Jungle Camp Day 1: Meeting the Elephants and Canoe Safari

On our fourth morning in Thailand, we left our hotel in Bangkok at around 5 am and took a transfer over to the airport, where we caught a plane heading south to Phuket. We flew with Bangkok Airways, and the 90-minute flight was the first flight I've actually enjoyed in a long time, with surprisingly roomy seats and even a full meal. Flying into Phuket, we had great views of the beaches, and even passed right over one as we came in to land!

After picking up our suitcases, we got into a minibus for the two or three hour journey to Elephant Hills Rainforest Camp in Khao Sok National Park. On the journey, we passed by the picturesque beaches of Phuket, before crossing over the bridge to mainland Thailand and entering deeper into the jungle. Unfortunately for Claudio, he slept for most of the journey, but I was lucky to see some Thai cows (which look so different to the cows we're familiar with in the UK) and even a couple of elephants!

We arrived at Elephant Hills at around one or two o'clock, and I have to say that our arrival was pretty chaotic (though things only got better from that point on). A lot of people were arriving at the same time, and we were all told to leave our luggage in a big pile at the entrance, before being given forms to fill out. Afterwards we had 20 minutes to grab a bit of lunch from the buffet, search through our suitcases for a change of clothes, and get changed in the toilets, before going off for our first activity. To be fair, the lunch I had of stir-fried noodles and sweet & sour vegetables was really good, but I would have liked to have been able to have more of it!

We then got into a truck and drove the 5 or 10 minutes to the elephant sanctuary. 

The moment we arrived, it was as if the day thus far, with the early wake up, all the hours of travel, and time spent in airports, just melted away. The elephants were just so majestic and the surrounding scenery was amazing.

After a few photos, we went into a wooden hut, where we watched a short documentary about elephants. We learned about the differences between African and Asian elephants (Asian elephants are generally smaller, with smaller ears and more toenails) and also about the history of how Asian elephants previously were used in conflict and in the logging industry. Nowadays, there are much fewer elephants in Thailand than there were in the past, but generally they have happier lives, living in places like Elephant Hills.

Then we got to meet the elephants up close and even touch them! All of them were female and ranged in age from 19 to 81, if I remember correctly. They were so noble and beautiful, and it was such a special experience to be so close to them. Their trunks feel like leather and are surprisingly hairy!

We also got to prepare a snack for them, which consisted of pineapples, bananas, sugar canes and protein balls wrapped in banana leaves. It was so fun to put the food in their trunks and then watch them putting it into their mouths!

We also loved watching them bathing in their pond - they looked so cute and it was clear they were having a great time!

Back in the hut, we were given some unusual bookmarks...that were made out of elephant dung! It turns out that they're processed in a way which makes them completely hygienic. We had fun decorating ours, and were happy to leave with a nice little souvenir from this wonderful experience (though unfortunately, the one I made for Claudio did not survive the journey home very well!).

We then moved on to the second activity of the day, which was the canoe safari. This was a very relaxing, hour-long ride down the Sok river with a local guide. Here we saw some incredible mountains, as well as amazing wildlife, including snakes and monkeys!

Back at the camp, there was a programme of optional evening activities before dinner, starting with a short documentary, followed by a Thai dance performance and a cooking demonstration. It had been a very long day, so we decided to give these a miss and get settled into our tent.

The tent was actually like a small hotel room with a proper bathroom and shower. It was really cool to have the experience of camping in the middle of the jungle but in relative luxury!

We also took some time to explore the rest of the camp, which is such a beautiful and enchanting place. All of the décor is so well thought out.

One fun thing to do was to put a pin on the camp's map. I couldn't add one, as there wasn't any space left to put one on the UK (the vast majority of guests at the camp were British), but Claudio had more luck, and got to put the first ever pin on Chile!

We finished off our evening with a quick dip in the pool, before enjoying a delicious buffet dinner and drinks from the bar.

It was quite surreal to have started our day travelling through the city streets of Bangkok at 5 am and to end the day drinking a piña colada in the middle of the rainforest in southern Thailand. This was one of the busiest days of our honeymoon, but also one of the most memorable. It felt magical to be in the jungle camp, and meeting the incredible elephants was an experience we'll remember forever.

We still had another day and a half left in this beautiful place, and our second day would see us exploring more of Khao Sok National Park, spending the day at Cheow Lan Lake. A blog post all about it will be here shortly!