Elefantastic; up close and personal with elephants

We could have been picked up in this beautiful horse carriage, but we came by a very normal autorikshaw;-). Many aspects of the Elefantastic experience are borderline cheesy (or even over the top;-)), but I find it colorful and charming as well. I don’t mind at all !

We arrived at 13.30 and there was a row of elephants lined up, ready for one of their daily meals.

I fell right away for the largest of the ladies, the one with the remains of a painted star on her head.

Rahul is explaining about the elephants. Being a 4th generation elephant rider he clearly knows a lot about them.

Yes, I like you, with the flappy ears!

The handlers prepare these bundles of grass continuously and we fed these to them, although they could also pick them up themselves. These giants eat A LOT !!!

Their skin is very thick, their hair is coarse, yet it is all very sensitive. It was nice to be so close and to touch them. Not that they cared very much. At most they tolerated us tourists and all our touching and painting and whatever;-).

Then we and another couple were driven to Rahul’s mother who had prepared us a lunch. We sat in Rahul’s family’s tiny living room and had simple but lovely food.

When we came back from our lunch, it was time to paint the elephants. That was the part I had been looking forward to the most. But that was a bit a disappointing experience. First of all the other 4 couples had already started while we were having lunch. This meant that they had a lot more time then we and that there was no white paint for contouring left. On top of that, ‘our’ elephant’s head still had paint on it, so we had to go for her side. But she kept turning away, so that we could almost not reach her. She was standing in very muddy clay, sinking deeper into it all the time, so not suitable for my slippers. It was sort of painting with handicaps, hahaha.

Result was that we ended up painting only one tiny flower on the side of our elephant. Too bad, but on the other hand Frits and I enjoyed it and had fun. It was more about the experience then about the result.

This couple had had more time AND they had the contours drawn by Rahul. They made a big pattern; nice!

Another couple made a gorgeous design on ‘their’ elephant!

“Ok, now we go to the lake (more a muddy pool actually;-)) to wash the paintings away, clean the elephants and swim and play with them.”

The handler of ‘our’ elephant directs her to the lake.

He wanted to take a picture of me touching the elephant, but she was not really into me, turning away;-).

After some angry words from the handler she stood still and I could give her a kiss. Do you notice the elegantly lifted foot?;-)

The handler takes her into the water.

Frits went in to wash and scrub the elephant. I had just recovered from a flu and had a sprained back, so the cold water and the questionable hygiene withheld me from doing the same.

Another handler going in with ‘his’ elephant.

This elephant from another owner is washing herself…..

…and having fun…;-)

When ‘our’ elephant was clean, her handler took her into a deeper part to play; she was diving under time after time, throwing him of. At least: we were told that that’s what it was and I can only hope that the elephant indeed was enjoying it!

Ok, enough played…back to the farm now.

Back at the farm we all got dressed up with a turban. Interesting to experience how a turban is made from a very long cloth. As said, cheesy, but charming too.

Once we were about to mount our elephant to make a ‘jungle tour’ our touristlook was furthermore enhanced by two strings of flowers around our neck. Again maybe cheesy, but also very colorful, charming and a token of personal care for us clients. We appreciated it!

There was a row of elephants waiting at the nature reserve to take us for a stroll.

We mounted the elephants from a high platform and were supposed to sit sideways. The ‘chair’ on which we sat was sliding to one side, forcing us to sit in a very uncomfortable way to balance it out. It was heavy on my sprained back!

On the website the jungle tour is described quite gloriously and exciting. In the email we received after signing up, Rahul was immediately toning down our expectations enormously. And indeed, it is more like a very slooooow, quite uncomfortable small ride through the forest without seeing any other animals then the ones in the tiger rescue centre. Not so surprising that we saw absolutely no wildlife, walking around as a herd of elephants with loud bells! and a bunch of tourists. Not really a case of blending in into the surroundings…hahaha….

And there we sit; totally touristy, but we did not mind at all! Doesn’t it look very colorful and festive?! I love it!

A very slow walk ‘around the block’….

Passing by the tiger rescue centre: Nahargarh Rescue Centre-Nahargarh-Jaipur. Some years ago there came a new law forbidding to keep tigers and lions in circuses and so on. Great law, but what to do with the freed animals? Many of them have been maltreated or injured, and they cannot be placed back into the wild. So a number of rescue centers was initiated, like this one, where they could be housed and helped. In this centre there are about 35 animals. Yes, they are caged, yes, there space is limited, but they are supposedly way better of then they were with their exploiters and abusers. The centre is not open for visitors,. Rahul gives 5% of his profits to the centre and walks his elephants along the fences as part of his jungle tour. The tiger handler comes to the fence then which lures some of the animals out so we can see them. A sort of compensation for the lack of wildlife, I guess. Great initiatives, ofcourse!

The animals clearly respond to the handler. We just could not decide wether they want to play with him, kiss him or eat him…hahaha….

All in all a lovely day and experience.

But let’s come back to what I wrote at the beginning of this post, about mixed feelings.
Unfortunately I ended up with some mixed feelings here as well.

The small number of people, the slow pace of the ‘program’, the lunch at home, Rahul’s presence, him checking if each and everyone of you has a good time and last but not least being up close and personal with these elephants are all excellent points.
The good eye for beauty and decor (the painting, the turbans, the decorations of the horse and of the elephants) and the personal approach are special and very enjoyable.

I thought however, that these elephants did not have to work at the Fort, e.g., and when I asked Rahul he said that indeed they didn’t. But I got the impression that they DO. In the mornings, since the government has forbidden elephants to work there in the afternoons (to protect them against the heat and too much work). So before the tourists arrive at the farm. Was this just a miscommunication? Or was there misleading?

It made me wonder how transparent the whole concept is and how the quality of life of these elephants really is.
Maybe I am doing Rahul and his intentions no justice by doubting him.
It was just unpleasant to come back to our hotel with these questions on my mind and a little knot in my stomach. Again, I do not KNOW, and it seemed all fine, it is just a feeling.

I include a link of another tourist who wrote about his experience at Elefantastic. He describes it well; funny and warm:
tales of a traveling turkey.

I have not read any negative comment about Elefantastic, so maybe I am unnecessary and wrongly suspicious. Maybe it IS just what it LOOKS: a highly successful formula that combines 1. a good, profitable business model with 2. giving tourists a unique experience, 3. a snuff of ecotourism. and 4. care for animal rights.

Rahul for sure personally does his best all day long to give you a great experience; no doubt about that.

Do share your experiences; I am anxious to hear them!