Elephant Adventure

The Patara Elephant Farm provides sanctuary for these gentle pachyderms

Some elephants still roamed freely in Patara as recently as 20 years ago, but now many are a staple of the various elephant farms, sanctuaries and nature parks dotted around Chiang Mai such as Patara. On arrival for the Elephant Day Care experience, we make friends with these big-eared mammals that never forget by learning their names and stroking them before two sniff out the bananas in my backpack and countless trunks wave in the air trying to snaffle this much-loved fruit. Once the bananas are swallowed down by the deftest of beasts, they chow down on sugar cane, breaking it into pieces by crushing it with their feet, with loud, contented crunches.

After we’ve given them bananas and got them on side, we learn some elephant commands (‘nati bon’ for get up, and ‘di di’ for good) before donning a colourful tunic so we can resemble the mahouts that look after them daily. Each person in our group of six is paired with an elephant and trainer, falling into step with both as we wander down the hill to the waterfall, where the elephants take a bath and are encouraged to squirt water at us from their trunks by the guide (dress appropriately and be prepared for a soaking). Standing almost knee-deep in the water, we are handed buckets and brushes to scrub them down with, their hard grey skin peppered with twigs and dust that they throw onto themselves to keep cool.

I’m still not sure where I stand on elephant tourism, as you hear many cases of ill-treatment, but the elephants at Patara seem well-cared for, with some of its 72 residents rescued from the circus. And if every captive elephant was set free, there would be nowhere safe for them all to go, due to the destruction of their natural habitats among other factors. Whether we like it or not, elephants need tourism to survive. pataraelephantfarm.com