Best month of my life!

The month I spent in Huay Pakoot was by far the best in my life. This program is a truly amazing experience for anyone who like animals or likes experiencing other cultures.

On arrival in Huay Pakoot, a tiny, beautiful village nestled deep in the mountains of Northern Thailand, each volunteer is assigned an elephant with whom they will be working closely with for the time they are there. Each day, volunteers go on hikes with the elephants. Three times a week, these hikes involve collecting data on how the elephants are eating and socialising (to determine whether or not they were adapting to their new life), and the other two days a week hikes finish with a general health check on the elephants. It is during this time that you get to go up close and personal with your elephant, and learn about her personality, behaviour and needs. It was really humbling to be so close to such a magnificent animal, and getting to know your elephant is really cool. I really enjoyed the health checks for this reason.

Watching the elephants foraging in the forest and behaving like elephants should naturally was a really good experience too. Knowing that these elephants have had a tough past (having worked in tourist camps and logging) and then seeing them happy and healthy in their native environment was heartwarming. It was when you could see that this program was making a difference to their lives.

Staff were very safety conscious when we were around the elephants which was comforting, though at times I almost felt like this was taken a little too far and it occasionally limited our hikes or time with the elephants. I also always felt very safe in the village at all times.

Other day-to-day activities included English teaching, running events at the school, participating in anything that was happening in the village, going grass-cutting, Friday night parties, optional weekend trips and much more. I really liked the variety that this program offered - you could participate in as much or as little as you liked. For example, I really enjoyed teaching English to the children and the mahouts, however I know some other volunteers weren't as into this, so it was totally up to them whether they got involved.

The villagers were such beautiful people. It was great getting to know them, especially the mahouts and my homestay family. Each volunteer stays with a homestay family, and I got really close with mine. Saying goodbye to my homestay family was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. The village is a Karen hill tribe village and thus the language (called 'Pakinyoh') is completely separate from Thai, so we were encouraged to try to learn some basic Pakinyoh and try it out on the villagers. They always loved hearing us try to speak it!

Life in the village is very laid-back, we had a lot of free time to sit back and relax if we so chose. Though living conditions were basic (matresses on the floor, squat toilets and cold bucket showers), I felt it was all part of the experience and it didn't make me enjoy my time there any less. Also, the food was absolutely amazing. Every lunch and dinner was prepared by your homestay family, and was always delicious. They also easily cater for vegetarians.

Value for money was very good in that it includes all food and accommodation, so you really don't need much money at all while you are on the project.
GVI were extremely helpful during the application process. They contacted you directly via phone shortly after booking to satisfy any queries and fill you in on project details, and were very thorough with sending checklists of what you needed to prepare for a bring.

The only negative point I really have is that the program is so good that it makes it impossible to leave without crying your eyes out! I still miss the village and the elephants every single day. I would definitely recommend this program to all of my friends, and hope I can go back myself some day!