Today was the day! We had signed up for an excursion to go to an ETHICAL elephant sanctuary. Turns out, I believe the only ethical sanctuary for elephants would be one that does not have visitors. But how would they operate without the tourist dollars? It’s a debate that is beyond me.
We visited a sanctuary that was, I have to admit, somewhat ethical. What this essentially means is that nobody is going to actually ride an elephant there. But interacting with the elephants? Yes, there is that…and even though it felt a little bit wrong, we can’t say we didn’t enjoy it.
David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage in Nairobi definitely felt different…less interactive and therefore more ethical.
This sanctuary we visited was interactive. We fed the elephants AND went into the river with them. As we were going into the river, everyone was given some pretty bizarre looking clothes to change into. Hence the really bad fashion you’ll see in these upcoming photos.
After we changed into our ‘elephant clothes’, everyone was given a pail of food to feed some of the elephants.
They’re so regal, aren’t they?
We prepared some special treats for the elephants. Apparently, they really loved this mixture. It was rather gross to put together, but well worth the efforts in the end.
The river we were about to enter in order to bathe the elephants…
We went across in little raft-like boats and an elephant followed us…
It was a glorious experience. Elephants are one of the most beautiful creatures on the planet. I’m not sure there is a fully ethical way to care for them in a sanctuary IF you’re going to have tourists visit. We don’t know what the interactions do to them. Not a month after our visit, a woman was killed by an elephant while she was in the river with it. If they weren’t stressed by the presence of tourists, this woman probably would not have died.
The David Sheldrick sanctuary seems to be the most ethical one I’ve visited. I loved our visit to this one, though. I love elephants. These ones were well treated. Honestly, there was a slight tinge of ‘is this okay?’ running through me while I was there.
After we were forced to give back our haute couture romping-with-the-elephants day wear, we went back to the hotel. Michael and I decided to walk our neighbourhood and go to a mall a few blocks away. Yes, we went to another mall. Like the ones we had recently visited in Bangkok and Chiang Rai, the one in Chiang Mai was also fairly high end. Any one of them could have been a fancy mall here in Toronto.
This one had a rooftop patio with restaurants and several amazing viewing areas! It was quite spectacular.
After our excursion to the mall and in and around the neighbourhood, we decided to have a quiet evening at the hotel bar/restaurant. It was really an excellent restaurant. We were glad we decided to stay at our home base.
The chicken satay was to die for! It’s so good wherever you get it in Thailand. I think it’s one of those signature dishes that they’ve perfected. Whether it’s from a street vendor or a high end hotel, you can’t go wrong! After dinner, it was time for bed. It was a long day…lots of time in the bus getting to and from the elephant sanctuary. Lots of walking. It was time to call it a night.
The breakfast was very good at the Bella Nara too. Lots of options to choose from. I highly recommend this hotel!
After breakfast, it was time to say goodbye to Chiang Mai! The thing about a tour like this is that you are always either on the move or thinking about your next move. It’s simultaneously thrilling and exhausting.
It was time for Phuket!
Welcome to PHUKET!!!
A link to the PREVIOUS POST ON THAILAND.
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KEVIN CRAIG 