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Ran-tonG Save & Rescue Elephant Centre - detailed review

The 29th January 2016 was a day we had been anticipating for months. It was the day we were going to visit Rantong, an elephant sanctuary outside of Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. Our visit was a two-day, one night trip which encompassed both the project’s riding and day-care programs , which take place in two different camps about 10 minutes’ drive apart. The first day consists of riding and bathing the adult elephants in the riding camp, and is also available as a single or half-day program. The second day of our visit consisted of the half-day day-care program combined with white-water rafting.

Pre-departure We had pre-booked our trip online through Ran-tong’s website , and paid the required 10% deposit. We provided the name of the hostel we would be staying in, as the Centre pick you up and drop you off. If you want to book a trip but aren’t certain of where you will be staying, no problem! Staff were very helpful and quick to respond when I emailed, so I’m sure you can let them know as and when. I’m also sure that you can book trips with them through many guesthouses and travel agencies in the region; their leaflets were widely available in Chiang Mai.

Having booked so far in advance, I emailed the day before our trip to confirm everything. Again, my queries were answered quickly and efficiently. My one quibble was that I asked whether or not we could bring our luggage. The reply was, ‘Yes, as long as its not too big.’ ’ Perfect,’ I thought, ‘Now we don’t have lo worry about storing it somewhere.’ - neither of our rucksacks are huge, and they can both be squashed under seats when the need arises (as it frequently does when you travel by minivan in SEA). Pickup from our hostel came at the appointed time, and in we climbed with our bags. We picked up a few other visitors before heading over to the Centre’s offices in town. There we were asked - and I say ‘asked’ with a pinch of salt, ‘heavily encouraged’ would be more accurate - to store our larger bags in their office. Now, had we been prepared for this, it wouldn’t have been an issue. However, following my email exchange of the previous day, we had packed our larger bags as normal - meaning l’m carrying my clothes and shoes and Sean his, while the toiletries and all other gubbins are evenly divided, and the money and valuables are in the smaller two bags we keep close to us at all times. To store them would have required completely unpacking and repacking them, which would have meant delaying the whole group. We refused politely, but the man asking seemed disgruntled and worried that there would not be enough room in the return van the following day - an event which came to pass with no difficulty whatsoever. l felt awkward to say no, as I definitely don’t enjoy being an inconvenience, but I felt annoyed that the reply to my email beforehand hadn’t said, ‘Bring only what you need for your overnight stay, we can store your luggage here.’ However, all’s well that ends well, and the trip got better and better from there. l paid the remainder of our balance in cash, although a card machine was available, and filled in our details (names, passport n°s, nationality) for our guide for the day, Nancy. She made a wonderful impression on me from the start, being warm, friendly and smiling. She learnt our names straightaway and used them throughout the day.

Arriving at Rantong

We set off at about 9am for an hour’s drive to the camp in a branded, air conned, comfortable minibus. There was a short stop at a cafe and 7-11 just over half-way, a good time to grab breakfast, some snacks or some cash. The bus arrives at the crest of a hill, where your guide will introduce you and your group to Ran-tong. Groups seemed to vary in size - we were in a smaller group of eight people. After taking photos of the view, we made our way down concrete steps to the camp, where Nancy walked us through the plan for the day. We fed the elephants some sugar cane before changing into our mahout clothes. All other clothes and bags were stored in the on.-site lockers. These don’t lock, but no one meddled with them and no one had any issues on the day we visited.

Riding and Bathing

Nancy sat us down and taught us the commands needed to guide our elephants. Rantong use only the voice to give their elephants instruction, no sticks or hooks of any kind. This means that you are somewhat at your elephant’s mercy, but it makes for a much more enjoyable ride. The elephants are allowed to stop and eat, and roam with you on their back to a degree. The Mahout will intervene if necessary, either by giving more vocal commands, morning towards the elephant (in a sort of chasing motion) or using a harsher tone of voice. It is usually two people to one elephant. One sits at the base of the elephant’s neck, with legs slotted in behind the ears, and the other sits further back, on the elephants back. You ride barefoot and bareback - there are two ropes, one for each passenger to cling on to. At Rantong, these are covered in thick, pliable plastic and have enough gives as to not irritate the elephants. The riding was a thrilling but terrifying experience. It didn’t help that our elephant, Tongdee, was the second largest in the camp at 4000kgs! We rode around the compound only, no long jungle treks, and Nancy and a photographer snapped pictures of us throughout. After the morning ride, it was time for lunch. Delicious khaosoi! That’s flat noodles in a coconut cream broth with chicken. They do cater to vegetarians, and when they discovered Sean’s coconut allergy, a motorbike was dispatched to a nearby village to acquire a rice-chicken dish and hot-sour soup for him to eat. Staff apologised for him having to wait to eat, while really we had inconvenienced them. In short, they were wonderful. Water and clementines (which were delicious) were also provided.

After lunch, Nancy regaled us with interesting information about elephants, while we made tamarind balls rolled in salt to feed to our respective elephants . After giving them these tasty treats to help their digestion, we climbed back on our elephants for the afternoon ride, which was a short climb and descent affair, which was quite thrilling! Elephants are surprisingly nimble climbers. Overall, I think the riding program was well-paced and allowed you to build up your confidence and get to know your elephant. Then came the bathing. To be blunt, this was the worst part of the day as the water was freezing and dirty. Most of Ile elephants had to be coaxed in, and I think everyone was glad to get out. There was just time for a mounted group photo before we changed and had a snack - mango juice, Oreos and water - and had a look at our photos. These are available to purchase for 500thb, payable by cash or card, and are given to you on a USB flash drive. There is no obligation to purchase and we didn’t feel pressured to, so don’t worry if you’re completely unphotogenic, like us! There were also small trinkets such as bracelets, necklaces, bags and coin purses available to buy if you wanted to.

Staying Overnight

At the end of the day’s activities, around 3:00pm, Nancy led us out of the bottom of the camp to a nearby spot on the outskirts of the park where the minibus was waiting - we were all relieved not to have to walk back up the stairs we had come down that morning! Our larger bags had been in the minibus all day and were perfectly fine. The bus dropped Sean and I off at the day care centre, where the overnight and volunteer accommodation is located. Nancy said goodbye and set off to drop the rest of the group in Chiang Mai. Pon, the owner’s wife, showed us to our room for the night. It was sparsely equipped with two double mattresses on the floor, two overhead lights and four plug sockets, as well as two pillows apiece. There was also air con, but it was chilly at night when we visited, so it wasn’t needed. In any case, the room was basic but had everything we needed. Blankets are provided, but bring your Own towels and toiletries. The shower didn’t run hot - it was Lukewarm at best, but we didn’t really have a problem with that. Dinner was served at 7:00pm, and we were left to ourselves in the interim. We were free to wander about and we made our way doom to the day care, which consists of four young rescue elephants, aged two to four, and one mother and four-month old calf. This was Rantong, the first baby born at the centre. We said hi to them and just stood around watching them. There was something truly special about being there. Dinner was filling and simple: white sticky rice with fresh steamed vegetables, barbequed fish, and coconut-broth sauce. we ate with the four volunteers who were resident at the time, all of whom were friendly and funny. We were shattered and so hit the hay after dinner, but the volunteers and some of the mahouts played pool. The following morning , breakfast was toast, tea, coffee, muesli and scrambled eggs, and it was served around 8:00am. After breakfast, we got ready and changed into our mahout clothes before meeting Jan, the head tour guide and our guide for the day.

Day-care

This was a slower day that we preferred. Somehow it ended up just being Sean and l, Jan and Julie, one of the volunteers. Jan has 14 years’ experience with elephants and was a font of information. We spent about half an hour playing with Rantong, before cutting up sugar cane and going for a short walk with two of the older day-care elephants. We also bathed these elephants; the pool here was much more pleasant. Then, again it was time to rinse off before lunch. I feel like this short section doesn’t do justice to just how much we enjoyed this part of our visit to Rantong. It was peaceful and we loved chatting to Jan and learning all about the magnificent Asian elephants we were having the pleasure of observing wander about.

Elephant Care at Rantong As I said above, no hooks or sticks are used. the elephants are fed near-constantly when they are not free to forage, which they are allowed to do at length when you are walking or riding them. It is unfortunate that they are not always free to roam, and Jan expressed his hope that the centre will one day raise enough money to install an elephant-proof, non-electric fence. Currently one park in the area does have this facility, Elephant Nature Park, which is 20 years old. Rantong is only four. The lack of fence does mean that the elephants are tied when they are not being ridden or walked. Jan assured us that every elephant is exercised an appropriate amount for their age and fitness each day. A vet visits every two weeks, and elephants are sent to hospital when they need to go. The older elephants and those with injuries are not used for riding. The park’s second baby is currently about one month old and is being kept away from visitors to protect his sensitive skin. Neither baby will be separated from their mother until they are at least three, if not older - the other young elephants in the day-care have been rescued. Mahouts live on both sites 24-hours a day and look after one elephant apiece.

Volunteering at Rantong We really enjoyed our time at Rantong, and are seriously considering returning as volunteers for a week. Volunteers live on the day-care site, help prepare and serve both visitors’ and elephants’ food, accompany groups on excursions such as trekking and rafting. The fee is about £200/10,000thb per person for the first week, with discounts available for subsequent weeks. It covers your accommodation, food, transfers from Chiang Mai, and any and all activities while at Rantong - all while you see and spend time with elephants every day.

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