She came out swinging her trunk and dancing to the breeze, almost doing a catwalk towards me, whilst I was nervously holding a basket of watermelons with my tiny hands compared to hers! I had no clue what to expect from my visit to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary in Phuket. And then my day turned into a complete surprise!
Visiting the elephant sanctuary was a very last minute plan. Since I have always been against paying for animal sanctuaries and zoos knowing that they are tortured, I wanted to be 100% sure that this is the right place to visit. But upon proper research and asking out hotel concierge, we were at a relief that the elephants here are rescued from all over Thailand and given the care they need for the rest of their lives. Without second thoughts, I decided to be a part of their lives for a day!
In this article I will take you through all the details of this ethical elephant sanctuary, which you can support when you visit Thailand next time.
What Makes Elephant Jungle Sanctuary so special?
An ethical, sustainable and eco-friendly project in Thailand, Elephant Jungle Sanctuary was founded in 2014. People from Karen hill tribes, Northern Thailand and Chiang Mai came together after seeing the plight of the elephants. The mission is to rescue and take care of the elephants who are used in riding, circus, overworked, abused and to stop poaching.
A Day at the Elephant Sanctuary
I am sure you want to know but what am I getting by visiting this Sanctuary? After my own experience of spending quality time with these rescued elephants let me highlight everything you can do. One of the elephants in the sanctuary was constantly dancing and everyone thought it was cute until we learnt her true story! She was tortured since a young age of one month old to welcome people at zoo. So whenever she sees humans she get terrified and starts dancing. This is just one story out of all the 90 elephants at the sanctuary in Phuket. As we got to know about the stories of these elephants, we where heart broken and so glad to be able to contribute for their livelihood through our ticket money.
Half Day at the Sanctuary - The cutest day ever!
This is what happens on the day of your visit:
1. Pick up from your hotel which is included in the tickets.
2. Once you reach the founders will introduce the sanctuary and tell you how to interact with the elephants. Each elephant is always accompanied by his mahout who takes care of the elephant and makes sure you are safe too.
3. The elephants come out and you can feed them fruits which is just snacks for them. Their actual food is different.
4. You will also be taught on how to make their actual food made from rice and other grains.
5. After you feed the elephants its time to give them a mud spa! Elephants dont have sweat glands, which is why they need to cool themselves in hot weather. Bathing in mud helps their skin cool down. And now you can give them a soothing mud spa!
6. For the mud spa you are taken to a natural pool where you are given buckets in which you can scoop the mud from the pool and apply it on the elephants.
7. Once you are done with the mud spa you have pour water over them a give them a quick rinse after which they are taken to the shower area. Where you can give them a nice scrub and they stand under the rain showers. Isn't that just cute!
8. And done! Now you can go and take your own shower in the shower rooms, get changed and come for a nicely prepared Thai lunch!
9. After the lunch you can again meet the elephants, feed them fruits and say bye bye and get dropped back to your hotel.
10. The best part? The sanctuary has their resident photographer who will be taking your professional pictures whilst you are enjoying your time. And they will then give you all the pictures in a drop box link in the next two to three days. Without any extra charges!
Where in Thailand can you visit them?
Locations and Other Details:
1. Chiang Mai: Book here
Address: 119/10 Thapae Rd Chang Klan, Muang,
Chiang Mai, Thailand 50100
2. Phuket: Book here
Address: 2/12 Moo 6, Kathu,
Phuket, Thailand 83120
3. Pattaya: Book here
Address: 3/347 Pattaya 3 Rd, Bang Lamung,
Chon Buri, Thailand 20150
4. Samui: Book here
Address: 141/53 Moo 2, Maenum, Koh Samui,
Suratthani, Thailand 84320
Price: TBH 2,000 per person - includes lunch, pick up, drop
All the money you pay for tour ticket goes towards the livelihood of the elephants staying in the sanctuary and for those who need to be rescued. This place is not commercial by any means.
It's always so easy for us to think of places that please us. Like where's the best party at? Which is the best club? But there are times as responsible travellers we must try to give back to the place we are visiting. And in Thailand this is one of the best deeds you can do, by getting ten times more love in return!
Let me know in comments if you have any questions or suggestions, I am always happy to hear from fellow travellers!
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