Elephant Jungle Sanctuary

5 j f - 3 months ago

Awesome. Definitely an unique experience in Thailand. I recommend it anyone to do it but make sure you go to the one they don’t mistreat the elephant. This place really care for the elephants. The caregiver show a lot knowledge and care for the elephants. We don’t enjoy too much bathing with the elephant because is like a pond instead of running water. Other than that is a excellent experience.

5 Raya Al Abri - 2 weeks ago

Great Experience to connect with the elephants ????????
It is a real ethical place that treat elephants well. We spent time with 4 of them.
The visit will include feeding bananas then grass, making and feeding medicine balls then taking a shower and mud bath with elephants.
The ride to the location is not the comfiest but bearable.
If you are wearing hijab like me bring a hat to make sure scarf will not move.
Also bring your swim suite or dry fit with an extra set of clothes and towel.
Lunch is provided but if you are picky then bring some snacks.

5 Heidi Chan - 6 months ago

It was a great experience! A good chance to learn about the living habits of elephants closely.

I booked a morning half-day trip and the tour guide came to pick me up at the hotel, I was the only one to visit because of covid. The tour guide was so friendly and nice. The camp is in the mountain, we arrived finally after a long way of driving.

I was so excited to meet the elephants, one female elephant was already 45 years old, and the only male elephant was 6 years old and was born in the camp. I remember his name is Dekchai. He is so cute.

First, they gave me a big basket of bananas to feed them. And then I went to have a jungle walk with the elephants to watch their behaviors. Later, I got to try bathing the elephant, and also play with water in a small river. The tour guide also taught me to make "medicine balls" for supplying vitamins to elephants.

4 Simon P. - 7 months ago

From all corners we heard something about the elephant sanctuary. So we have chosen the best rated company. We booked a half-day tour and I would not recommend more, because with the full-day tour you just do everything twice. The transport to the sanctuary was organized by the company. From the old town of Chiang Mai it takes about 1.5 hours to get to the sanctuary. You will be transported in very uncomfortable pickup trucks so I recommend to take pills against nausea. The company itself writes this on their website.
At the elephants themselves, everything is well planned. First they feed you with bananas, then they make "medicine" for you, after that you are allowed to bathe with them in a not really clean water and are also made wet by the guide. Afterwards it goes into another bath with which one rubs the elephants with mud. At the end you are given food to eat. In the whole one is 3 hours on the way and approx. 2.5 hours on the spot. Whether it's worth it, everyone must decide for themselves.

When bathing or in all activities, the elephants are constantly fed with bananas so it looks like the elephants are lured with food to each activity and I also think that the elephants have no desire to be bathed every TAg by several tourists.

In itself, of course, it is a beautiful experience, because you can get extremely close to the animals which is an indescribable experience. The organization was also good.

5 Jaissa Feliz - 9 months ago

The experience at this sanctuary was the highlight of my trip to Thailand. The experience started by being picked up at my hotel which was very convenient. Door to door service! The staff was very kind and welcoming. They gave clear instructions on how to treat the elephants and educated us on the work they do at their sanctuary, how elephants live, etc. The work this sanctuary is doing to preserve this marvelous species and to prevent them from being abused is amazing. They planned different activities for us to interact with the elephants - we got to feed them bananas, we "cooked" them a nutritious meal and we played with them in the water and bathed them. At the end they provided outdoor showers and a delicious and nutrition home cooked meal. They even gave us swag! A little educational handbook and a tote bag! I left with my heart so full. I highly recommend! By giving them your business you are not only supporting the preservation and respectful treatment of these amazing animals but you are also supporting local economic development because they hire staff from the area. Thank you Elephant Jungle Sanctuary for an experience of a lifetime!

5 Mallory Lenzi - 2 weeks ago

This was by far my best day in Thailand! Such an amazing experience I would recommend to everyone. Our guide was very funny. The lunch was very good and the time with the elephants was amazing. We did a half day and it was plenty of time.

4 Jennifer Yeo - a month ago

It was 1.5h drive south of Chiang Mai to the elephant sanctuary. At the sanctuary, you will feed, bathe and give a mud spa to the elephants. Be prepared to get down and dirty, and prepare a change of clothes. Also, wear sandals that you can wear into water and mud. Avoid wearing shoes.

I feel that the itinerary can be more compact (afternoon session 1130-1830h), but it might be because they want to make the 3 hours journey back and forth worth it.

The reason why I gave it 4 stars is because it was raining quite heavily on the journey to the camp. However, the vehicle was open air and only had plastic flaps which didn’t really keep the rain out.