#8: A Day with Elephants

23.01.2020

It's safari time! Well, almost. We're heading to WFFT: the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, about 30 minutes away from Hua Hin. This is where injured animals and animals kept illegally are taken in, cared for, and, if possible, released back into the wild. The park is home to around 600 animals (probably 1,600 with chickens) from 45 species. These include iguanas, various species of monkeys, a crocodile, a tiger, bears, otters, and of course elephants.

The elephants live in huge enclosures and in as natural an environment as possible. Of course, the elephants here don't perform tricks or allow people to ride on them, as this is always associated with immense suffering for the animals (especially during training and conditioning). However, at the wildlife park, it is possible to observe the elephants and feed and bathe them during a meet-and-greet.

Visiting WFFT is one of the highlights of our trip, as it allows us to get very close to such special animals like elephants and at the same time contribute a small amount to the care of the animals by paying for the tour.

We start early in the morning, we will be picked up at 9:30 for the Full Day Experience. This means: first a guided tour on foot through part of the facility, then lunch, then feeding and bathing an elephant, and finally a tour of the facility in an open bus. Exciting! After the drive from the coast to the hinterland, the coastal landscape, which is very much shaped by tourism, gradually disappears and we dive a little into the 'wild' Thailand.

After a very friendly welcome and the distribution of water bottles upon arrival at WFFT, the guided tour starts. We are shown many different animals, and their sad and bizarre stories and backgrounds are explained to us. For example, we are shown a gibbon that can only walk upright on two legs, cannot climb, and thinks it is a human because it has been given antidepressants for 15 years. We are also shown a several meters long crocodile that cannot hunt because it was kept as a pet. We also encounter an elephant during the tour that has a panic fear of cows.

After the tour, lunch is on the program. There is a buffet of various typical local dishes, such as fried vegetables, a rice dish, salads, and other delicacies. After eating to our heart's content, we meet PoomPuang, a 74-year-old Thai lady, who likes to be fed with corn, melon, and pineapple. We are particularly impressed by her very strong and agile trunk, on which PoomPuang serves herself the food. After a 20-liter bucket of fruit, it's time for the bath. The elephant lady is sprayed with water by one person while two others brush her back. Standing next to the huge elephant and touching her is something very special and unforgettable for us. We also weren't aware of how rough and bristly an elephant's skin is.

After the experience, we are taken on a tour of the entire facility. Here we see many animals again, hear their stories, and learn about the ongoing and planned projects of WFFT. Pancake accompanies us on this tour. She is a black dog who loves to roll in elephant dung.

But after this one-hour tour, it's time to go home to the hostel in Hua Hin. When we arrive home, we only get a snack for dinner in the city and quickly fall into bed after all the new experiences of the day. We probably won't forget this day anytime soon.