On this special day you will learn about the animals that belong to Thailand. In the jungle near Chiang Mai is a special small-scale ecological farm. Here you will experience what a day of a mahout (an elephant keeper) looks like. You cut your own sugar cane, grass or other food that grows in the vast organic garden, prepare vitamin balls and of course feed it all to them. Most special of all, you get to walk with them through breathtaking nature and then bathe them, where they are scrubbed with a natural sponge made from a special jungle tree. This is a day to look forward to and not to forget.

HERE WE GO

Today you will take care of elephants as a true mahout. In the morning you will be picked up from your hotel in Chiang Mai at 8:00 am.

Then you drive in about 1.5 hours to the small-scale ecological farm, located north of Chiang Mai in the jungle. On the way, the English speaking guide will tell you what to expect this day. This camp is a private camp and the owner takes very good care of his elephants. He is also a veterinarian, specializing in elephants. So sometimes there are injured or sick animals, which he takes care of.

BECOMING AN ELEPHANT KEEPER

Upon arrival in the village, you will stop at a local family and first get real mahout clothes on.
Then you are introduced to the protagonists of the day, the elephants. The guides will take you to the organic garden a little further on, for which you will take a short walk across the green valley. After a short instruction you may cut the food yourself, such as sugar cane, bananas and grass (depending on the season) and take it back to the elephants where of course you may feed them yourself. This does take some time as they eat up to 200 kg per day!

You will also learn to make a vitamin ball out of sticky rice, bananas, tamarind and salt. These go in like sweet rolls. Food makes you thirsty, and so you get to water them with a garden hose! Be careful, because they love to spray themselves and you refreshingly wet as well….

HUNGRY

By now you may have gotten a little hungry yourself and lunch is ready. If you like, you can help prepare your own Thai papaya salad (Som Tam) yourself.

When everyone is satiated, it is time for daily exercise. Together with the mahout you walk with the elephants through the beautiful nature. As they slog up the mountain, they eat left and right of all the greenery that is available. Soon you will notice that they have a preference for certain plants and fruits. After 1.5 hours you will return to the camp.

Here you will learn how to make a natural sponge. You will immediately use this to give them a wonderful scrubbing session in the water. You will enter the water yourself and watch them enjoy bathing. Once you have scrubbed them completely clean, it is time to change clothes and this day unfortunately comes to an end. You will be driven back to the hotel in Chiang Mai.