Your Day Out with Elephants@Home

 

An ethical, up-close experience with elephants is wonderful and a 'once in a life time' fantastic day out, but best of all it will leave you with a parting gift of lasting memories that you will treasure forever.

 

Please note: All our timings are approximate as we will never force any elephant to stick to a time schedule! If they want to stop to rummage for food or want to play a little longer in the river that's fine by us and we hope it will be fine for you too! We only have one arrival of visitors a day with a maximum of 8 people, sometimes less, which means you will get plenty of time to relax and enjoy your time with the elephants and hopefully feel that it is  a very personal, special and unrushed experience.

 

7.30 am - 8.00 am - Pick up from your accommodation (if in Chiang Mai City)

 

- Drive approximately 1.30 - 2 hours and arrive at Elephants@Home

- On arrival, everyone has a chance to get to know each other and of course your hosts for the day.... our elephants. There are no other tourists so you are their sole guests of honour for the day.

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10.00 am - Spend time learning about the elephants, feeding them and washing them

11.30 am - Walk with our beautiful majestic elephants through the rainforest to the waterfall

12.15 pm - Lunch TIME

01.00 pm - Swimming in the waterfall and interaction with elephants

02.30 pm - Walk with elephants back to camp

03.30 pm - Depart for Chiang Mai

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Learning About Elephants and the Karen Hill Tribe

To begin the day, everyone gets to put on some traditional Karen Tribe clothing (to put on over your own clothes), this helps to keep your own clothes clean and of course, adds to the fun!  Once everyone is dressed, we gather together to learn about elephants, from our guide, who has lived amongst elephants all his life. He will give you some fascinating facts and information as well as teach you how to communicate and interact with the elephants with basic verbal commands. You will also learn about the Karen Hill Tribe, an ethnic minority group of people whose origins can be traced back to the twelfth century, originally from Tibet, moving through China, into Burma (Myanmar) and then to Thailand.

 

Your Elephant Partner

After the introduction to elephants and the Karen Hill Tribe, you will be introduced to your elephant partner for the day, so you can get to know each other. One of the first things you will get to do is to feed your elephant with a bucket full of bananas! But don't worry; each elephant also has a mahout (or friend) who will be there to help you both throughout the day!

 

Bathe the Elephants 

Next, we all walk, with our elephant partner, down into the river for the washing and brushing of their skin. It's a very important part of caring for an elephant, but it's also very enjoyable and great fun too for both you and your elephant!

 

Walk With the Elephants

Once the elephants are all clean and sparkling, we will walk together with our elephant partner and friend along the river and through the forest to a waterfall where you will enjoy a delicious lunch, (the elephants will help themselves in the forest!)  Along the walk, there are some beautiful views and scenery to take in and enjoy. The walk is an easy and very pleasant walk of about 30 mins.

 

After Lunch Play Time

Following lunch its playtime in the waterfall and pool, with the elephants! For those that don't wish to be in the water, you can of course just watch and enjoy it all  from the river bank! After playtime in the pool it's time to bid a fond farewell to your elephant friend. 

 

Fond Farewell

After all the fun together, you'll be able to say goodbye, to watch and wave farewell as the elephants are released, leaving them to return into the jungle to roam free for the rest of the day and the night. They will probably never forget their day with you and neither will you! You'll have lots of special memories to treasure too, but just to make sure, we'll have plenty of photos we'll have been taking throughout your day and will have a parting gift for you to take away with you when it's time to leave. But! it's not time to leave just yet!

 

Hill Tribe Village

Once the elephants have left and returned into the jungle, we will make our way into Maetoh, our Karen Hill Tribe village. Whilst your SD cards are being prepared with all the photos we have taken through out the day for you to take away, you will have an opportunity  to see our Karen village and to see some of our traditional crafts, some of which you'll have an opportuntity to purchase if you wish. There will be jewellery, basket ware and wood-carvings to see and buy, all made by hand, in our village. However, sometimes very occasionally, especially during the rice harvesting season, this may not be possible as all the villagers will be in the fields, as everyone helps each other together. We will still have some of the crafts and some of the hand-carved, wooden elephant bells for you to purchase if you wish though.

 

Final Farewell

At the end of your day with us, we will make our way back to your accommodation in Chiang Mai.

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Arrival back in Chiang Mai City will be approx around 5.30pm - 6.00 pm