Ref: theadventurebuddies.comWaking Up to the Sounds of Elephants There’s nothing quite like waking up to the gentle rumble of elephants just outside your room. The kids would rush to the porch every morning to catch a glimpse of them, and it became our favorite way to...
One of the must-do activities enjoyed by tourists coming to Bali is rafting in the rivers that run past Ubud, but it wasn’t always this way. In the 70s & 80s, Ubud was only known as an arts and crafts village, where tourists went to...
Nigel Mason is widely recognized as a visionary leader who has played a pivotal role in shaping Bali’s tourism industry and promoting sustainable practices on the island. His contributions have not only attracted global attention to Bali but have also helped to preserve its cultural...
Deddy and Camila. Credit: SuppliedIn 1996, Bali-based Australian tour operator Nigel Mason and his Indonesian wife Yanie travelled to Way Kambas National Park, a state-run elephant sanctuary in south Sumatra, the biggest island in Indonesia, to acquire animals for an elephant park in Bali. The first...
Elephant camps are among the most popular destinations in Thailand for tourists from many countries. A wide range of management strategies are used by these camps, which can have varied impacts on health and welfare of elephants. The objectives of this study were to examine relationships between FGM...
Riding elephants is one of the most controversial activities in the tourist industry, with concerns over whether load carrying is physically harmful. Here, we used an empirical approach to test how carrying loads up to 15% of the elephant’s body mass affected gait parameters....
How tourist camp activities affect individual elephant welfare is an important and highly debated topic. Saliva and fecal samples were collected monthly for 1 year from 44 female Asian elephants that participated in three programs (saddle-, bareback-, or no-riding), and analyzed for glucocorticoids (GC) and immunoglobulin A (IgA)....
There is considerable concern about the welfare of elephants used for education, research, and entertainment purposes in western zoos and Asian tourist camps, and whether captive venues meet the needs of these highly social and intelligent animals....
My Unforgettable Stay at Mason Elephant Lodge, Bali Indonesia Nestled in the lush jungles of Bali lies a hidden gem that’s more than just a sanctuary; it’s a vibrant testament to love, conservation, and cultural fusion. My journey to the Mason Elephant Lodge, a renowned eco-tourism...
Elephant riding is a controversial topic. A quick Google search of ‘elephant riding’ will come up with disturbing photos of a disfigured elephant claiming “this is what years of tourist rides do to an elephant” and attention-grabbing titles, such as The shocking truth about elephant...