Volunteering with Elephants Part 1

Volunteering with Elephants in Thailand

I have been at the elephant sanctuary, Elephants World, for 2 weeks now. It is located about 30 km outside of Kanchanaburi, located in western Thailand. It is home to 12 retired, disabled, abused, and rescued elephants.

Chopping pumpkin for the elephants to eat at Elephant’s World

I have always had a fondness for pachyderms. I believe they are beautiful, intelligent creatures. My experience so far has only solidified this belief. My days are spent  preparing food, feeding the elephants, bathing the elephants, and educated tourists that come to the sanctuary as day trippers or overnight guests.

My day starts early, around 7:30am when my alarm goes off. We (the volunteers) feed the baby cows and rabbits around 8am. Breakfast is at 8:30. After breakfast we get the sanctuary ready for the days activities, prepare the morning food, and sometimes go into the jungle with the mahouts to retrieve the elephants who went out the previous night. The morning is spent feeding the elephants, assisting them in their mud baths, and preparing the sticky rice for the afternoon. After lunch, which is usually around 12:30pm, we plant trees (banana, bamboo, coconut), or cut down trees for food. Then, we get to make the sticky rice balls to feed to the older elephants! Bathing the elephants in the River Kwai is the last activity during the afternoon. After the tourists leave, we once again have to feed the baby cows and rabbits before dinner at 6pm. Sometimes we are able to join the mahout in taking an elephant out into the jungle for the night.

Crystal’s volunteer bungalow at Elephant’s World

Not only do I get to hang out with elephants, I get to hang out with the mahouts as well! Mahouts are the elephant cowboys. They are the ones who train and care for the elephants 24 hours a day. Most of them have come from Burma. They have their own little village on site at Elephant’s World. The youngest mahout is 15, and the oldest is 32.

I live in my own little bungalow, complete with my own guard dog. We are often without electricity or running water, sometimes both. It is the rainy season, and it has consistently rained every day.. It’s a warm rain, though 🙂

Now, the elephants! The youngest lil guy is only 1.5 years old, His name is DooDoo, and he is a kick in the pants. Even though he looks small, cute, and cuddly, he is very strong. So strong, that we have to be very careful when we are around him, because he can accidentally hurt someone.

Crystal and Kammoon

The oldest of the bunch is 73 year old Songkran. She is very set in her ways, and can be quite stubborn. She is one of the healthiest looking elephants, besides her missing teeth. Elephants naturally lose their last set of teeth around the age of 60. When she gets fed her sticky rice balls, she likes them directly in her mouth. Sometimes I get a little lick from her tongue on my hand!

We have a blind elephant, named Lam Duan, who is completely blind. She has a female Japanese/American mahout, which is uncommon. Lam Duan is very clever. She used her truck to undo her ankle chain during the night 3 times… she also was able to escape from an elephant pen by removing the wooden bars.

We have a 5 year old named Johnny, who is like a crazy toddler. He loves the water, and has lots of energy.

To be honest, the first week and a half was a little rough. There were 5 total volunteers, and I didn’t get along too well with a couple of them. It made for akward days and lonely nights. We have since set aside our differences, and are working cohesively together. I am glad things have come along, other wise it would have been a long month!

Crystal bathing Kammoon in the river with her mahout Dam

My favorite part of the day is the elephant bathing.We can get in the water with them during their afternoon bath. It’s amazing to be right up on the elephant, or swimming beside them in the River Kwai. They are such sweet, gentle beasts.

I also thoroughly enjoy watching them eat. I know it sounds weird, but they are so clever with their trunks! They can husk corn by themselves, and even peel a little banana. I also saw Moey, 20 years old, grab a pumpkin from the table with her trunk. She gently put it on the ground, and placed it under her front foot. She lightly stepped on it twice, until it cracked open. She them separated it into bite size pieces using her trunk and feet. I was very amazed!

Feeding time!

I am very much looking forward to the next 2 weeks at Elephants World. Although we have tourists every day, the intimate experiences I have shared with the elephants already are unlike any other.