Elephant Experience

Whilst travelling in South East Asia, some sort of elephant experience tends to be on everyone's bucket list, but picking the right one can be daunting. You want to know that you're not feeding into the mistreatment of animals, as well as contributing to their well-being whilst interacting with the animals and having a great time!

'chained up'

We had our first elephant experience in Phuket, as part of a package tour we had booked - and for us we really didn't enjoy it. The elephant was chained up, with a huge harness which attached a bench to his back for tourists to sit on. The ride was a small repetitive loop, and we really felt that elephant wasn't that happy, or being looked after properly.

Before I get all preachy, I have to admit I know nothing about looking after elephants - so for all i know they could have been fit, healthy and happy but for us, something just felt off. Putting that behind us, we wanted a more natural, ethical day where we could just play with the elephants and walk away not feeling guilty.

After lots of research at various tour agencies and good old TripAdvisor, the day trip we finally picked was called 'Jumbo Trekker' and we highly recommend it. Although it was slightly more expensive than the tours on offer, it had an emphasis on the wellbeing of the elephants - bathing them and interacting with them rather than riding them like a fairground ride.

'free range elephants doing their thang'

The day started by getting picked up from our hostel, and then a drive into the jungly mountains. The time flew by, as the ride is very scenic with some truly epic views. Once off the main road, you head down a very bumpy dirt track where you park up. This is where we were greeted by some completely free range elephants just doing their own thang. They looked so happy, which was such a vast contrast to the elephants we had seen in Phuket.

'incredibly intelligent and delicate'

The guide introduced himself and gave a small talk about how they look after the animals, and how they are an integral part of their culture. We learned a few words in Mahout, so we could talk to the elephants. They are incredibly intelligent and delicate creatures, it was amazing to be so close with them. We were then given a rather strange set of clothes to change into as he said we would be getting wet and potentially rather dirty at some point in the afternoon.

'no harness, no chains, no sticks'

He then showed us our elephant for the day which we got to feed some sweetcorn, which he was trying to steal out of my hands! Even though we had seen an elephant before, it was quite daunting as we had never been so close - and I was worried it might stand on me by accident. Once he'd had his fill of sweetcorn, we were allowed to ride it. Now we did have reservations about riding the elephants, but it was bareback, with no harness, no chains and no sticks involved. The experience was amazing and we loved every second of it.

We walked up a hill, then down a valley into a stream while our guide walked beside us offering loads of facts about the animals and the nature surrounding us. Once we arrived at the stream, the elephants were quite excited, sucking up the water and submerging themselves into it - they were definitely enjoying themselves. This is when the real fun and memorable thing happened.

We were able to bathe the elephant in the river which was just incredible; they loved it, and were squirting water everywhere but were also very placid and calm - I couldn't believe how gentle they were because of their giant frame. We then had lunch next to the river and watched the elephants behind us as they continued to play in the water. They actually came to join us for lunch, probably hoping for any of our leftover fruit, which we were happy to oblige!

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'it goes against all my instincts'

After this we were pretty exhausted, but the afternoon was going to be filled with some 'adrenaline'. The guide took us to a local waterfall where the water had eroded the rock so smooth that you could slide down it, into the pool of water below.. It was a lot of fun, but very scary - it goes against all of my instincts to cliff-jump or slide down waterfalls, but it was well worth it! I'd be lying if I said I didn't slide down it three of four times.

The tour guide is constantly snapping photos throughout the whole day, and then puts them online so you can access them whenever you like for free which was a really nice touch, and means you'll always have photos of this amazing experience without having to juggle bathing an elephant and taking a selfie!

We highly recommend booking your elephant tour with Jungle Trekker, or any other eco friendly tour operator that ensures the welfare of the animals and their wellbeing is paramount - you'll have a much better time for it, believe me!