If you ever had the opportunity to visit Bangkok I highly recommend you to book a trip to the Elephant World. It’s a sanctuary - a refuge of elephants rescued from circus, slavery and mistreated lifestyle. With your admission, you’ll support the sanctuary and, also you’ll volunteer taking care of the elephants, feeding, bathing, scrubbing with mud, cooking food for the old elephants, cutting grass and petting these gentle giants.
It’s an unforgettable experience in a friendly environment where the animals are treated with love and respect, no chains, no riding just pumping them and learning about these extraordinary animals.
The sanctuary is located in Kanchanaburi, a couple of hours from Bangkok. It’s a farm next to a river where you can bath the elephants and swim with them, after scrubbing with mud.
Expect to be very busy all day, because these giants eat non stop bananas, corn, watermelon, yam, and grass. The activities include to select the yams, wash them, cut the grass with a machete, cook sticky rice and prepare with it giant rice balls with protein and medicine for the elderly elephants.
At the time I visited the sanctuary there were two babies, a girl and a boy eight and ten months old, both cute and adorable. Most of the elephants are friendly females very easy to interact with them, but also there are wild and aggressive males that are kept in the forest far from the people. Not all the elephants enjoy human company so some I could see eating grass by themselves in the woods.
I learned that each elephant has his our “mahout ,” a man responsible for the safety of his elephant, so if the elephant escapes swimming or running into to the nearby farms, he is responsible for bringing it back.
Visiting the elephant sanctuary-refuge was the highlight of my trip to Thailand. It’s heartwarming to see people entirely dedicated to protecting these amazing animals and promoting responsible eco-tourism.
While we were selecting the yams from a big dirt pile, we found a little scorpion, our guide moved it to the woods using a tree leave and, laughing we continue selecting and later washing the yams to feed the elephants. No harm even for scorpions! Bravo!!!
Despite the terror to the scorpions, snakes and, mosquitos with dengue, I felt great pleasure to overcome fears while I was volunteering.
If you decide to visit the Elephant World don’t forget to bring bananas, I took some from the breakfast buffet at my hotel in Bangkok, the elephants loved the treat.
I assure you’ll have plenty of fun and laughter with the friendly Thai guides surrounded by these gentle elephants, it's an experience worth not to miss it if you visit Thailand.
Contributing with sanctuaries is a great way to protect our planet from the extinction of the species.
And..., don't forget, never, ever patronize elephants ridings, it's slavery, it's suffering for the animals.
www.elephantsworld.org
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