DRIFTING DOWN THE MEKONG
As morning activities go, starting the day in the company of elephants is a pretty good one. Indeed, it’s almost de rigueur in this sylvan corner of northern Thailand, where the Anantara Golden Triangle resort doubles as a sanctuary for more than 20 rescued pachyderms and their mahouts, or handlers, who live together with their families at the on-site elephant camp. Guests are welcome to interact with these gentle giants, learn about elephant biology and the camp’s conservation efforts from the resident veterinarian, or, as I do, join some of the animals on their morning walk down to the mist-wreathed Ruak River.
It’s a languid experience: my two-ton companions—three females aged 19 to 30—are in no hurry to reach the water, preferring instead to forage for young leaves and shoots along the track. “They can consume as much as 300 pounds of food a day,” says Fiene Steinbrecher, a young German animal behaviorist who works as the camp’s science officer. “Which is to say, they’re always eating.” We plod along together for about an hour, the mahouts coaxing their charges along on foot with stalks of sugarcane while I stroke the
