点评:We had a lovely day at Lanna Kingdom with our guide, Tyler, who picked us up promptly from our hotel in the morning. The journey to the sanctuary was approximately 1hr from Chiang Mai old town and perfectly comfortable in the van. Tyler was knowledgable and very friendly.
Upon arrival we were invited to change into clothing provided by Lanna Kingdom (to avoid getting our own clothes wet or dirty). Once changed we met the first elephant. They had 5 elephants, all female, when we visited, ranging from Lanna, the ‘big baby’, who I believe was 8 years old, to the eldest who was around 50 years old. Each had their own character which was very endearing to witness. Lanna was very cheeky and kept stealing food from other elephants and trying to break into the banana store which was entertaining! Our tour included getting up close and personal with the elephants, learning about how they are cared for, making vitamin balls, washing them and feeding them.
Lunch was provided (tofu pad Thai) and Tyler took lots of photos for us which was much appreciated. They have basic but functional bathroom facilities (as might be expected out in a rural setting).
Thank you Tyler for a lovely day with the gorgeous elephants!
P.S. It’s a bit of a minefield trying to find a 100% ethical elephant sanctuary and sadly I don’t think that any place is perfect. Any place that isn’t comprehensively fenced will need to chain the elephants for a time (whether at nighttime or while mahouts sleep etc) and you can see evidence of this at Lanna Kingdom, however, it’s clear that they do care about the elephants and they seemed happy and very well looked after.
翻译:我们在兰纳王国度过了愉快的一天,导游泰勒早上准时来酒店接我们。从清迈老城区到保护区大约需要 1 小时,乘坐面包车非常舒适。泰勒知识渊博,非常友好。
抵达后,我们被邀请换上兰纳王国提供的衣服(以免弄湿或弄脏我们自己的衣服)。换好衣服后,我们遇到了第一头大象。我们参观时,他们有 5 头大象,全是雌性,从“大宝贝”兰纳(我认为 8 岁)到最年长的 50 岁左右。每头大象都有自己的性格,非常可爱。兰纳非常厚脸皮,一直从其他大象那里偷食物,试图闯入香蕉店,这很有趣!我们的旅行包括近距离接触大象,了解如何照顾它们,制作维生素球,给它们洗澡和喂食。
午餐供应(豆腐炒河粉),Tyler 为我们拍了很多照片,我们非常感激。他们有基本但实用的浴室设施(在农村环境中可能很常见)。
感谢 Tyler 带我们与美丽的大象度过了美好的一天!
附注:寻找 100% 合乎道德的大象保护区就像在雷区行走,遗憾的是,我认为没有任何地方是完美的。任何没有全面围栏的地方都需要将大象拴起来一段时间(无论是在夜间还是在驯象人睡觉时等),您可以在兰纳王国看到这方面的证据,但是,很明显他们确实关心大象,它们看起来很开心,而且得到了很好的照顾。