We never went to Sea World while we were living in San Diego despite being a few miles away and hearing their fireworks show every night during the summer. I wanted to take the kids but with all the controversy about killer whales in captivity, I decided to stay away.
However, I had always wanted to take the kids since I remember going as a kid and remember what a big impression it made on me and how it gave me a love of the ocean as a young kid.
The kids and I watched “Black Fish” together and talked about whether it was right or wrong to keep animals in captivity and decided not to go. So we were delighted to hear that Sea World was going to phase out keeping their orcas in captivity and decided that now we felt right about visiting the park.
We started off by visiting the orca and dolphin show that was happening right after we entered the park. The orcas are such magnificent creatures and I was taken by their power and size.
Then we went to watch the orcas swim. This was a really cool experience as some of them came right up to the glass over and over. The kids seemed to love seeing them up close.
From there, we went to a Sea Lion and Otter show. We LOVE otters in our house so there was no way we were going to miss seeing one. He was adorable and the sea lions were great too.
Then we wandered around the park and rode some rides. We also found a spot where the kids could feed and pet sting rays which they loved.
Then we wandered over to the penguins because Mara loves penguins!
From there, we wandered to the arctic exhibit to see the polar bears and beluga whales. Mara fell in love with the beluga whales! We spent a long time at tank level watching them swim.
We also met a walrus that kept swimming up to the glass and flipping right in front of the kids.
All in all it was a great day at the park and I was glad that the kids could fall in love with the ocean animals.
Within the medina (old city) in Marrakech, Jamaa el Fna Square (hereafter, “the square”) is at the heart of the action. This is what you picture when you think of Marrakech and is what you see in movies and TV shows.
It’s a huge open area, ringed by restaurants and shops. During the day, it’s populated by snake charmers, henna ladies, monkey wranglers, and orange juice salesmen. We didn’t take any pictures of the monkeys because it was really appalling how they were chained by the neck and dragged around.
We’d heard a lot about how aggressive the entertainers were and it was fairly true, but not a big deal if you’re prepared. When you take your pictures with the snake people or others, whatever you offer, they’ll try to get 5 to 10x as much. You just say no and ask if they want what you’re offering or nothing. Then they’ll just back off, take it, and move on.
To some extent, they can sense who’s uncomfortable and will probably pressure you more if you are. At the end of the day, you have the power because you have the money. It’s not like you have any contract to give them a certain amount. I gave the snake guys about 20 dirham ($2.50), but it’s not like there’s a posted price. Just seemed reasonable to me.
In the late afternoon, the cobras and monkeys clear out, restaurant stalls set up, and the crowds build. We visited the square several times during our 2 days in Marrakech and have stitched together a photo tour to give you an idea of what’s going on.
Here’s the snake charmers. There were about 3 little setups like this in the square. The guy standing up makes the noise you associate with snake charmers, but it’s really just to draw a crowd. It has nothing to do with “charming” the cobra.
Step right up and see the cobra!Beckett was fascinated by the cobras, but didn’t want to get too close. They’ll let you sit really close if you want to.UNLEASH THE FURY!
And who doesn’t want to wear a fez?
Here’s a glimpse of more of the daytime action at the square:
Lots of stands selling fresh squeezed OJ
Around 4ish, a huge cluster of pop-up restaurants start to assemble in the middle of the square.
They assemble and take down these stalls every day.
Night falls, the crowds pick up, and the restaurants are in full swing.
As you walk through the restaurant stalls, each place has one or two wranglers that shove a menu in your face and try to get you to eat there. Mostly you just walk by them, but it’s annoying when you actually want to read the posted menus and they won’t leave you alone for 2 seconds.
We stopped and got kebabs, tagine, bread, couscous, and fritters for about $17 total.
We also had a separate stop for some mint tea and dessert.
A few more random pictures of the action:
Finally, here are a couple videos where I pan around the square.
We were excited to visit the when we arrived in Chiang Mai. In fact, it was one of the first attractions we went to after we got settled in. And it was probably our most visited attraction for the entire time we’ve been here for a few simple reasons: feeding the animals is fun, its cheap if you go before 4pm, and there is a great play area for the kids! Oh and there are lots of animals to see as well.
There are really 3 types of experiences you can have there.
Outside the park entrance you can feed giraffes and sun conures, see a few big tigers, and even get a picture taken with a baby tiger. You do pay for the food and the picture, but there’s no admission to see it.
Enter the park and just do the “walking tour” only. You see a good amount of animals, and the cost is modest. $5 for the for of us before 4 pm, or $10 after 4. There’s also a kids play area (both indoor and outdoor) that costs a little bit more, but is a great way to let the kids run around while we chill.
Do the real night safari, which is a tram trip through an additional section of zoo you can’t get to on foot. The “night safari” is the big draw, but we’ve done similar tours in the past, and at the prices they charge, it wasn’t much of a temptation.
When we first entered the grounds, we saw deer wandering around and had to be careful not to hit them.
After you park, you’ll see giraffes and zebras in a huge enclosure and if its after 3pm, I think, there are people selling baskets of various plants to feed to the giraffes. We’ve had a great time feeding the giraffes. The best time was when I was bending over to feed the little giraffe and got knocked (hard!) upside the head which caused me to stumble. I thought the big giraffe had just bumped into me but came to find out from Chuck and other spectators that the giraffe mistook my head for food and proceeded to try to eat my head before spitting me out. To add insult to injury, he started stealing food out of my basket as I recovered and tried to figure out what exactly had happened. (In all seriousness, I wasn’t hurt and now it makes for a great story)
There are also deer you can feed and bunnies to watch. Once done there, you start walking past the tiger cages. Man these are some big boys. There is also a little place where you can feed a baby tiger and get your picture taken for $5USD.
He doesn’t seem happy to have his picture taken
Behind the tiger cages is a bird enclosure where you can feed the sun conures. This is so much fun as they’ll land on your hand and gently peck food off your palm. Beck has been skittish about letting them land on him but once he was brave and let some eat off his hand. Mara has been pretty fearless and lets them land all over her.
There is a bird on your head
Why do animals keep trying to eat my hair?!?
After we’re done with that part, we usually wander to the entrance and actually enter the park. (yes, you can enjoy the stuff outside for free). From here, you can wander around to see the animals, attend a show if one is going on or head to the play area. For 40Baht ($1.30), the kids get an hour at this great indoor/outdoor play area. This was so nice to have during the rainy season and also made a great place to meet up with friends which allowed the kids to play while the adults could talk.
At night, there is definitely more to do. There are show performances, once they brought out animals for us to hold, and one evening there were horseback rides.
Albino porcupine
Yep, that’s pretty much my reaction to a python tooSome of the performers with Mara
A few times we’ve eaten dinner at the Giraffe restaurant there (not the buffet restaurant downstairs, but the restaurant around the corner upstairs past where you feed the giraffes). The restaurant overlooks the giraffe enclosure and tiger enclosures and the food is pretty decent and reasonably priced.
Overall, it’s definitely worth a daytime visit. I’d recommend hanging out until about 6 or 7 pm to see all the animals and activities they bring out as the rush of tourists comes in for the safari.
Sadly we had to deal with Mara’s first love and first heartbreak all in a single day. Her name is MaeKwan and she’s an Asian Elephant that Mara got to take care of for the day. Leaving her at the end of the day was such heartbreak for Mara and she refused to leave and couldn’t stop hugging her.
And that pretty much sums up the day.
Once again, I lack the adjectives to fully describe our day at the Patara Elephant Farm. Amazing. Educational. Incredible. And dare I say that this day will have a lasting impact on my kids.
They picked us up at our house, then drove about 20 minutes to part of their farm/reserve. There we were able to meet, feed, interact with and even get run over by some mamma and baby elephants.
This little guy was so playful and rammed into me a few times. Stepped on my toe too but it didn’t hurt.
We even got to interact with a baby elephant that was only 6 days old. So. Freaking. Cute!
After meeting these guys, we drove about 5 minutes to the main event. We started with a presentation by the owner about elephants, conservation, their mission at Patara, and some of the realities of the elephant population. He gave a great talk that was neither preachy or dramatic but set a great tone for the day and made what we were about to experience even more meaningful. It also made me regret going to the Maesa Elephant Camp which I’d already had mixed feelings about.
After getting our mahout clothes we went to our camp area and got to meet our elephants. (Mahouts are the elephant caretakers. At Patara, these guys are from the Karen hilltribe and the women of the community make these shirts and riding pants.)
First up was learning how to tell what mood they were in, how to approach them and how to make friends with them (Hint: have lots of sugarcane). We then fed them and learned their names and some Thai words to communicate with them.
Meeting and feeding MaeKwan. You can stick the sugar cane way back into the elephant’s mouth.Meeting and feeding MaeBonChon
Then we learned how to check their health. We learned to inspect dirt marks on each side of them (to make sure they’re sleeping evenly on both sides), checking their toenails for sweat (they only sweat thru their toenails), check the tear marks under their eyes and of course, the ins and outs of checking their poop. How many poops? Color? Size of fibers inside the poop? Smell? Squeezing it to make sure it holds moisture. Yeah, seriously. But it is an important part of taking care of them and really can tell you (well, them) a lot.
Hmmm, elephant poo
After we checked to make sure they were healthy, it was time to clean them off. This entailed whacking them with bunches of leaves to remove the dirt they blow over themselves. Then we walked them to the shower hose and hosed them down.
Brushing dirt off MaeKwan (she gets to eat the leaves when we’re done)Taking MaeKwan for a walkBeckett hosing MaeBonChon down
Next up was learning how to mount our elephants and ride them bareback, mahout-style. Chuck got on using the trunk to hoist himself up and I mounted mine by using its right front leg. Somehow it seems a long way down when you’re sitting up there. And with only a little rope to hold onto behind you, it was actually kind of scary at first.
We rode them for 45 minutes out of camp, up a muddy, steep hill and down the other side. Eventually we rode them along the road (what a treat for the drivers driving by) then down another muddy hill to the waterfall. I have to say, riding an elephant is EXHAUSTING! You’re trying to hold your legs up over its ears while balancing as its climbing up and down (and ripping various plants out of the ground to eat while its walking) all while holding onto a rope behind your body.
It was made tougher because I had Beckett in front sitting on the elephant’s head and he was holding onto my legs and nothing else. If the elephant dipped her head and he wasn’t holding onto me well, he would’ve slid down her trunk like a giant slide. So I’m holding on for dear life to him in front and the rope behind so we both didn’t fall off. After a while my legs started to tremble so I had to shift position which made it easier to maintain my balance.
Despite all this, at one point the elephant dipped to the side and turned its head which caused me to start to fall off sideways. A quick yell for help and the mahout came to my rescue and hoisted me back on top.
Once we were almost to the waterfall, Beck got off and walked because he was too tired of holding onto me. It was MUCH easier to ride after he got off, however, everyone seemed so worn out when we arrived at the camp!
Despite all that, it was such a cool experience. The scenery we went thru was gorgeous and the elephants can handle hills and mud much better than I can.
Chuck mounting MaeKwan via the trunk
I’m on an elephant!
Hello down there…So beautiful
Luckily when we arrived at the waterfall it was time for lunch. I gorged myself on fried chicken, coconut and other yummy things.
After lunch, we changed into our bathing suits and bathed the elephants in the water. The elephants seemed to love being in the water and were lounging around as we scrubbed them down.
Scrub a dub dub, 8 elephants in a tub
Then it was time for some group photos where we got sprayed by the elephants. I must say that I loved this part!
One of the highlights of the day for me
Sadly, our day with the elephants came to a close and after a brief final ride, it was time to say goodbye. As a parent, this part was heartbreaking to watch. Mara refused to take off her mahout clothes, kept hugging MaeKwan and kept saying she wouldn’t leave. Beckett then gave MaeBonChon a goodbye pat and burst into tears. Both kids had to be led away and Chuck had to carry Beckett and put him in the car. He proceeded to sob the entire ride home.
Goodbye my friend
To say that this experience had a big impact on them is an understatement. We didn’t just see elephants like you do in a zoo or feed them in passing. We got to know them a bit, earned their trust and spent a day helping these gentle creatures.
Mara said her favorite animal is now an elephant and I hope that she carries a little piece of this experience and her love of animals for the rest of her life.
Logistics: Patara Elephant Farm has earned its ranking as the #1 activity in Chiang Mai on TripAdvisor. The work they’re doing is awesome and if you’re ever looking to support an animal charity, please support them. Its a very pricey day out but money well spent.
The normal price for this program is 5,800 Baht per person ($190). However I read a blog post elsewhere about a a cheaper option (4,200 Baht pp) where 2 people share 1 elephant instead of everyone getting their own. I doubt adults can do this (each adult needs their own) but if you have young kids, this is the way to go. I’m kind of glad each kid didn’t have their own elephant as I think they got more out of it by sharing one with mom or dad.
I’m also so happy our kids were old enough to enjoy this activity (Beck is 7 and Mara is nearly 9). I actually wouldn’t take kids much younger than this although I know some do and have a great day.
Some advice:
– I’d recommend wearing light long pants. They do give you mahout clothes to put over your clothes but I wore capris and their pants were short on me (darn long legs 🙂 ) and I got chafed while riding the elephant. If you’re petite, you should be fine, but if not, longer pants are probably better. Chuck wore shorts and was fine though so long pants aren’t necessary.
– They take photos and videos all day (our CD had 981 photos from our whole group) so you really don’t need to bring your own. They give it to you for free at the end of the day.
– Take or wear a bathing suit and bring a towel. They move your bags for you while you’re riding the elephant and there are changing rooms at the waterfall so you can change there. After bathing them, you have the chance to towel off and change back into regular clothes. I had strap-on water shoes which were nice to have in the water (there are some rocks in there) but Chuck and the kids went in barefoot and were fine (flip flops in there isn’t a good idea).
– They provide water throughout, there is access to a bathroom except during the ride and you’re provided with a big lunch so no need to bring much unless you have allergies or need snacks frequently.
– Sunscreen and bug repellent is a good idea as well.
On our last border run to Myanmar, we stopped at the Monkey & Fish cave. I wanted to visit on our last trip, but wasn’t able to find any good directions. However, this time Chuck found the way and we thought it’d be a fun 15 minute diversion on our way back to Chiang Mai.
We ended up spending a good 1 1/2 hours there and it became a highlight of our Thailand trip.
When we first arrived and walked back to where the monkeys appeared to be, we saw at least a hundred monkeys descending the cliffs then jumping on the roof of a building before scaling down to the ground we were standing on. Big ole daddy monkeys, teeny tiny baby monkeys that were more careful and would tentatively hang on to a ledge then finally let go only to tumble down a little and grab onto something else, to all sizes of monkeys in between.
And yes, there are fish here as well, but the monkeys steal the show!
Can you see them on the cliffs? There are at least 20 in this picture!
It was amazing to see these wild monkeys in their habitat and just, well, being monkeys.
We saw baby monkeys wrestling with each other, one baby monkey was running and jumped over their mother only to have the mom snatch the baby out of the air and then pull it to her chest, and baby monkeys clutching to their parent’s bodies.
We also saw monkeys cleaning each others’ fur, monkeys fighting with each other, monkeys climbing on things, and even a monkey swimming.
We also got to witness and dog & monkey fight!
You could buy peanuts to feed the monkeys but there were signs up warning not to let kids have the food. They also give you a big stick so you can keep the monkeys from getting too aggressive. And yes, they can get aggressive when it comes to food. Some would take it out of our hands and others were really good catchers and you could throw the peanut and they’d catch it like it was a fly ball.
After we’d had enough of the monkeys we wandered the grounds a bit. There are some other animals there like crocodiles, fish, a peacock and more. And there is a Wat and a very old looking … chedi, I think is the term. There was also a cave you could go into. The setting was beautiful as well with the lush green trees and cliffs.
All in all, it was an awesome diversion.
The logistics:
Official Name: Tham Phum Tham Pla, but best to look for Wat Tham Pla, or use the coordinates 20.330764,99.863935 in Google Maps.
Location: The Monkey & Fish Cave is located 12km into Thailand from the Mae Sae border crossing with Talichek, Myanmar. From Highway 1, turn at this sign for Wat Tham Pla on the West side of the road and drive straight for approx 2 km until it dead-ends at the Wat.
Park outside and walk in. Head to the left for the monkeys. Enjoy!
When we arrived in Chiang Mai, we saw fish spas around town. Upon telling the kids what it was about, they both wanted to do it and harassed us repeatedly till we did one. I found one shop near the Tha Phae Gate on the eastern wall of the Old City that let you do 15 minutes for 39 Baht ($1.30).
Beckett and Mara put their feet in first and cracked up everyone in the shop with their giggles and squirming.
I was next and OMG it tickles!!!! After a minute or two though, you get used to it and it just feels like little tiny nips at your feet. For some reason almost all of the fish in the tank were drawn to my left foot (for some unknown reason?!?!) and the kids moved tanks because I was hoarding all the fish!
Even Chuck gave it a whirl and laughed at the beginning.
The fish munching away:
The verdict, my feet were very slightly pink and smooth afterwards. A week or so later, however, I noticed that I had thick yellow calluses on my left foot and the skin was peeling off all over. After a good loofah session though, my feet looked so smooth and nice. So yes, I’d do it again.
I still have no idea why the fish went nuts for my one foot though…
Logistics:
There are 2 fish spas with super cheap prices near the Tha Phae gate on the eastern side of the old city. If you’re at the Tha Phae Gate Park area, walk south beside the street outside the moat and you’ll see one on the left-hand side and one on the right-hand side of the street. We went to the one on the right hand side of the street.
You can find other fish spas throughout the city but I found that they charge 150Baht or more for 30 minutes.
One of the things I wanted to take the kids to was a silk factory. Funny enough, the materials I’m using to homeschool actually talked about silk in Asia and how silk is made. So I was able to tie a trip to Thai Silk Village into an educational opportunity as well.
The actual factory consists of a room where they explain the whole process. We got to see silkworms in every stage – silk moths with their eggs, new worms eating mulberry leaves, worms making cocoons, worms in their cocoons and the empty cocoons after the butterflies had flown away.
Silkworms from the egg thru cocoon stagesSilkworms eating mulberry leaves and growingSilkwormsSilkworms making their cocoonsBeckett holding cocoons
They first soak the cocoons in boiling water then stretch the cocoon fibers out. Then they dye the silk threads. The threads are then woven into cloth and then made into garments.
Boiling the cocoons and turning them into threadWeaving the dyed threads into clothMaking cloth
After viewing each step in the process, we browsed the gift shop that had many beautiful silk garments.
For the record, Kir wasn’t scared – she just had to make a freaked out face!
One fun little diversion for us was a visit to the Siam Insect Zoo. It’s about 30 minutes out of town, near Mae Rim, Tiger Kingdom and a bunch of other attractions.
There’s a decent butterfly garden, a section where you see lots of insect specimens pinned, mounted, and labeled, plus the real fun part, a guided tour and interaction with some cool live bugs! The kids were kinda spooked, but warmed up to holding most of the insects.
There were a pretty fair number of live critters, including funky caterpillars, spiders, scorpions, walking sticks, mantises, and beetles. You could hold just about everything although we decided not to hold the live scorpions even though the lady assured us “it only stings a little bit”.
Another neat part was seeing all the different types of caterpillars and seeing their various cocoons. Some cocoons lo0k like real gold and are beautiful!
Quite the fuzzy little caterpillar
Who’s hungry?!The offered to let us hold the scorpions, but we all passed!
It’s a bit overpriced for Chiang Mai, but the kids got a unique experience to hold some exotic bugs. Adults are 200 Baht, kids are 150 Baht, so that was about $23 US for the 4 of us. Expect to spend about 90 minutes there.
One of the must-do things on our list was to visit Tiger Kingdom. When else do you get a chance to get up close to ginormous tigers?!?
I know what you’re thinking and I thought it too. “They must drug the tigers.” Upon researching articles and lots of comments about them, I came to the conclusion that they don’t or at least it doesn’t appear that they do. They say that the tigers are nocturnal, and that’s mostly why they’re mellow.
Despite feeling bad about exploiting animals, I was happy to see that the animals appeared healthy and alert. And there were no chains or guns or ‘weapons’ used either.
So despite a few reservations, we decided to go there on my birthday. It was such a treat!
Mara, Beckett and I were able to spend about 15 minutes in a cage with baby tigers. OMG they are so cute and playful and I just wanted to stay and play and cuddle with them!
After that, Chuck and I went in the cage with the adult tigers. The kids weren’t allowed in – too ‘bite sized’.
Holy smokes these are BIG tigers! These guys could take me down in seconds. It was awe-inspiring to be this close to wild creatures that could kill you so easily if they’d wanted to. To see how big they were up close. To feel how heavy and strong they are.
It’s a little hard to reconcile our feelings about the visit. The tigers are clearly not in their natural habitat. But it looks like they are well-cared for and there’s a breeding program going on. It’s also such a big tourist attraction that it feels more like a factory than something like our visit to Pattara Elephant Farm. We definitely felt bad for the tigers having a parade of people snuggle and move the tigers around while they’re trying to sleep. I know I wouldn’t want 100 people handling me and taking pictures while I was sleeping.
After the visit, we talked to the kids about the feelings we had. Excitement, guilt, and wondering about the overall good/bad of it.
It was definitely a huge thrill to go, even with the reservations I hold. I can’t say I feel great about it, but it was an amazing experience to get so close to these magnificent cats.
While we were vacationing on Koh Samui, I was able to go scuba diving twice while Chuck watched the kids. The first time I went to Chumphon Pinnacle and Twin Rocks off the coast of Koh Tao with CSI: Samui. I was REALLY hoping to see a whale shark on either dive, however, it was not to be.
The water was murkier than I was used to from Hawaii but I was blown away by the large schools of fish and the sheer number of other fish. And it was interesting to see the same type of fish we had in Hawaii with different markings or different shadings – like the parrotfish weren’t nearly as vibrant and multi-colored as the ones from Hawaii, and the triggerfish were bigger and more muted as well (and supposedly much meaner).
After snorkeling and diving in Hawaii so much, it was so cool to see different creatures and different corals as well.
One of the highlights, that unfortunately we didn’t get on film, was seeing a Blue Spotted Eagle Ray. And in a first, the cleaner wrasse apparently thought I needed cleaning and started biting my lips – I had to shoo them away then cover my lips until we were clear.
Chuck went scuba diving the next day with the same company, however they went to Sail Rock, which is another one of the main scuba diving sites in the region.
And finally, I went diving one more time with a different company because I wanted to scuba dive Sail Rock as well.
Sail Rock from aboveLots of dive boats
I definitely enjoyed all 4 dives however the quest for diving with a whale shark continues…
Anemone and a clown fishSchool of fusilier fishSwimming thru massive amounts of fishAnemoneBarrel coral with wormsVaricose WartslugChristmas Tree worms – if you wave your hand near them, they immediately duck into their holeNudibranch with a Black Long-spined Urchin
On Thursday, Chuck and I took the kayak down to Kealakekua Bay which is about 30 min south of Kona. There are usually dolphins swimming in the bay but it’s also known for having great snorkeling on the north side of the bay near the Captain Cook memorial.
So we paddled out and when some dolphins came near, Chuck jumped in the water with them. After a while, I jumped in the water and waited patiently. Sure enough, dolphins started swimming under me and near me. I had at least 4 different encounters with the dolphins being close to me. At one point, there were about 30 dolphins swimming under and beside me. And at another point, some dolphins were near the surface and one got maybe 10′ from me before he turned and headed off in another direction.
Aside from seeing them, we could hear them “talk” to each other. And other times we’d see them jump and spin out of the water too.
After swimming with them for a while, we kayaked over to the north side and snorkeled for a bit.
It was one of the cooler things I’ve ever experienced and I can’t wait to take the kayak back down there with the kids next time.
Update: Chuck and I were lucky enough to experience this again also at Kealakekua Bay. This time, one of the dolphins (above), circled around me a couple of times close enough for me to touch (I didn’t). He (she?) looked me in the eye then swam off to join their friends. It was an unbelievable experience to be so close and feel a connection to a beautiful, wild animal.
