Located in the verdant hills of Northern Thailand, this elephant home offers the perfect chance to experience being with elephants as part of a small group in a beautiful natural setting. The female elephants at this project are retired from logging and elephant riding and are now enjoying a more natural existence with time to forage and socialize.
Arriving at the project accompanied by an English speaking tour guide, you will have a chance to change into traditional Lanna clothing and get to know the elephants a little, while washing and preparing fruit and vegetables to feed to the sweet elephants. Shortly after, join the elephants for a walk that leads back to the project where you will be learn how to make traditional Thai papaya salad, known as som tum and enjoy a delicious vegetarian buffet lunch.
Later, guests prepare health balls by combining rice with bananas, tamarind, rice husks, and salt and offer them to the elephants who will gladly pluck them from your hand with their amazing trunks. As the day grows warmer, visitors take a walk to the river with the elephants where you can bathe them, watch them swim in the river, and observe them grazing on the grassy bank. At the end of the day, visitors enjoy a short bamboo rafting or tubing trip across the river, where your minivan and driver will be waiting for you to return you to Chiang Mai.
Support the Herd at Elephant Delight
ACTIVITIES at ELEPHANT DELIGHT
Feed Elephants
Walk with Elephants
Observe Elephants
Make Banana Health Balls
Prepare Elephant Food & Som Tum
Elephant Bathing
Bamboo Rafting or
Tubing down the River
Spend a wonderful day with elephants in nature – walking with them, feeding them and bathing them in the Mae Taeng River
Walk with Elephants
Feed the Elephants
Observe the Elephants
Elephant Bathing
Activities
- Dress in traditional Lanna clothing
- Get to know the elephants and their histories
- Wash fruit and vegetables and feed the elephants
- Walk with the elephants along hillside trails
- Prepare rice-banana-tamarind ball snacks to feed the elephants
- Learn to make som tum - traditional Thai papaya salad
- Vegetarian buffet lunch overlooking the hills
- Walk to the river to bathe the elephants and watch them swimming
- Bamboo rafting or tubing across the river to meet the minivan (depending on conditions)
Tour Details
Number of Guests: 9
Number of Elephants: 3
Tour Type: Full Day Visit
Fitness Level: Moderate
Age Suitability: Adults & Children 7+
* Minimum of 4 people required for the tour to proceed
What's Included
- Transportation from Chiang Mai city to and from project
- Food for the elephants
- Freshly prepared vegetarian buffet lunch
- Admission fee & insurance
- Qualified English speaking tour guide
Tour Price
Adults & Children 12+: 2,500 Baht
Children Aged 7-11 yrs old: 1,250 Baht
Adults & Children 7+
Moderate
Buffet Lunch
Transportation
Searching Availability...
Preparing Food at Elephant Delight
Ethical Elephant Tours
This is a small Saddle Off project with a limited number of guests. Our model is based on ensuring the well-being of the elephants, which means no riding or other unnatural activities.
About Your Trip
Start: 8:00am – 8:30am minivan pick up from your Chiang Mai city hotel, or from our office at 7:45am. Please advise on your reservation form if staying out of town as additional charges may apply.
Travel Time: Around 90 minutes (safety talk en route to project).
Travel Details: Transfer from minivan to 4WD pickup for the last 5 minutes of your journey to the project in the rainy season.
Return: Arrive back in Chiang Mai city 4:00pm – 4:30pm.
Baggage Allowance: One small day pack per person.
What to Bring: Hat, sunscreen, sandals/flip flops, change of clothing (as you may get muddy or wet), towel, walking shoes, camera & insect repellent.
Operational Months: All year round.
Age Suitability: Adults & children over 7 – guests under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
Fitness Level: Moderate – the walk is along flat ground with some hillside slopes that become muddy in the rainy season / bamboo rafting or tubing across the river depending on conditions.
Topography: Grassland, river, forest & orchards.
Location: Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand.
Nearest Airport: Chiang Mai (CNX) – we recommend you stay in Chiang Mai city the night before your visit. Please note that we cannot collect you from Chiang Mai Airport – only from your Chiang Mai city hotel or guesthouse.
Booking Details: Bookings close at 4pm (GMT+7) on the day before the date of your tour, or 24 hours in advance if booking online. When booking online, a 30% non-refundable deposit is required to secure your booking. The balance should be paid at our Chiang Mai office by 5pm on the day before your visit to Elephant Delight or by cash to the tour guide when they collect you from your hotel.
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Thank you for Supporting the Elephants at Elephant Delight
The Covid-19 pandemic caused severe challenges around the world and placed extreme limitations on travel. As a result, Elephant Delight was closed from March 2020 and only reopened in early 2022. Thank you to Save Elephant Foundation and Trunks Up for supporting the elephants at Elephant Delight during the Covid crisis.
Life During Covid at Elephant Delight
Located in the verdant hills of Northern Thailand, Elephant Delight is home to a small group of elephants who live in a beautiful natural setting. The elephants who used to do logging and elephant riding are now enjoying a more natural existence where they can interact as a herd. The Covid-19 pandemic has meant a sudden suspension of tourism and there were no visitors to Elephant Delight since March 2020 until the project reopen recently. The elephants spent their days foraging on the hillside and in the forest eating natural vegetation and also liked to take mud baths and walk downhill to the river to cool off, play, and drink. The elephants also received some fruit and vegetables including bananas and sugarcane, but with no guests it is difficult to provide for the elephants sufficiently. We are doing the best that we can to care for the elephants and would appreciate your support during these challenging times.
Project Background
The owner of Elephant Delight, Pui is the second generation in her family to work with and care for elephants. In the past, her father used to run an elephant trekking camp, and before joining our Saddle Off program, they operated an elephant camp that offered elephant riding. As time passed, they became concerned that the elephants were tired, stressed, and not getting enough time to eat, which was affecting their health. Since opening Elephant Delight, the elephants have become more relaxed and have gained weight. They is happy to see the elephants socialize as a herd and have the chance to walk in the forest and forage. This project is a family run affair and together they work to make sure visitors have an enjoyable day, while providing a better life for the elephants. They grow and cut grass from nearby fields to feed the elephants as well as buy fruit and vegetables from the local market. During the low season, on days with no visitors, the elephants wander the hillside, grazing on native plants.