Jerry’s mom, Camille, and her friend, Chris, joined us for the part of our time in Chiang Mai, Thailand. One of our most memorable adventures with them was visiting Phoenix Elephant Sanctuary and Tiger Kingdom. What a fun day!!

Elephants – We spent the morning feeding, walking with, bathing, and “swimming” with the pachyderms. You will probably notice that Jerry is not in any of these photos.  He served as our official photographer and avoided getting muddy and wet.

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We cut stalks of sugar cane into bite-size pieces. No preparation or peeling needed for the little bananas. 

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Time for brunch!

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Some of the elephants threw dirt onto their heads and backs while we walked briefly with them in the jungle.

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Elephants love to wallow in mud, which helps to regulate body temperature, provides protection from the sun, and reduces irritation from insect bites. We didn’t get as muddy as the elephants, but we were thankful that the sanctuary provided clothes for us.

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Next, it was time for a rinse. When we weren’t paying close enough attention, a few of the thirsty elephants grabbed the end of the hose from us.

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We didn’t actually swim with the elephants, but lots of splashing and spraying was involved.

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Tiger Kingdom – This was our second visit to Chiang Mai. Seven years ago we took our children to see and pet the tigers at Tiger Kingdom.  We liked it so much the first time that we went there again on this Thailand trip. 

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5-month-old white tiger cubs

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11-month-old tigers

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4 and 5-year-old adult tigers

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As you can see from the video below, we were a bit oblivious to all the excitement behind us.

Giant white tiger

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During our afternoon visit to Tiger Kingdom we learned a little more about these beautiful felines. The tiger is the only species of cat that can jump higher than a kangaroo. Most tigers have yellow eyes, but white tigers usually have blue eyes.

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