Come Stay With The Elephants!

Ever wonder what it would be like to live with elephants? Well you probably know that Thailand is a popular destination for people to get their elephant fix. There are elephant camps scattered all across the country and elephant rides are easily arranged. If you’re lucky you might even see one casually walking down the street in Chiang Mai like I have! There is one place in particular that stands out from the rest. It’s the The Royal Elephant Kraal in Ayutthaya about an hour outside of Bangkok, also know as the Elephantstay.

The Royal Elephant Kraal was founded by community developer and zoologist Mr. Laithongrien Meepan. This man has literally designed, developed and built this sanctuary from the ground up. He is an expert on everything involving elephants from breeding and caring for elephants, to Thai elephant history and culture. He is know  throughout his country as the person to go to whenever there is need for consult or advice on wild or domestic elephants. If there is an elephant that need help Meepan is there to care for it. He personally owns 150 elephants who you can all meet when you come to the Royal Elephant Krall Village. But don’t just swing by and say hello, stay for a few days, a week, or even a month. When you visit the Elephanstay you will get your very own elephant to care for and bond with.

Caring for 150 elephants is no easy task. The Elephantstay is a non-profit organization that encourages people to volunteer some time (and some coin of course) to come out and learn about Asian Elephants, and what better way to learn about them than to live with and care for them for a few days? I mean really, who else is supposed to prepare the 23 000kgs of feed for them everyday? That’s what I though. It might as well be you!

On day one Program Managers Michelle Reedy and Ewa Narkiewicz will sit you down for an orientation on what to expect and the scheduling for the duration of your stay. After you get settled into your air conditioned bungalow you will head out to the meeting area to greet your elephant! What happens after this is absolute magic. You will actually be caring for your elephant throughout the whole day, feeding them, bathing them, riding them down to the river to cool off a couple times a day (yup that’s right, you get to ride them! And I’m not talking about on one of those chair saddles, you are actually right on it’s neck, just you and the mahout), and of course you can spend as much time as you like bonding with and getting to know your elephant.

My time at the Elephantstay was the most amazing and rewarding things I’ve ever done. Most people don’t even know this place exists, but almost everyone who does find out about it ends up spending time there. There is no other place you could go to make such a huge difference in such an amazing animals life and it will honestly make you melt inside. You will end up with a huge place in your heart for these incredible, sensitive creatures. It will have to be huge, I mean…have you seen how big they are??

For more information and booking visit  http://www.elephantstay.com