Elephant Nature Park, Thailand, exceeded expectations. It was my first ever voluntourism experience. I disapprove in principle of paying to “volunteer" and, though this was at the upper limit of my budget, it came highly recommended so I gave it a try. A 7 day week costs just under $500 CAD and gets you pick up from the ever so charming town of Chiang Mai, shared accommodation, three fantastic meals a day, about 2 two hour work periods per day, about 2 educational or cultural experiences per day, and lots of free time in between to read, relax, socialize, or hang out and watch the elephants. The park is located in the jungle of northern Thailand and has 76 rescued elephants (one whose leg was broken while logging, another that was blinded while being beaten during training, a third that had stepped on a landmine…) who are there to live out the rest of their lives in peace in a garden with sun shades and mud pools and a river to play in. They wander freely during the day each accompanied by their own mahoot (because the park has no outer fences) (spending most of their time eating) and have large enclosures where they sleep at night (spending much of the time pooping). As volunteers we would work the first two hours of the morning mucking out these enclosures, piling pickup truck beds high many times over or working in the elephant kitchen preparing their food for the coming day. They they mostly ate corn stalks but this was supplemented with fruit and veg, whole pumpkins and cucumbers and watermelon for the young ones with teeth, and peeled bananas and cooked rice and yam for the older ones. 76 elephants eat a lot. Everyday.
Elephant Nature Park does everything exactly right. They started the “saddles off” movement and are actively spreading the idea that tourists don't need to ride on elephants to appreciate them. They provide employment for 700 local people so families don't have to move to the city. And whoever is in charge of the marketing is a genius. There are 80 weekly volunteers each week (45 regular ones like me and 35 pre-vet student wannabees padding their resume by analyzing poop, for example, instead of scooping it) and 80 daily visitors each day too, who tour around in groups of 10 and get to feed the elephants their afternoon snacks. And they're always booked solid. And all these tourists mean money, of course. The person in charge of logistics is also a genius as the daily dance with tour groups swinging by to visit different mini-herds within the park is flawlessly choreographed, each group feeling it has been alone in the wilderness and has had the perfect schedule. Even the evening lineup of entertainment was an excellent mix of movies, lectures, music and dance. I'm pretty jaded, it takes a lot to impress me, but I was impressed.
(And, as I have been told six photos are plenty, here are my favourite six.)
