Sappraiwan Elephant Sanctuary

After arrival at Sukhothai we were met by our transfer that would take us to the sanctuary at Sappraiwan. Two short hours later we arrived and were met by the lovey staff, Katie, Pla and later Terri, who are responsible for the elephant program. Our program was packed with interesting subjects such as enrichment and food harvesting.

We then drove down to an area where the herd were collected with their mahouts, just munching their way through breakfast. Sitting watching the interaction with each other, the elder elephants looking out for and protecting the younger members of their herd. In the lake, the younger ones were eager to get themselves and each other the wetter and muddier the better.

Time goes by so quickly, we followed the elephants over a couple of pastures and at one stage we saw the true value of the herd. When spooked by something unexpected the whole her trumpeted and took off, the matriarch watching protectively as the older elephants crowded around the younger ones, the whole incident was over in a few minutes, it was great to see them act as they would if they were in the wild.

The afternoon was taken up with enrichment for the large bull elephant TongTang. We prepared several spots where he could come and forage for food. We loaded trees with fruit and banana leaves so Tongtang could get back to doing what elephants do, rather than being hand fed by humans he would have to go look for food. From a safe distance we watched him walk majestically up the track to where we had prepared his enrichment. Watching him work out where the food was hidden, a conveyor belt of trunk action, selecting the branch, dropping the roots and catching the leaves in one movement, great timing and dexterity.

We had a short break from elephant activity, and we took a drive of around one hour to the temple at Wat Pah Sorn Kaew, a most unusual Buddha temple decorated with crockery, trinkets and other such jewellery. We spent the evening listening to the thunderclouds rumbling overhead as we ate dinner in the Elephant house Lake View Cafe.

The following day we ate an early breakfast in our room at the water’s edge, watching the elephants take their morning walk from their jungle resting place. Time really does stand still when you sit and watch these animals, eat, play and interact with each other and their trusted mahouts.

After breakfast we joined the mahouts to go to a local farmers plantation and collect banana plants. We spent around 90 minutes, collecting the cut trees and loading them onto the truck for transportation back to the sanctuary, where of course they had to be unloaded too. It was heavy, hot thirsty work, but all well worth it. We had an early lunch, and a short break in preparation for the afternoon ahead.

The rains kept on coming, we changed and made our way to the mahout area where we saw how the staff and elephants worked together in preparation for visits for vets. The elephants stand in a corral, and a mahout will touch the elephant in the area which is to be examined, and it will in turn, make this area available to the vet. We worked with lots of love and kindness, and fruit during this process, the elephant always a willing pupil. Our final chore for the day was to help give the elephants and medication or vitamins, these were usually hidden in mango or banana, which the elephants love and were quite happy to munch through. It was such a rewarding day, full of smiles, sharing stories and the best bit, watching elephants, being elephants.

On our last day we got up early to prepare enrichment for one of the bulls. Once again, we loaded various fruits and leaves into hidey places, trying to be as imaginative as possible, so that the elephant would have to forage for his food. Again, time passes so much quicker, we worked for around 1 hour until we saw him striding purposefully through the camp, only one thing on his mind. We sat and watched him take apart our hard work in a very short time, always looking for another morsel of food. All this eating was making us hungry, time for our breakfast.

The Lake View Cafe is open during the day, and allows passers-by, or those travelling by road, to come get a snack and a drink. The sanctuary advertises the fact on social media, that elephants can be seen from the Cafe at weekends. We were involved and helped setup the area for the elephant’s arrival, again making sure the elephant would have to forage for food. Running an elephant sanctuary is an expensive business, so customers are invited for a small fee to help make elephant 'sandwiches'. It’s a very messy job which children seem to enjoy doing the most. We take banana leaves, and along the length place various fruits, and then tie two leaves together, making a huge sandwich, these are then presented to the mahouts who in turn give to the elephants.

After lunch we had our final session with the elephants, we walked down to the water’s edge, where once again mutual duckings were the name of the game especially with the juveniles, and almost instinctively as the afternoon wore on the elephants made their own way through the camp to their jungle resting place for the night. It was still funny to see a few of the younger herd members get left behind as we walked with the main herd, ever watchful as we knew at some point they'd realize they were being left behind. Sure enough, we heard a few trumpets, as they realized what had happened, and began to make their way to join the rest of the herd, we stepped back from their path as they all became reunited and headed off into the jungle.

And that was it for our visit, we'd had amazing experiences over our three days, and it was also an education. There is always something to learn and be able to pass on from such experiences. After a quick shower, our car was waiting and we said goodbye to our hosts Terri, Katie and Pla, with the knowledge that we would return for a longer stay, and we look forward to see how the elephant program develops over the years.

One final note on the strangely beautiful Sukhothai Airport, which has been voted Thailand's prettiest airport, and it’s easy to see how. Beautifully manicured gardens skirt the airport building and apron. The aircraft park a little way from the 'terminal' and passengers are ferried in by small trams. The whole loading and disembarkation process takes less than 20 minutes, so efficient.

We know when we see THS on our luggage tags we know we are off to see the eles.