We had a 7:00 pickup for our morning visit to the Kanta Elephant Sanctuary, about an hour’s drive from Chiang Mai proper.
Elephant sanctuaries are a controversial issue in Southeast Asia and especially in Thailand as many exploit the animals for commercial gain. We spent a lot of time working with our booking agent to ensure that Kanta followed ethical practices. They are a non-profit, eco-tourism project which takes in abused or orphaned elephants and provides them with a large, natural environment to live in and roam.
The visit was interesting. These Asian elephants are quite a bit different from the African herds we saw on safari last year as they do not follow a matriarchal hierarchy. They are, however, clearly social animals who enjoy the company of humans.
Part of the time on the sanctuary was spent feeding the elephants. They know when it’s feeding time! Sugar cane sticks were big treats as were corn stalks and cobs. If they got a stalk that had a corn cob, they would rip off the corn and eat it first. Some of the older animals were very picky eaters and would toss aside corn stalks for the cobs. Pretty amusing to watch.
We also were shown how the animals are trained to take vitamins they need to augment their diets by making ‘sticky balls’ into which the vitamins are rolled. The making of sticky balls was a messy process. Raw banana, seeds, and other things I may not want to know, are mixed up like meatloaf mix and made into balls. The elephants respond to a ‘hah’ command, open their mouths, and expose their tongues. They can’t extend their tongues so the sticky balls must be set in place. The tongues have a very odd, slimy texture!
Part of the visit included walking the elephants down to a river where they can be bathed and tourists are encouraged to participate in the washing process. We declined! One of the younger beasts seemed to take great pleasure spraying the group.
After returning to Chiang Mai, we took a walk down to the main drag and commercial district where we found some familiar establishments. We dined at the ‘Red Lion’, a British pub where Mary enjoyed some non-Oriental food (Steak & Ale Pie) while I tried their version of khao soi (OK but not the same quality as Kaosoy Mae Pasi). We later wandered the midnight market.
Tomorrow we are off to Chiang Rai.
Dick