Elephant Nature Foundation, Thailand

by Heather
(California)

I volunteered at Elephant Nature Foundation in Changmai, Thailand in April 2007. It was an awesome experience that I will never forget. I got to travel to Thailand, live in a hut in the elephant preserve, and see how rural Thai people live. I met all kinds of interesting people from all over the world and learned so much about elephants.

We fed and bathed the elephants, prepared their food, harvested crops for the feedings, gathered bamboo and floated it down the river, fixed roads, and did lots of other chores around the sanctuary. I am quite prissy and not used to manual labor, but I really did love every minute of volunteering there. Well, it did take a little getting used to at first -- sleeping on a hard cot in a bamboo hut and taking cold showers. One night there was a bad storm, and when I woke up 2 of the dogs were in bed with me -- they were scared too!

I also made friends with one of the local women -- they come from the village to help out with cooking and some other things. Although none of them spoke English, we taught each other some words and spent time together.

The scenery was beautiful and the food was good too. I wish I could go every year.