Exposing elephant owners to a kinder, gentler style of elephant tourism

There are many twists and turns, as well as amazing views, while journeying to Baan Bpaaklang Doi.

Upon arrival, we are warmly greeted and offered coffee, tea and cookies. Then, visitors sit on a covered bamboo platform perched on the edge of a hillside and take in the view, complete with rice paddy below.

Later, lunch is served which includes farm-to-table items like a portion of rice neatly wrapped in a banana leaf that was grown right in that very paddy! Off in the distance, if you know what to listen for – SNAP! CRACK! POP! — as bamboo branches break. That’s the sound of elephants enjoying the all-you-can-eat jungle buffet.

As the potential for getting dirty is a bit high during the walk, we are offered to change into a traditional Karen tunic and black fisherman pants. To further add to the experience’s comfort and convenience, there are western style toilets but it is best to BYOTP ( Bring Your Own Toilet Paper).

Now comes the part we have been waiting for – meeting the elephants!!! Depending on the day and number of guests (which is a minimum of 4 or a maximum of 8) there could be 2 to 4 elephants walking with you.

There are two special elephants — Mae Boon and Aura — in particular who are very dear to us here at ENP. In fact, this program was created specifically to better their quality of life. When Aura was only 8 months old, she and her mother, Mae Boon, came to stay at ENP for maternity leave; Aura was not thriving and Mae Boon was a bit overworked and underweight.

Luckily for all of us, they stayed for 3 1/2 years. They were fully embraced by our herd – both ele and human – and became part of our elephant family. Our Tong Jaan and Aura became best friends and spent their days together. Both girls were trained using positive reinforcement. Our hope was that we could prove to Aura’s owners that she could be trained to cooperate with people without using the brutal breaking ceremony.

Sadly, the day came that we all dreaded. The owners wanted them back. Their days of happily hanging with the herd were over… The now stately Mae Boon and her chubby Aura were headed back to the reality of the working world – where they would inevitably be separated.

Throughout the years, we tried many times to buy them, but their owners knew a good thing. Both mother and daughter are even-tempered – not dangerous or unpredictable – and FEMALE – which means BABIES, of course. They are elephants that are worth keeping.

The years passed…. occasionally we would catch a glimpse of Mae Boon working at a nearby trekking camp, looking very out of place and undignified wearing that ugly trekking seat. At another camp, Aura was being forced to dance and give kisses to uninformed tourists who saw no wrong in a young elephant chained and alone, day in and day out. Though Mae Boon could cope, Aura was not adapting well to the working world.

When it became obvious that the ‘Walking with Elephants’ programs really were a success, we decided to contact the owners yet again to see if they were interested in setting up a program in their village with our favourite girls and some of their other elephants as well. Thankfully, the owners were interested – which meant no more hooks, no more trekking seats and no more riding once again for Mae Boon, Aura and a few more lucky elephants.

Back at Baan Bpaaklang Doi, three elephants come rushing towards the bundles of cornstalks on the ground in front of us. One is immediately recognizable as Mae Boon, just as beautiful and impressive as the day she left ENP. Despite the years of work, she is free from scars and has not aged a bit. Her heavy-lidded, thick-lashed eyes gaze down upon us imperiously and indifferently. She has only one thing in mind – FOOD. She was always very food obsessed when she stayed with us. It takes a lot of food to maintain such a beautiful figure! We are mesmerized by her lush blond ear fluff and her overall perfection. What an incredible being! Surely she should bear the title ‘Queen’ before her name.

We inspected the next arrival looking for the telltale missing trunk tip that would identify Aura. Unfortunately, Aura had lost her trunk tip at a very early age, supposedly when her mother stepped on it by mistake!

Alas, the next elephant still had her trunk tip and was too old to be Aura. Her name was Mae Geao, and she was in her early twenties. She was leggy and in decent shape – not too fat, not too thin. The third elephant strode up with a limp. She had an old break in her back left leg from falling when she was attacked by another elephant. Around 20, her name was Boon Ngern. Boon Ngern has the most lovely, honey colored eyes and incredibly long eye lashes!