2022 Westgate Thailand Elephant Conservation Expedition

Days 3-4

Written by Yusra Alsaleh

We arrived in Chong Sadao, Kanchanaburi and settled into our homestay cabins. The ride was a tad long but beautiful as we drove further away from the city and luscious greenery and rolling mountain hilltops welcomed us. After dropping our stuff off we met with Our Land, an organisation that works to protect and reestablish wildlife corridors in Thailand. We engaged in an informative session where we learnt about current efforts and challenges they face in Thailand when it comes to elephant conservation- particularly the protection of one of the last remaining wildlife corridors at the Southern tip of the Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailands oldest wildlife sanctuary and protecting the path to an access point on the River Kwae often frequented by wild elephants and other wildlife.

After our session we geared up in swimming attire, fancy diaper-like lifevests and floated down the River Kwae! It was fantastic, fun, exhilarating and calming at the same time.  The river route landed us right on the banks not too far from Our Lands eco self-sustainable village (which required a little hike to get to) and onto Our Land’s land. A few minutes into our hike we had to stop and rush back to available trucks as we were informed wild elephants were nearby and we had to avoid them. At the eco village we had a snake presentation, where we learnt about the different snakes in Thailand, how to react to bites and other fun facts about them (they rescue ~4,000 snakes from Bangkok every month!). After that we ate a delicious lunch and gathered around the fire pit. We began a group discussion about expectations when the unexpected happen- a wild elephant was heard by the jackfruit tree infront of the eco villages building! Although it was a common place for them to visit, it’s never announced and typically occurs late into the night. We spent the rest of the evening sitting quietly observing them whenever they came into view.

The next day was the first day of service and we rode out to the site. There we learnt a little about the environment, meditated, appreciated the jungle around us then got to work building a rock dam for an elephant water hole. Because of the presence of civilisation between where the elephants live (Salakphra Wildlife Sanctuary) and the reserve and River Kwae, a challenge faced is creating that corridor between. One of the ways Our Land helps mitigate this is by creating alternative water sources for them. By building a dam of rocks we would help filter the water and create a pool for them to have access to. The project was a lot of fun and very satisfying to work on. We took a break partway for some lunch and had some amazing coconut ice cream afterwards.

After our service project we made our way back to our homestay community for some rest and relaxation (while some students planned otherwise and went swimming) before visiting a wall that was built to keep elephants away (and then taken down by them too) and a very large dam. We ended the night with a make-your-own fried rice dinner, where we learnt how to make Thai styled fried rice on a wok. The meal was accompanied with fried chicken and fries (all super yummy!). We winded down the night with a discussion about goals, highlights and successes, challenges we’ve been facing, and activities we’re looking forward to in the days to come. Then we were off to bed to get ready for another day of service!