The Search For A Ethical Elephant Experience

Ellie The 8 Year Old 

Thailand is known for elephants, whether it’s souvenirs, clothing or the beautiful creatures themselves, they are the national animal and a symbol of strength, loyalty and longevity among the Thai people, sadly due to ongoing deforestation and poor treatment from humans they are now considered endangered.

Of course we wanted to see Elephants, the thing was we wanted nothing to do with unfair treatment, we wouldn’t go anywhere elephants were chained, ridden, bathed or used for human entertainment. So the search for a truly ethical sanctuary begun, we found a lot of self proclaimed ‘ethical sanctuaries’ that showed pictures of people hugging elephants and other treatment that didn’t align with what we believed ethical was. After much research and questioning if we should even continue the search we found Joy Elephant Sanctuary, a place that had great reviews and really seemed to put the Elephants first, hoping it was as good as it looked we took the plunge and booked a full day experience. 

Close Encounter After Cooling Off

The trip into the Doi Inthanon mountains was roughly 1.5 hours with the last 30 minutes being very steep and winding, if you suffer travel sickness then absolutely pop a pill at the start of the day. The perks of the rugged drive meant we knew we were well up in the mountains surrounded by real raw jungle. 

We finally came to a stop at the start of a dirt track and traversed the last part by foot, at the base of the steep dusty driveway the area opened up to a large field surrounded by rolling mountains blanketed in lush green forest. A guide was waiting for us in a bamboo structure where he explained a bit about the elephants and went over some ground rules for our time at the sanctuary. 

Patiently Waiting. The Fence Is To Keep Us Humans Out Of Their Space

The elephants at Joy are all rescue elephants, some are ex working elephants, some were rescued from other sanctuaries but all the elephants are use to being around humans and would now not survive alone in the wild. There was to be no touching of these beautiful animals and we were to maintain a distance of 5 meters from them, however the elephants were allowed to do their thing and sometimes walked by us so closely we had to 'suck it in' to stay out of their way.

Our day begun with prepping snacks of watermelon and pumpkin for the elephants. We learnt they can smell up to 15 kms away and they must of smelt the incoming snacks as they were all nearby, patiently waiting. After being shown the correct way to hold the food so it was easy for the elephants to take we were allowed to help with feeding, an incredibly special time and the only time we were allowed near the magnificent creatures, the reason the carers still hand feed is that it ensures each elephant is receiving enough food and also gives an opportunity to check the health of each of animal.

Snack Time!

After feeding it was time for their walk, while the elephants wandered off to make their own path us humans were given sticks, as we set off into the tree covered hillside we quickly realised how useful our walking sticks were to help navigate the rugged track. As we walked we had times it was just us, at other times the elephants would appear walking next to us or behind us, the elephants did their thing and explored where they wanted, we felt privileged to join them in their natural habitat.

Exploring Together

We came to a small clearing where we reunited with the elephants, some were cooling off in a muddy waterhole and others were pulling at tree roots and branches to get some extra snacks. The guides told us that they cut some branches so it is easier for the elephants to find and also encourages them to forage on their own, a skill that some had forgotten after many years in captivity. One of the young elephants Ellie was determined to lift a buried tree root, it was fascinating watching how agile and skilled she was, for such large beings they are surprisingly quiet and nimble in everything they do.

Splashing Around In The Mud

Quietly being in their space and observing their habits was pure magic, at times the elephants would walk directly towards us almost not even noticing we were there, the guides instructed us to not move as it can startle them but to turn sideways and that they will happily pass by.

Once content with their foraging the elephants disappeared into the forest again, this time apparently heading to the nearby river to drink. The walk to the river was amazing, steep jungle pathways with rope between trees to help guide us down, uneven ground where we walked in the indentations of elephant footprints and the sounds and smells of nature, utter bliss.

Post Lunch Chill Time

We emerged to a bamboo shelter and garden area overlooking the river with a chance to cool off. Down a short walkway was a modest waterfall that created a shallow pool surrounded by rocks, the water was freezing but the experience was peaceful, from the waterfall you could see the elephants further down the river taking a drink or grazing on nearby bamboo.

Tummy's were starting to rumble after our morning activities so lunch was a welcome site, a spread of tea, coffee, bottled water, vegetarian Pad Thai and a selection of fresh fruits and salad hit the spot. Full and content the group split off for different afternoon activities, when booking there are options for bamboo rafting, cooking classes or spending more time with the elephants and at the sanctuary.

Herb Crushing For Our Inhalers

The afternoon was special, there was now only 10 of us. We learnt to make traditional Thai herb inhalers by crushing up cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and other herbs in a mortar and pestle, the perfect take home souvenir. We sat on bamboo mats and made medicine balls for the elephants, each ingredient has a special purpose and is basically like a multi vitamin for the animals. Using our hands we mashed bananas, added salt, etc etc and rolled them into balls before putting a big dollop of tamarind paste on the top.

Getting Our Hands Dirty Making Medicine Balls For The Elephants

As soon as we started mashing everything together the elephants appeared behind us, trunks sniffing and heads swaying, they were like excited little puppies waiting for their treats. All prepped and ready to go we were given health check sheets, each afternoon when the elephants are given their medicine balls they have a full health check, we looked at their trunk, eyes, ears, skin and feet and had to mark any areas of concern, the guides also have a full look over during this time.

The final activity for the day was helping in the garden, we planted lemongrass on the hillside under recently planted banana trees while our guide shared more of his knowledge with us, a humbling way to end our day at the sanctuary. We utterly adored our time at Joy Elephant Sanctuary and learnt a lot about the gentle giants that are so special to the Thai people.

Jungle Foraging And Exploring 

Elephants need space, love and respect. We learnt they need to eat, walk, rest and poo every 3-4 hours, they only have one stomach so regular food and bowel movements are essential for their wellbeing. Riding elephants hugely damages their spine and touching them can be life threatening, before we prepped their food and gave them snacks we all had to wash our hands to eliminate the risk of passing any germs onto the magnificent creatures. We learnt so much during our day at Joy Elephant Sanctuary, the education around the animals taught us how special and precious elephants are and how they need to be protected.

We found the whole experience to be authentic, truly ethical and with staff who really cared and put the elephants best interests first and foremost. a sanctuary well worth a visit if you want to see elephants in the right way.

Check out our video of our favourite things to do in Chiang Mai, including our time at Joy Elephant Sanctuary