Review: Elephant’s World

Andy, Those ice-pick type instruments are called bull hooks. Each mahout in ElephantsWorld has one, but I only every saw them used in three ways. One was to hook into the rope (like a dog collar only just rope) to persuade this large animal which way she should go. I did see some mahouts hook that curved part over an elephant's ear, again for the same purpose. Sao Noi's mahout often nudged her with the blunt end for the same reason. But the bull hooks have been used in horrible ways. Sometimes the elephants have been poked in their eyes with the sharp part and are now blind. So sad.

My friend and I went to ElephantsWorld in December (2017) on the "Mahout Experience", which is a week with your own elephant/mahout. We were each assigned an elephant and her mahout. I got Sao Noi (rhymes with Hanoi) because my friend had longer hair and Sao Noi had been abused by someone with long hair. My mahout spoke not a word of English, but his love for Sao Noi shone through and we got along famously. Every morning he'd bring her to the pavilion where they prepare the baskets and we'd feed her - or just supply her with - "jam beans", pounds of them! Then it was time for what I call the tourist feeding. This is when the day visitors get those baskets and feed the elephants. It's amazing to see how the elephants eat, what they like most, etc. Those trunks can do amazing things! It's also very funny to see the tourists try to give an elephant one banana at a time. That's like giving her nothing at all! And those bananas are MUCH smaller than what we have in the States. After the feeding, most of the elephants go to the mud baths, which is great fun to watch. On my first day Sao Noi got to the general mud baths first and decided to "bathe". I'd been warned and stayed well back to be sure I didn't get a mud bath myself. Again, those trunks are amazing! Then we started walking her to the river and she shook her head. Guess who got a mud bath anyway! A mahout is NEVER clean! But Sao Noi, being a bit less social than some of the other elephants, generally bypassed the normal mud bath and went to the river where the mahout and I watched over her as she roamed and found leaves on trees to eat, and drank. There was a picture in the pavilion where we sat out of the sun while she waded in the river. It was of her when she'd arrived in April, 2016, presumably from a trekking camp. You could see every rib on her! She looks much better now. After her river wading, and sometimes a roll in her own private mud hole, we'd chain her up while we ate. Yes, the elephants are sometimes chained. But I never felt that it was abusive, rather more her for safety. If they wandered off they could be injured on the road outside of the sanctuary, or could wander into the woods across the street, which would not have enough food to support them. The chains were always plenty long and they were in shade. And we were only gone for an hour. After lunch we'd take her back to the river for a bath, and then to the medical pavilion to tend to the wound on her belly. She's had it since she arrived at EW. Every day the mahout cleaned it out with multiple treatments. The sticky rice pavilion was close to the medical pavilion and Sao Noi loved sticky rice! She'd make a beeline for it and often just walked into the pavilion, which barley accommodated her height, to get some. After the medical attention, as we headed back for another tourist feeding we'd let her wander by the mahout housing to eat leaves off trees. Again, that amazing trunk! After the tourist feeding, at about 3:30PM, it was time to set her up for the night. Her spot was down toward the river. There were some trees and a pond full of algae. There was a circle, maybe 30 feet in diameter where she was chained for the night. The chain was probably about 30 feet long. There was also a large stand of the tall grass that the elephants eat. The mahout would cut armfuls of grass with his machete and I would bring it to the area where she was chained. I've watched more than one elephant be chained. They actually put their foot out to accept the chain. One evening, after we'd bedded her down, my friend and I went with the mahouts to cut banana trees. A local farmer donates them. We went with two pickup trucks and loaded them up. Yes, there were bananas, but the trees themselves were what we went for. How much fun was riding back on top of banana trees? The next night, instead of grass, Sao Noi got a 3 or 4 foot section of a banana tree. Someone asked me what my favorite part of the trip was. I have to tell you! Sao Noi, her mahout and I were walking back up the hill to the tourist feeding. I was a bit ahead of them, over to the left of the dirt road because one never knew when a vehicle or a few elephants would come by. Suddenly I was nudged. By a trunk. Now, you can't help but notice being nudged by a 6,000 pound animal. But it was a gentle nudge. I could't ask the mahout why she did it, but I have to believe it was an affectionate gesture. After all, if a 6,000 pound elephant was trying to be nasty, I think one would know! Yes, the Mahout Experience is a bit pricey, but you do get a decent place to stay and plenty of wonderful freshly prepared food. And they must need a lot of money to feed and take care of the elephants so I don't begrudge them a cent! I just wish I could go back tomorrow! Is ElephantsWorld ideal? No. Elephants are chained, some are without a mahout (like the one whose mahout was getting chemo), and it can be a bit expensive as a tourist. People do ride the elephants. But only the mahouts, on their necks, which is far better than several people in those trekking baskets. But I do believe that all of these elephants are far better off there than wherever else they might be. What needs to happen is that the trekking industry needs to be banned and having elephants doing tricks on the street to pull in money has to be banned. Meanwhile, a place like ElephantsWorld is a wonderful place.

Just wanted to comment that I just did this recently and it was great, and I was also pleasantly surprised to discover it coded as a hotel and earned 3X TYP on Citi Prestige.

Tiffany -- your reports are amazing. Very helpful and entertaining. I appreciate Bens reports, but when it comes down to it, I'm only going to be flying 1st class on an A380 a few times in my life. Your posts are so practical for folks who want to see the sights and get good value for their points.

How awesome are those photos! Thank you for posting!