This post is by Anna
I’ve been working on a project I call The elephant project. For this project, my task was to plan an outing for my family to an elephant sanctuary. For my project, I do have some guidelines: It can’t be too expensive (under $400 for all of us), if we ride the elephants, we don’t want to ride them with a saddle, and we only want to support programs in which the elephants are treated well. I looked through pamphlets that our hostels provided and chose my 3 favorites.
My three top choices.
Then I went to several tour offices (where you go to book tours) and asked them what questions about the different elephant tours. For example, I asked “what is the best elephant tour and why?” I was really set on the Elephant Family, but all the people who worked at the tour booths said it was a bad company. I researched my two favorite elephant tours by reading the reviews online. In the end, I selected the Chang Siam Mahout Elephant Training Course because they let you ride the elephants, they have a very flexible schedule, it’s not too expensive, you get to trek and swim, and they take you to visit a Red Karen village (a tribe that puts rings on their necks to make them longer). By the way, mahout is the Thai word for elephant trainer.
When I went to go book our tour, the price the man in the tour office gave me was too expensive. I managed to negotiate the price down for my dad and mom to pay. They pick us up on Monday morning! Can’t wait! 🙂
Our two-day itinerary
Anna,
You are quite the savvy traveler! Researching and negotiating your event, wow! I know elephants are one of your favorite animals, I hope you learn and enjoy the tour. We sure miss you guys. Roxy says “hi”.
Safe travels,
Elizabeth
Sounds like fun! I can’t wait to hear about the elephant rides! Your uncle Scott would be so proud of your negotiation skills!
I have been reading several books on food lately. Did you know that in 1994, Japanese scientists discovered that every chicken in the world could trace its origins back 8,000 years to a wild bird in Thailand called the red jungle fowl. Supposedly, deep in the forests of Thailand, Pakistan and India, red jungle fowls still live in their original habitat! They are colorful; the feathers of the male are green, red and gold.
Let me know if you see any–how cool would it be to see the ancestors of the chickens you used to raise!
Impressive! Have a great time and I can’t wait to see the photos.
Wendy
Hi Anna,
What a wonderful, exciting trip you have planned. I can’t wait to hear all about it.
Love to you all….
I am so excited for you, Anna!! I know you will love this! I can’t wait to see the pictures. This is the best project ever! Say hi to Gage and tell him I’m so happy he’s writing in his journal!
How wonderful!
I love reading about all these adventures!
Post more pics of you and elephants!
Great post, Anna! I like how you focused on getting your information from various sources-pamphlets, reviews and interviews. Excellent methodology.
Looking forward to the followup post about how the trip went!!
P.S.-Leonardo wants to see a picture of you on an elephant 🙂
That’s awesome that you guys get to do all that! I remember learning about that tribe one year at a science fair at BW- the styrofoam head model with the rings is what caught my attention. And it was fantastic that you were able to negotiate the price down. That’s a valuable skill that’ll certainly help you in life. I can’t wait to read more about your travels!