Whilst in Ubud we ventured to the Elephant Safari park
It was opened in 2000, where it houses over 30 elephants
I have always wanted to ride an elephant, but have never had the opportunity to do so
So after travelling around half an hour from the hotel we pulled into the park, where the elephants awaited
You are firstly greeted by a museum of elephant artefacts, facts about their habitat and life style and a real life skeleton of a ginormous mammoth
The first thing that caught my eye was the wall of fame, it showed which famous people around the world has visited the park, it included David Beckham, Steve Irwin, Tony Blair, Calvin Klein and that was just a start...
We weeved our way through and then were met by these ginormous animals
I have in the past seen elephants in zoo's but this was something else, to be able to get so close to such incredible animals was surreal
We arrived whilst all the elephants were having there morning baths and brushes
So we were able to see how the keepers had control over these giants, but how careful and majestic they were at the same time
As 9.30 crept up our ride on the elephants loomed, I was so excited
The elephant we were to ride today was called 'Lady Gaga' as she was saddled up, we slowly climbed aboard and began our adventure through the jungle
20 minutes in we emerged from the jungle, and started to make our way into a lagoon of water, where the elephants were allowed to play around squirting each other with water
The ride took around 30 minutes all together, then once off we had an opportunity to get up and close with Lady Gaga, and give her some treats for being such a good girl
It turns out she was more photogenic than I was, but thats not a hard thing
Elephants are such ginormous creatures, but they are so gentle around you, I was able to hand feed them and cuddle them, and not once did I feel threatened or scared
After the ride was over the elephants went off to get hosed down and cool off in the shade
The next attraction was the elephant show, now I was very hesitant about whether I even wanted to watch this, as I am such an animal lover and the whole concept didn't seem natural to me
But on our way past to see some more elephants something caught my eye, an elephant painting
Within the package we had chosen in the morning, lunch was included so we grabbed a bite to eat and sat down over looking the lagoon where a mother and child were allowed to mess around
But with every place there are some down sides, I felt the safari park was a double ended sword
Yes they had saved elephants from captivity, and becoming working elephants as seen below
But the elephants were still in captivity rather than being out in the wild
All in all this was the best place to ride and visit elephants in Bali, I would definitely recommend it
I am not a fan of animals being held against there will, or being ridden, but at least you know when you enter the park all the money you spend goes towards expanding this park and helps to bring more elephants over from surrounding countries where they could be working till death or being subjected to animal cruelty