(Written by Linda)
So our earliest start yet – up at 5.30am to get to the train station to catch the train to Uttradit, the nearest station to BLES (Boon Lott’s Elephant Sanctuary). We should have remembered we are on Thai time as we actually don’t set off until 7.15am!!. We are in the second class seats (no first class on this train) and it is pretty comfortable. We settle back for what is allegedly a 5 hour journey. Me being me, I thought I would be super organised and write down all the stations we should stop at. Only six on my list – all was going well for the first three stops, but then we started stopping at lots of little stations in between that weren’t on my list – added to this the random stops on the line and instead of arriving at 12.30pm – we pulled in at 2.30pm. We were really hoping that the driver sent to pick us up would still be waiting. Poor chap had had to sit there for two hours and was apparently on the verge of giving up. Anyway finally in the car and on our way to BLES about an hour from the station.
We arrive at BLES and are shown to our guesthouse. There are only three on the property as the owner likes to keep the sanctuary from becoming too touristy. You can soon see why. This place is an oasis in the jungle. The guesthouse is a beautiful bungalow with a bathroom that has one way full windows overlooking the jungle outside.
We head over to the main building to see if anyone is there and are met by the housekeepers and the two children of the owner Katherine, Hope who is 3 and Noah who has just turned 1. Hope is very shy at first but as soon as she gets us to the main building she produces three new born kittens and the ice is broken. I had read about these kittens on Kats journal, but did not expect to meet them immediately! However they are so cute it is impossible to say no to them and we bond with Hope through the kittens.
Katherine returns shortly from the afternoon walk with the elephants. With her is the other guest who is staying here at the moment – Penny a New Zealand girl who arrived the morning before us. We are introduced and will proceed to get to know each other over the next few days.
I should probably introduce the concept of BLES and Katherine to you. Katherine is 29 years old and has lived in Thailand for 8 years. She started out travelling as we have done and became a volunteer at an Elephant hospital in Lampang, Thailand. Here she met Boon Lott a small elephant calf who had a lot of tragedy in his life (read her website). Ultimately despite her efforts Boon Lott died, by which point she had utterly fallen in love with the elephants of Thailand as well as Anon, a Thai national who shared her loved of the elephants and vision for saving abused and mistreated animals and a passion for giving them a better life. Hence Boon Lott Elephant Sanctuary was given life. I knew that this was the sort of place I wanted to visit in our travels in Thailand, but it was only when I came across an article in the Daily Mail earlier this year which highlighted the work Katherine does that I started to investigate BLES. It soon became apparent that the work she did was so wonderful and she was a truly admiral person and someone I would like to see close at hand. She now has 12 elephants in her care (6 rescued this year alone) and saves them from the hands of abusive owners – whether it is that the elephant is involved in illegal logging or begging in the streets of some Thai city. It would seem her caring attitude is not restricted to Elephants as she now has six dogs, numerous cats, as well as the aforementioned kittens (a new addition abandoned at the local market) and tortoises! I won’t bore you with the details of her work, but suffice to say that she is a genuine animal lover that has a mission in life.
Unfortunately we had missed the afternoon walk with the elephants, but we sat back and got to know Kat and Penny. We were treated to a fine Thai dinner, made by her housekeepers, mainly from vegetables that they grow there. Katherine herself is vegetarian, so we have feast J We slowly get to know the names of all the dogs and the kittens and we chip in and help feed them. It soon becomes apparent that they all have individual personalities, not least Stud, the alpha male dog, who is a softy, but a grumpy old bugger. He likes to plonk himself in the most inappropriate places and then snarl at anything that comes near him! We also feed the kittens and of the three little Pepper is the runt of the litter. She is tiny and fragile and looks like a gremlin. She has obviously had a rough start in life and had to scavenge for food as she wolfs down her dinner as quickly as possible. It soon becomes apparent that this is not a good idea as she regurgitates most of it down Vin’s trousers!! She is so helpless though that you can’t help feeling sorry for her and she quickly becomes my favourite.
Anon returns from gathering some flowers and orchids to make offerings. It turns out it is father’s day in Thailand and also the anniversary of Anon’s father’s death so he is making a special offering to him in front of his picture, including the flowers and a can of beer!. He presents us both with some flowers and as he cannot speak English Kat translates for us and says he is welcoming us to BLES.
BLES is not a place for late nights and we soon retire to read a little. This place is so tranquil and as there is no light pollution the stars are fabulous. All we can hear is the jungle nightlife and we soon drift off.
We awake early and find one of the dogs outside our door to welcome us. We trot over to the main house for a cup of tea. It is not long before the Elephants are brought down from their jungle resting area for their morning shower. Kat asks us if we would like to help. Both of us can’t wait, although it soon becomes apparent that wearing swimmers would have been appropriate. I hold the hose whilst Vin gets busy scrubbing the elephants down. For something so big – we are talking four+ tons, they are so gentle. I never thought I would be stood so close to one and not feel in the slightest bit nervous. Don’t get me wrong, you must give them a healthy respect, but we both feel very relaxed. I think we also both realise that the elephants also have their own personalities too. Pang Suai takes great delight in nicking the hose off me so she can have a drink. Poor old Pang Dow only wants to cool down, but she is not getting a look in with the water! We all have great fun and get very very wet.
Breakfast is ready so we sit in the sala overlooking the pool that the Elephants take great delight in getting into for a mud bath. Whilst eating we sit and watch as they come down in their little groups (they seem to form friendships with certain others and always seem to stay in these groups – which did make it easier for us to identify them). They have so much fun wading about and filling their trunks and then splashing it over themselves. Pang Noi even comes out if the pool next to sala and stands straight in front of us wanting some breakfast too.
Kat tells us that there is a bull elephant in the village that she is negotiating to buy. His owners want to sell him as there really is no logging work for him and they cannot afford to keep him. Kat knows that he has been well looked after for 10 years by them, and they want to sell to her, but if she cannot negotiate a fair fee and raise funds they will sell him to the highest bidder and he may well go to someone that will not look after him so well. She asks if we would like to go with her to see the bull and its owners and carry on the negotiations. We jump at the chance and after about an hour on bumpy forest roads we find him. His name is Seedor Gam and he is a magnificent animal and huge. You can tell he is well cared for as he looks mighty healthy and well fed. His owners want 600,000 baht for him, which equates to about £12,000. Kat needs to negotiate probably paying some amounts monthly as she will need to raise the funds needed. It seems to go quite well and she is happy that Seedor Gam will be at the sanctuary in the not too distant future. There is a very sad story behind the fact that she can take the bull in. At first Kat was going to have to say no (something she finds very difficult to do), as she simply did not have the room to take in another elephant (she is in the process of raising funds to buy more land). One of Kat’s earliest rescues was an old matriarch elephant called Boon Mee. She had been taken in about 3 years ago after 30 years as an abused elephant in the logging industry. She was about 77 when Kat took her in, so a grand old age for an elephant. She had always been the grandmother of the sanctuary, a grand, grumpy, fragile old lady and had recently shown signs of her age, getting very frail and thin. Well last week she decided that her time was up and promptly marched in to the forest to her favourite spot, started grazing and then laid down to die. She was 80 years old and everyone at the sanctuary was devastated by her death. I had read Katherine’s journal on the website the day before we arrived (it is very moving and I cried), so I knew everyone would be a bit raw, but as Katherine said, it is almost like Boon Mee had listened to her about Seedor Gam and had thought ‘I can make room here’. Katherine has a lot of followers of the sanctuary and some very generous people donate. She is staggered when we sit down for lunch and she checks her emails and one of the people who follow her work (but has not been to visit the sanctuary yet) emails to say she is so moved by the death of Boon Mee and the plight of Seedor Gam that she would like to donate the whole amount to be able to give him a home. Sometimes things can restore your faith in people.
After lunch (again spent watching the elephants having huge amounts of fun in the mud bath, including watching the little one Mee Chok (2 year old) dunking a much older elephant) we set off on our first walk with them. All the dogs join us too and we walk in to the forest with six of the elephants, Pang Dow, Pang Suai, Mee Chok, Bong Beng, Tong Juai and Somai. We walk alongside them and get to know them and about them a little more. Pang Dow for instance is a recent rescue and is again an ex logging elephant. The abuse is very apparent as her front left leg was broken during her working life, but she was just continually worked and it was never allowed to heal, hence she now walks very awkwardly, every step looks painful for her and you can’t help but feel for her. She also had a constant parasitic infection which was not treated so has nasty looking skin. This does not stop you from falling in love with her instantly as this does not stop her doing anything. She will do everything the other elephants do – although it just may be a little slower.
We come to a clearing in the forest which is a favourite grazing spot for them. The bamboo trees don’t stand a chance and we are both amazed at how dexterous they are with their trunks. We sit for hours watching them strip the leaves from the trees and generally having a real feast. It is wonderful to watch and also to watch the interaction of the mahouts with their elephants. You can see that they really care for these animals. All instructions are a gentle vocal call, no prodding with sticks or pulling of chains. Kats final goal is to have elephants roaming her land freely 24 hours a day, as near back to wild as they can become. It is really relaxing just sitting watching the animals, including the dogs who are having a great time in the long grass and digging for rats, and getting to know more about Kat and her goals.
You only leave when the Elephant have decided they are full, you are on their time now. We walk back alongside them and they are walked to their stables, where they will stay until they are led to their forest sleeping area.
A quick (incredibly cold) shower is very much needed and welcome, and we are then treated to another feast by the cook. We try deep fried Banana Flower, which is delicious and massaman curry. We are certainly being fed very well. Kat has the ability to very quickly make you feel like part of the family. We play with Hope and Noah and the kittens for a while. Whilst Chilli and Spice the two other kittens are putting on weight and progressing very well, Pepper is really struggling. She basically fits into the palm of your hand and when she walks across the floor she looks like a little mouse. I take it upon myself to feed her tonight and try to stop her gobbling the food. It seems to work as she is not sick tonight, but she does not look well and I think we all fear for her a little.
Kat seems to run the business side of the sanctuary single handed and we do not want to stop her working as the evening seems to be the only time she can catch up with her journal, emails and fundraising, as well as time with her kids, so we leave her to it.
This morning we are greeted by a cat at the door. We again have a delicious breakfast by the pool and have great fun observing the elephants. Pang Noi again comes looking for food, she is always very polite. She is another sad story as when she was rescued she was pregnant (and still being worked). Little Star was born at the sanctuary and was a great delight to everyone there. I think she was a bit of a favourite as she had been born there. Tragically she was struck by lightning in a storm in May this year and died. All the elephants leave their mark, but none more than Star and there are pictures of her everywhere. Pang Noi I think is still grieving and tends to spend a lot of time on her own not letting the others get close – quite sad really.
This morning one of the Elephants with us is Somai. There seems to be certain identifying factors which makes it easier to identify some of the Elephants. With Somai it is the fact he has big raggedy ears, caused by being caught in a forest fire. He actually went in to the fire and saved a lot of people, but was badly injured in the process. They did not think he would survive, but he did and he is a fine specimen today. They do not bat an eyelid that you are walking beside them. I would recommend not walking behind them as elephant farts stink!
They graze quite happily beside a stream. The dogs spook a couple of them and they run off a little, squeaking and trumpeting. You have to be aware where they are at all times just in case this happens, but we are in no danger. The quickly go back to what they do best – eating J
The afternoon walk takes us up to the tree house that Kat has built. It is a bit too high for me – so Vin, Kat and Penny go up there. I take a walk with Boon Mee’s mahout to her grave, where they have planted a tree for her – he wants to water the tree. It is a really beautiful are and a great tribute to the old lady. You can see that he is still visibly upset by it all – it has only been a week, and I feel a little intrusive – he tries to tell me that Boon Mee has died and this is her tree.
Nearby they have excavated a pond – so much more mud here, and three of the Elephants, including little Mee Chok are in there having a whale of a time. They are not quite so elegant getting out of it though! This place just can’t help to make you smile. I am sure however hard a day you are having, just coming out for a walk with them would make it all so much better.
This evening, as it is our last one, after dinner the mahouts come over and we sit on the floor having a chat with them. They are asking about our lives and travels. Someone then produces a bottle, which has rice whiskey in it. Before too long the shots are being passed around. I am sure they get bigger by the time they get to me! The mahouts have great fun watching our reactions when we drink the whiskey. It is not actually too bad – although I am sure 3 shots is enough! It makes for a fantastic last night though. All the dogs have joined us in the house and make themselves very comfortable around me and my cushion. At one point I have five dogs sleeping round me and two kittens sleeping on me – Heaven J
The drama is not over as Kat thinks she can hear an elephant chomping on the banana plants near the guesthouses! Both Vin and I hear something too, but the mahouts assure us that there is no sign. We head of to bed and are promptly escorted by Cha Cha, one of the dogs (and my favourite). She heads over to the bungalow with us and then settles herself down on the seat outside, where she stays all night.
Next morning we watch the elephants have their shower from the distance of the main house. We cannot join in this morning as we are ready to leave. We go down the car and are greeted by Tong Juai who wants to say goodbye. She touches us all with her trunk and then trumpets a little. This reduces me to tears so i jump in the car. We are setting off just as Pang Dow is coming for her shower. She has touched us all so much we want to say goodbye to her so we jump out of the car. I was also just saying to Vin that we hadn’t said a proper goodbye to the dogs, particularly Cha Cha, when I see them all come running over from the main house. It is a very poignant goodbye to a very special, magical place, one that has touched me in many ways.
From Vin: BLES is a genuinely special and amazing place and Katherine is an amazing woman. Linda was concerned that I’d be a bit bored while there, but it’s such a privilege to be able to spend time with the magnificent elephants, all of whom have their own personalities and character traits, and also to be welcomed into Kat’s home with her family. We’d previously visited ENP in Chiang Mai, but BLES makes ENP look like a big tourist attraction – this is the real deal. Kat is so dedicated to what she does that it’s all about the elephants and not her or anyone else (she’s been nominated for a CNN award but doesn’t even mention it until Linda does, and she’s recently turned down a Hollywood deal to make a film about her story as she’d only agree to an animated film “to avoid the use of elephant actors”.) After BLES it’s hard to imagine anywhere else in Thailand living up to this, and the fact we’re off to Phuket next – a busy, overpopulated tourist hotspot – isn’t lost on us.
