Day 8 - Elephant World Sanctuary

Day 8  - Sept. 12th    

I had booked a tour to Elephant World Sanctuary yesterday for all of us. It would be an all-day affair, as the sanctuary was 2.5 hours from our place. The cabbie, Artit, came and picked us up from the house at 9am. We tried to wake LT up to come with us, but he decided to stay home. On the ride there, Artit stopped at one of the 7-Elevens and we got some beers for the ride and bought some lottery tickets. He told us he had been buying a ticket every week for the last ten years. Even though the ride was 2.5 hours, it seemed pretty quick seeing that we were gawking out the window the whole time.

We arrived to place a little after 12pm and were greeted by the staff. They had a lunch buffet for us that was really good. The meeting/eating area was out in an open covered area. It had lockers for us to put our belongings for the time being and had a small gift shop, which we had to buy something from - of course!

We first started feeding three of the elephants some mini watermelons. They had two great big baskets with them enough for everyone to get 8-10 watermelons. The elephants picked the watermelons out of our hands so gently. The dexterity that they have with their trunks is incredible to watch. They can pick up the small piece of food with it. Afterwards, we were driven to a sugarcane field just about a 1/4 mile on their property and they had us harvest the stacks. Everyone got to cut some sugarcane.

We drove the sugarcane back to the elephants where they take a bath. We all got out of the small trucks and started feeding the elephants the sugarcane. Amazingly, all that we would be feeding the elephants would only make up about 1% of their daily feed. They typically eat up to 30% of their body weight daily. We were feeding three of the elephants, but there were another two a little bit away from us, so I grabbed some canes and headed over to feed them. Needless to say, they saw me coming and were ready to eat.

Off we went into the mud bath pool to play with two elephants. The mud is used to shade the elephants and keep them cool. They totally just gave in and let all of us rub the mud all over their backs. The skin was quite rough and their hairs had the consistency of a broom bristle. They are very in tune with what you are doing as it seems their eyes are watching you the whole time. They have such a gentle stare and calming feel. 

With mud on, we walked the elephants down to the river and they laid in and washed off the mud. We ended up taking a bunch of pictures with them. They even gave us a kiss.  We headed back to the common area and took some showers before heading back home. Again, it was a quick ride even though it was 2.5 hours back. All the window-watching and talking made the time go by quickly.