Wild Elephants in Hua Hin, Thailand
We were headed to Hua Hin on a quick two-night stop to see the wild elephants at Kui Buri National Park. Now there was no guarantee we would see them even though it was a guided tour, but as with our previous activity decisions, we made the decision with the knowledge that we are here now and when else are we going to see Asian Elephants in the wild. So, we embarked to Hua Hin from Bangkok with high hopes! Before the elephants we were able to explore a bit of Hua Hin by checking the beach and markets. We took our first dip in the Gulf of Thailand. The beach looks pretty similar to St. Petersburg, Florida, where we went to college. The sand is the same white/tan color with the same soft texture, and the ocean is the same greenish blue with not very good visibility! Although one difference we did notice is the lack of people our age and the LARGE number of old men in SMALL speedos. To end our night before the hopefully epic elephant safari day, we stopped at the local market for mango sticky rice with coconut cream and fried dough balls sprinkled with sesame seeds, as a snack while we watched the new BBC nature documentary “The Americas.”
On the day of the safari luckily, we did not have to wake up early as it is better to spot the elephants in the afternoon versus the morning, which is often when most other animals are more active as later in the day the sun gets too hot. We had arranged a guide to pick us up from the hotel and drive us an hour west to Kui Buri National Park around 1:30pm. We were heading to the mountains and observed many pineapple, palm oil, and gum tree (for rubber) farms sprinkled amongst the hills. Interesting fact: Thailand is the 4th largest exporters of pineapple in the world. We arrived at the national park set in the mountainous jungles and hopped onto a makeshift safari vehicle, really it was a pickup truck with railings and benches attached to the truck bed. Nonetheless, we felt like we were on an African safari with the hot afternoon sun beating down on us, the smell of dry, roasting leaves and grasses filling the air, and us holding onto the railing as we jangled down the dirt road. Our guide instructed us to look into the bush for any signs of an elephant. The search was on! About 15 minutes into our drive, Bill spotted a large male elephant crossing the road! We drive to the area we spotted it near and saw an established elephant trail crossing through the forest and we see the male a bit of a ways down the trail, trudging along without even noticing us. Bill pulls out his camera and snaps some pics but since the elephant was walking away from us, most of them of his behind. Next our guide got a message on the walkie talkie that there was another smaller male elephant near a watering hole, so we sped over to the spot and just got there in time to see him walk towards us, flapping his ears as he stomped along the road. Billy was able to capture a few brief photos before the elephant headed on his way.
Shortly after we spotted a herd gaurs, which are a large bovine, weighing between 650-1,000 kg, are light to dark brown with white fur from knees and down and massive horns on both female and males. The herd we saw was around 20 gaurs heading to the watering hole and few babies hopping and skipping around. It was fascinating to watch the behavior of these animals that are equally as rare to see as wild Asian elephants. At the turn around point we were able to see a spectacular herd of 11 elephants including some juveniles and an itsy bitsy teeny tiny first year baby sandwiched between two giant adults. It was the highlight of the safari trip for me! Although this was the turnaround point for our safari, we decided to stay until the park closed and in doing so, we spotted some deer and the Great Hornbill which we have been dying to see. Before we headed back to the entrance of the park to end our safari, we were lucky enough to hear the herd of elephants we saw earlier trumpet from afar, a noise that was truly fascinating and legendary. We took this as a sign to head back, although we did not see any more elephants, we were able to see more gaurs. But there was no complaining from our side as we fortunate to see not only one wild elephant but 13 in total! Although our stay was short in Hua Hin, I would say it was well worth the stop as not only was it amazing to see these beautiful creatures in the wild, but the city of Hua Hin was quite fun, too. Onto to our next and last stop of Thailand, Krabi!
Gaur of central Thailand.
