I thought I do a few different Thailand blogs, some about where we stayed and some about what we did. First up, our gorgeous trip to the elephant sanctuary in Krabi.
As I mentioned on Instagram, I worked out here as a vet in 2009. Myself and my friend, in the over excitement of our first visit to Thailand, decided to go elephant trekking in the first week on Phuket. We later found out that they’re have to work tirelessly for tourist pleasure (I should’ve realised this beforehand but I was a naive, excited 23 year old). It surprises me also as the main religion here is Buddhist and these guys care a lot about animals. Anyway, never again!
But this time I saw adverts for a trip to sanctuary where you could look after the elephants and feed them. Immediately wanted to go and see.
After an hour journey to the jungle we arrived and the first station had lots information about elephants. They live up to 60 years in the wild, have years of memory and form close family bonds. The ones here were mainly ex logging workers but now retired to live this free range life of luxury in the sanctuary.
We were welcomed by the workers and asked to prepare some food. We made tamarind and coconut sugar balls dipped in salt and filled our bags with bananas.
We started our jungle trek to try and spot the first elephant. Not long after we came across the eldest there having a bath in the stream. She is called Oi and is 80 years old! This age immediately tells you how well they’re looked after and although I found it a bit off putting that she responded to commands like wave and lie down, I later thought it’s just because they are highly intelligent and probably remember this form their working days. There were no leads (trust me it’s the first thing I looked for) or chains and these elephants are free to roam or walk off whenever they want.
We were only a group of about 8 and she obviously knew we would bring treats too. No stress was caused and after our visit she wandered back off in to the jungle.
The next ones we came across were a 65 year old female and an 11 year old male. They were in the river too and this was our chance do some mud bathing and massaging for them. Then onto the scrubbing brush. They loved it and of course they both got lots of the prepared treats!
We didn’t see any more. They were all off doing their own thing. They are amazing creatures and I’d highly recommend spending the day with some! We loved it!Check out Viator for some more information and trip ideas !
Kelly
The Vogue Vet
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The Vogue Vet 