All over South East Asia, there are opportunities to spend time with elephants. We had been feeling reluctant about this because we were never sure how ethical it was; it says it's a sanctuary, but is it really? Why are these elephants not in the wild, is it because of us, the tourists? Is it even ok for an elephant to have a person riding on its back? It also made me question my own ethics when it comes to animals: why do I think it's ok to keep animals like horses, dogs, cows in captivity for our own benefit, but not elephants? We did a lot of research and reading into it because we really didn't want to support a business that is harmful to these beautiful, peaceful creatures in any way, and when we reached Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, we came to a conclusion: we would visit an elephant 'spa', but one that specified that there would be no elephant riding. Riding an elephant is harmful for the elephants for a number of reasons, mostly being that their spines are no way near as strong as a horse's - their strength is in their legs, and having people riding them all day long damages their backs and their handlers, while generally knowledgable about basic elephant healthcare, are not miracle workers able to fix a broken back. Also, because it goes against an elephant's instinct to let a person climb onto their back, it takes a lot of usually cruel training for them to submit to the rides, sometimes starting when they are babies and separated from their mothers. This is why we specifically decided against the riding.
As for the other things, our research found that a lot of the 'non-riding' places took a lot more care of the elephants in general. The fact that they could charge a lot more to allow people to ride the poor creatures and chose not to speaks volumes in this part of the world, where tourists are seen (crude as this sounds) as walking ATMs. Yes, the elephants are in captivity instead of in the wild, but they are also safe against poaching (the ivory trade is still alive and kicking); they are fed and bred, boosting their endangered population numbers; they are cared for. This may sound like justification and plenty of people will still disagree with these organisations, but we went and spent a morning with elephants and it can't be undone so just enjoy the pictures and tell me I'm wrong later!
The day started with feeding the elephants. The camp we visited had three adults and a baby (his mother was one of the adults) and I just couldn't believe that we were right there with them! We fed them sugar cane, bananas complete with peel, and palm leaves. Their trunks took the food right out of our hands, it was so incredible. There were five mahouts or handlers, and only six tourists including Kim and me, so we really had a chance to interact with the elephants. I couldn't believe how much they ate, they just kept on going, no matter how much we gave them.
After feeding time, we just played with them. They baby got a bit possessive of his mother and charged at Kim at one point, but they were generally very passive and friendly. I got a kiss from one which essentially felt like a soggy Hoover was attached to my cheek. Another one lifted me up on her trunk which was rather terrifying until I was on solid ground again!
We then followed them down to the river nearby and gave them a bath. They absolutely loved being in the water and kept lolling around, falling sideways to immerse themselves, which could make for a hasty jump out of the way as an elephant came crashing through the water towards you. We scrubbed the dust off their backs with brushes and threw water over them with buckets while they sat in the water, enjoying the attention.
The mahouts had taught them a trick where they would suck water up their trunks and spray it at you. And the water was not warm!
Our morning with the elephants was wonderful, I'm really glad that we did it but also that we took the time to find what felt like the right organisation to do it with. I wouldn't write it off altogether as a tourist but it is definitely worth the research.
