My Little Paradise

Words cannot describe the beauty and magic of this place. Located next to beautiful Nam Thien Lake, the ECC is composed of 6 rentable bungalows, guesthouse with a few rooms, shower house, restaurant, elephant museum / muhout school, staff living quarters, and the “hospital” which is more of a pharmacy than a real hospital. The site also includes a breeding area, observation terrace, and deck. The terrace and deck are great places to glimpse the elephants bathing and interacting with their babies.

Mothers of all species can be quite dangerous when they feel their young are threatened, and elephants are big enough to make mommies a very serious threat. We try to minimize human contact to avoid unnecessary risks and prevent development of behaviors that might contribute to elephants venturing into villages more frequently. Sorry guys, no baby cuddling for you. Moms and their babies get their run of the land across the lake from the main compound.

What I like the most is how sustainable and eco-friendly this place is. Everything runs on solar polar, the water is filtered from the lake and meets European shower standards, and they use natural gas to heat it (I can be in the middle of nowhere but I still like my hot shower!). NOTHING is plastic. The food is totally organic, locally grown or bought in the market every morning. Every “building” is a combination of rosemary wood, bamboo and thatch. Things are quite basic yet very nice and cozy.

Nam Thien Lake 

View from the restaurant

Observation terrace

Time for a bath!

Elephant Museum and Mahout School

The "Hospital"

Guesthouse

Rooms in the guesthouse

And yes, the first thing I did was hop on an elephant "Mahout-Style"! :)

The view of the lake surrounded by mountains with soundtrack of elephants and giant geckos is as close to perfect as it could get. I am LOVING my little paradise. 

More to come,

Karla Nova