We arrived early in the morning in the bay outside of Ko Samui and tendered into the port of Na Thon. When you walk down the dock to the meeting place, you are swarmed by taxi drivers and locals offering tours of the island. We had a reservation for an elephant rescue center and found our guide Bea holding a sign with our name on it. We joined another couple from Marietta, GA and rode in the back of a covered truck to the center.
At the center, we began our tour seeing the elephants they had rescued. The female elephants ranged in age from 20 to over 80 years old. The oldest had been at the rescue center for quite a number of years and could “nap” while visitors came to feed. We fed six of the elephants which was an invisible experience. They are truly gentle giants who enjoy interaction with people at feeding time. They would gently take the watermelon from us with their trunk and allow us to stroke them.
The last two elephants we saw were younger and had been fed by several other groups and came to the pool to bathe and cool down. They really enjoyed playing in the water.
After the visit we returned to Na Thon port with Bea. She took us to the other side of the island on our way back allowing us to see the entire island. Sharon got a 30 minute foot massage before boarding our tender for the 30 minute ride back to the Coral Princess.
