One of our days in Kuala Lumpur was spent on a day trip to Kaula Gandah, an elephant reserve a couple of hours away. The organization here captures wild elephants that are living near developing areas and getting into trouble with farms and other nearby people. It then relocates them to areas like Taman Negara where they will be in less danger and have more space to themselves. The elephant reserve is home to a number of trained elephants that they use to help in the capture of the wild elephants, and it is also open to tourists who want an up-close elephant experience. Nissa definitely falls into that category, so the place was added to our itinerary.
The staff has set up a very structured afternoon for visitors. First we watched some of the elephants bathing and being cleaned in the river. Before long it was ready for their lunch, and we had the chance to hand-feed the elephants. Sure enough, it turned out to be peanuts.
Having an elephant's trunk roaming over your hand for food is a very strange feeling, and we couldn't help but laugh. Nissa was having a great time, and kept going back for more feedings.
Eventually it was time for elephant rides. The long was long, so we just had a quick one-minute saunter around the area before it was time to get off. Riding an elephant bareback was actually pretty uncomfortable, though really fun, so a short ride was perfect.
Finally, the last activity was swimming with the elephants. We mounted a large elephant from a platform, who after a command from the staff dropped to his side and threw us into the river. Baby elephants were in the river, but they were monopolized by the large number of children there, and soon it was time to go. The experience was probably not as intimate as we had pictured due to the larger-than-expected crowd, but we still had a great time.
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