Our trip to Chiang Mai- Patara Elephant Farm

This was definitely an experience that I want to remember forever.

Let's talk about Patara Elephant Farm.  I wanted to ride elephants and it was important to me that the elephants were treated well.  I searched online and somebody suggested Patara Elephant Farm on a forum so I searched it and saw that this was the place that I wanted to go to.  I could tell by the pictures and the things said on the website that the elephants were treated well.  And I was right!

Making reservations is very difficult, we had to try emailing them several times and we had to book a month or two in advance.  They take forever to reply and don't give you much to work with date-wise so we gave them a huge window when we were available and they told us what date they were available.

This place is super expensive and here is a little explanation of why.  They don't have any rich company sponsors, its just a bunch of people who REALLY want to help elephants survive.  Numbers have dropped almost half in the past 40 years, which isn't even a full generation (elephants live into their 80's).  So the money they use to take care of these elephants comes from you.  Trust me, it was totally worth it.

I was really nervous to have a 19 month old and a 3 year old around an animal that weighs a couple tons, but it all worked out!  I carried Beckham around occasionally in the Ergo baby carrier.  And the other times he was either right next to me enjoying every moment, or the elephant workers where holding them.  They were great with my kids!

Our day started early.  They picked us up from our hotel and we drove into the countryside up some windy (whine-dee) roads and we finally got there to see an open area with several elephants hanging out eating something green... not sure exactly what it was, but it looked like corn stalks.

The little elephant in this picture is about 13 months old.  She REALLY wanted to play with Beckham.  We were all sitting under a straw hut listening to the guy in charge talking about Patara Elephant Farm and how to care for the elephants that he has adopted.  He spoke English very well.  This little elephant krept up close and was trying to get our attention.  By this time, our kids were sick of listening and Will had already been swept away by an elephant care taker and was helping feed the elephants.  The guy in charge stopped talking and turned and asked one of the other trainers to come get Beckham to play with the elephants.  It was then that he noticed the little elephant trying to get Beckham's attention.  He pointed it out to us, and we watched the little elephant trot after the trainer that was holding Beckham in his arms!  It was so cute to see!

We were split into groups and taken to different areas where there were more elephants and this is where we were assigned our elephant for the day.  Beckham and I got Mai One Di (my- one- dee).  I have no idea how to spell Thai sounds... our trainer was named Mai Ti (mighty... coolest name ever!)  The very firs tthing we did was feed our elephant a whole basket of bananas.  We would lift our hand in the air and say "Bone" which meant to have them lift their trunk up and open their mouth.  then we would shove the bananas into their mouth!  The tongue was so soft and squishy... and of course wet and gooey.  Their teeth are in the back so there was no worry of being bitten.  They go through about 8 sets of teeth in their lifetime.

The next thing we did was check their poop.  Yep!  You read that right!  We checked the color of the inside (the outside has already been oxidized), we checked the smell (it doesn't smell... if it does, there is something wrong with the elephant), we checked how many clumps came out (4 is bad, 5 is okay, 6-10 is super), we checked the fibers inside to make sure their teeth and digestive system are working properly (big fibers mean poor digestion), and the best one... we checked to see how much moister was in the poop.

So I grabbed a piece of elephant poop with my bare hands, broke it apart to check the color, rubbed it in my fingers to check fibers and squeezed it hard enough to make liquid ooze from my fingers and drip to the ground!  I washed my hands right after. ☺

Next we checked how much dirt was on their body.  Elephants only sleep for about 4 hours at night.  They lay down on one side of their body and sleep for about 45 min, then wake up, stand up, and lay back down on their other side to go to sleep.  If something is wrong, they either won't lay down at all or only on one side.  They also blow dust onto their back to get rid of bugs.  So we checked the dust on them then used a bunch of  leaves tied in a bunch to brush off the dust on their back.  We told them to lay down first.

Then we guided them down to the water by holding their ears.  We got a basket and a brush.  The basket was to splash water and the brush was to get the dirt off obviously.  They said we needed to brush with their wrinkles.  By now they told us to remove the clothes we didn't want wet basically.  I was thinking knee deep water, I'm okay with getting my pants wet.  And I REALLY didn't want to get sunburnt so although I had a swimsuit top on, I didn't have sunscreen on so I didn't want to chance it so I kept my clothes on and got soaked!

Because after brushing the parts you could reach, we guided them to deeper parts and I fell into a super deep part!  We climbed on their backs and brushed the dirt off their head and backs.  I didn't bring any extra clothes (even though they said to).  There wasn't enough room in our packs and I didn't think I would need them.

They lined all the elephants up and we splashed them to get extra touches.  But what we were really doing was setting ourselves up to be squirted...

They were like, "Turn around and lets do a group picture!"  See the guys in the back telling the elephants to fill up their trunks?

And POW!!  All wet!  But it was awesome!

Luckily, after this, they gave us all elephant riding pants.  And before this they gave us elephant trainer shirts.  I guess it helps the elephants feel comfortable around us because the trainers wear them too and have for 1000's of years I guess if I understood correctly.

Beckham's pants were too big!  It was so cute to watch him walk!

The elephant trainers were really good at making sure there was water bottles for us to drink and they reminded us several times to put on sunscreen and bug spray. 

So just to reiterate what i was saying before... I did not intentionally dress my entire family up like Pacha in the movie Emperor's New Groove.  We were supposed to wear these clothes. ☺

Did you know that elephants don't have tear ducts so when their eyes drain, they drain down their faces like they are crying?  That is what you are seeing most of the time but elephants are amazing animals and they also cry when they are sad or happy.

Another interesting fact: the only place an elephant sweats is by their toenails.  

When were then trianed on how to climb onto an elephant.  It wasn't too hard, just really scary to be up there.  They said to make sure that you don't show fear.

So the first ride was 45 minutes long and we went up a mountain.  So it got super steep up then steep down.  We had to lean forward going up and lean back going down.  Their was a rope to hold onto that was tied around their belly I guess, mostly right behind their front legs that we were supposed to hold onto.  So with one hand I held the rope and the other I held the kid.

It was about this time that Mai One Di had a tantrum.  At least it sounded like that to me.  Other people who were not even on the mountain yet said it sounded like Jurassic Park.  And the way they make a growl sound with the trunks really goes sound like a dinosaur!  Anyway, my elephant stopped (they were always stopping to grab something to eat) so our trainer, Mai Ti (spell?), told our elephant to keep moving.  But she didn't want to and started swaying her body back and forth and wiggling her head back and forth (did I mention that Beckham was sitting on her head?) while doing loud trunk calls and growling.  I got super nervous and I kept saying, "Okay?!"  "Okay?!" My trainer didn't speak much English at all so we have learned to sum up what we want to say in as few of words as possible.  Everyone understands "okay".  I started thinking up back up plans of what I would do if the elephant went crazy.  I looked around for a soft spot on the ground where I could throw Beckham to safety then I would figure out a way to get myself off later.  Mai Ti could tell I was nervous so he pulled down the bandanna he was wearing to cover his face to show his smile and and said, "pooping."  I guess Mai One Di really wanted some peace while she pooped and didn't want to be told to keep moving.  I kind of know how she feels... no privacy as a mom. ☺ 

Beckham got lulled to sleep on the elephant so holding him on the elephant got even more difficult.

We got their first then Jason and Will came on their elephant named Mai Kum Chan (my-come-chan) a little later.

We got to the lunch spot which happened to be where the mommas feed their new babies and where they stay for peace.  Elephants nurse their babies for 3 years.

We had the best meal we have had since being in Thailand!  It was all served on leaves and we ate with our hands.  It was an awesome experience!

After eating, they brought a momma and her 2 month old baby for us to see!  So stinking cute!!!  This little thing is naughty!  She wanted to head buck Will so we kept needing to pick  up and move Will every time she came close.  She also stepped on someone's toes! 

Most of the time, the trainers will stay with an elephant for 6 months but if your elephant gets pregnant, then you stay with them until they are done nursing so a total of 5 years (average pregnancy is 22 months).  One of the elephants was pregnant and we got to see the baby elephant moving in her tummy!  It was amazing!  This pregnant elephant's name was Lucky.  Don't know why we got stuck with the elephants with the difficult names. Ha! ☺

So this elephant care taker was cutting up sugar cane for the elephant to eat and decided to have a snack himself.  I thought it was funny that they were eating the same thing together. ☺

We had some extra bananas left over from lunch so we brought them down to feed the baby (she doesn't eat it she just puts it in her mouth to taste it then spits it back out... just like a human baby. ☺)  But mom wanted some too!  We got some funny pictures of it!

Jason and Will saved some sugar cane to feed to their elephant.

Then it was back on the elephant for a shorter, easier ride down a flat path, mostly in the stream, to help trim their toenails and to prevent ingrown toenails.  This time Will rode with me and Beckham with Jason. 

We finally got to our destination and we were given another basket of bananas to feed our elephant and given a chance to say goodbye.  I hate goodbyes, I think because of that, I teared up a bit.  I grew fond of that huge animal that day.  Such an amazing experience!  I would highly recommend Patara Elephant Farm!