanctuary located in Krabi Province. They are a small family run elephant sanctuary with three rescued elephants.
I made all of the arrangements online and paid through Paypal. They even sent a car to our hotel to pick us up and return on on the day of our experience.
To say it was an amazing experience is an under statement! We arrived from our hotel, Phulay Bay Ritz Reserve in Krabi, it was a good 45 minute ride. My hubby, 11 year old and 10 year old arrived at the Sanctuary and were immediately occupied with the puppies and kittens running around! There were two other couples - so a small group for sure!
They told us how they rescued the elephants from the lumber and trekking companies, they had several workers to care for the 3 elephants. Gramma, the oldest of the elephants had worked 40 years in the lumber industry and and still had a scare on her head :(
The elephants eat about 600 pounds of food a day and after about 20 minutes, even the kids grew tired of feeding them! After feeding the elephants buckets of food, we made elephant protein balls and the kids had to hold them in their hands and let the elephants basically lick them off!
After we were done feeding the elephants, we were getting ready to take the elephants on a walk through the jungle and into their mudbaths when one of the elephants had to do her business!
I don't think my 11 year old had ever laughed more! The elephant peed a small pond and pooped a mountain! Three men with shoveled worked for a few minutes and eventually made it all disappear! This moment ranks as one of the top three moments of my 11 year old boy's Asian trip :(
We took the elephants on a trek through the jungle and they washed themselves off in mudholes. Then we all got to get in the water and bath the elephants!
What an amazing day to get up close and personal with these amazing animals! It's a wild animal yet such a gentle giant. They dance, they love the attention, it was one of the most amazing experiences ever! If you ever get the chance to get see these amazing creatures in Asia, do it! Just do your research, do not ride and make sure you are supporting a true sanctuary!
