As part of our trip I was very keen to see the elephants but wanted to make sure it was ethical and the animals were treated right. My friend Zara strongly recommended Elephant Nature Park. We looked into it and decided to book on to Pamper a Pachyderm - single day visit.

We got picked up at around 8.15am from our hotel. There were eight of us all together in our group, an American, three Germans, one French, one South American and us! I could not have asked for a better group of people to do the visit with, they were all fantastic! We had a guide called Sunshine who was fantastic - I cannot rate him highly enough. He gave us so much information and answered any questions we had.

Whilst on the bus we were shown a documentary on elephants and the mistreatment they currently suffer. At some points I had to close my eyes because the footage was just that horrific. A few points I picked up from the documentary were the following:

- Poachers steal baby elephants by shooting and injuring the parents. They then try to 'train' the baby elephant. The baby elephant is chained, tortured, starved in order to break their spirit so they submit. They are forced to walk around continuously in circles where sometimes they kill themselves by stepping on their trunk.
- Adult elephants suffer the same fate. They are starved, beaten, kept in chains until their spirit is crushed and broken.
- Elephants have incredibly sensitive ears so if you do see one painting and think 'waw thats amazing'...its not. The mahout will be sticking his nails into the elephants ear to make them paint causing the elephant pain. If you notice the elephants always paint very similar pictures, it is because they have been 'trained' in that way.
- Elephants have similar emotions to humans. They feel happy, sad, anger etc
- The elephants who are logging are forced to pull an outrageous amount of weight which is very bad for them. If they fall and injure themselves or die, then a new elephant is bought. If the elephant is pregnant that does not matter and they will continue to work even if it means they lose their baby. The elephants are seen as disposable.
- If you go to see the elephants and the mahout still has a bull hook...it is not just a precaution, it is a reminder to the elephant that if they don't do as they are told they will be beaten.
- If you do watch elephants in the circus, elephants doing tricks, elephants painting or ride an elephant...please remember the amount of pain and suffering that the animal has gone through purely for mankinds greed and entertainment. There is never a humane way to do any of the above!

On a lighter and slightly embarrasing note, I had to stop the bus on the way up to be sick. I think it was a combination of travel sickness/tiredness/slight hangover. I managed to make most of the journey and did a quick trip to the bathroom when we got there to be sick again and then I was fine.

Before we met the elephants we prepared their food...it was a lot of food! They consume between 300 to 400kg a day. We had big buckets and had to mash up and mix their food together. It was so much fun...like a giant cake mix! We rolled the mixture into balls for them.

A seperate bucket was filled bananas and watermelon for them. Bananas are apparently good for their digestive system.

The eight of us looked after three rescued elephants for the day. Their names were Happy, Sa ah and Wonmee. I have no idea if thats how you spell their names but it was how we pronounced them. Our three elephants were old age pensioners, with one being the grand age of 75 making her the oldest elephant at the park.

They are now free to live their final stages of life in the park with lots of food, walking and pampering! What I found remarkable was how trusting and friendly the elephants were even though they had suffered a lifetime of abuse at the hands of humans. It was the same for the dogs and cats who we later saw.

We fed the elephants their breakfast with two people feeding two elephants and four feeding the other. The elephant being fed by four people was recently rescued so needed more food and nutrients. She also had two huge bruises on her where she had previously fallen when working.

After the elephants had been fed we took them on a long walk and kept feeding them bananas as we went. There were also some rescued dogs living there (about five of them) who also came on the walk. The dogs seemed to love the elephants and kept trying to steal their food but the elephants did not love them back. We had to try and keep them apart!

The elephants crossed the river on their daily walk and we got a raft across. We then continued to walk them up the mountain. We stopped for lunch and the elephants carried on their walk. Lunch was delicious and completely vegetarian! I ate so much and there was plenty to go around. The whole group said how much they enjoyed it and the majority were meat eaters. I am just putting it out there...it was my best meal yet!!

Just as we were finishing our lunch and coffee the elephants came back and we headed back down to the river with them. We passed a few elephants from a neighbouring sanctuary/camp on route and had to keep them apart as they were being territorial. I did notice these elephants weren't being ridden and the mahouts did not have bullhooks which was great to see! Since being in Chiang Mai last time I have definitely noticed a shift in the way they treat animals, a step in the right direction.

I asked Sunshine if Elephant Nature Park go to elephant camps and try to talk to them about elephant welfare and spread awareness. He said this would be seen as 'hot power' which could cause conflict amongst the Thai people so by walking the elephants each day they are showing the neighbouring camps in the hope they follow suit.

We got back on the rafts to cross the river. All of the dogs jumped in and swam down alongside us. Next was to wash the elephants. They were being fed more food by the mahouts and we got in the river and threw buckets of water over them to cool them off...a proper pamper session! It was then the end of our time with the elephants but I definitely felt I had enough time with them and it wasn't rushed.

It was then time for our white water rafting! We drove up, got our life jackets and paddles and split into two teams...we of course turned it into a race. We were given basic instructions and then we were good to go. It was so much fun and we got absolutely soaked! We ended up at the Elephant Nature Park to take a tour of the grounds.

We saw lots of dogs and cats chilling out that had been rescued. I was in my element playing with them, stroking them, making a fuss. They even had pigs they had saved from slaughter and water buffalos! I think they take in any animal they feasibly can.

We got to see more elephants in their herds as we walked around. One herd were elephants that were disabled. Two of them had stepped on landmines and a car crashed into one. Some of them were also blind. It was a relief they were now in good hands. Every evening the vet had to treat them before bed time. These particular elephants had to be kept in at night to ensure their safety. They didn't like the vet but were tempted over by food.

There were no male elephants at the park, with the exception of two baby ones who had been born there. Sunshine explained to me that the park don't take in male elephants at present. This is due to lack of space and that they have not worked out a way to stop the elephants breeding. They are unable to neuter the elephants. Their goal is not to breed elephants, but to rescue and protect them. This is a shame but it hightlights the difficulties the park faces. They are currently looking for more space as when the male babies turn five they will start to detach from the herd so they need to make space for them. I suspect the next steps will be to try and extend the park and buy more land (which is a lot harder than it seems).

All in all this was a highlight of my trip so far. It was refreshing to see people so passionate about animals and it definitely restored my faith in humanity. I loved every minute of it and felt so good about helping towards a great cause.

For anyone looking to visit elephants please do your research and choose well. Remember that they are not there for your entertainment, they should be observed and admired from a distance. Do not support unethical treatment of these beautiful and majestic animals. The longer you do, the longer the mistreatment will continue.

From what I observed the Elephant Nature Park is a great way to see the elephants, although I am sure there are other sanctuaries equally as good.

Do book early if you choose Elephant Nature Park as tours book up fast!