I love elephants, I have always thought that they are noble creatures. In the itinerary organized by the Indonesian Embassy for our fam trip to Indonesia we had the option of choosing between river rafting, riding an elephant or going on a bike ride through a typical town. Of course, the entire group chose to ride elephants in Bali.
Although we had transportation included in our tour, the company that does the tour picked us up at the hotel. The Bali Elephant Camp is located in Taro along the sacred Ayung River. You arrive at the elephant camp in Bali and have to wait for your turn to ride them. Luckily you can eat chocolates while you wait.
Learn about the process to make chocolate in Pod Bali
Start your tour of Pod Bali with a delicious shot of chocolate. The guides will explain the complete process to make chocolate in this boutique factory. It all starts with the cocoa which is taken from a tree to be fermented and roasted. You can try chocolate nibs and make your own chocolates in the form of elephants.
In the end you can go to the store where you can try all the varieties of chocolates you want (and nobody tells you when to stop eating!). My favorites were the rosella flower (we call it Jamaica flower or saril) with cashew and sea salt. We didn’t do the tour, we just took the shot and tried the chocolates. If you do the tour you can spend the whole day on the site.
Pod Bali uses sustainable practices to grow cocoa with local Bali farmers. Cocoa is produced organically.
You can ride elephants in Bali
To ride on an elephant you must climb on a wooden platform where your driver mounted on your elephant will arrive. The elephant has a teak chair on its back that is where tourists ride. Elephants are not endemic to Bali, they are from Sumatra and were brought in a conservation effort.
The trail is very nice but it is not paved (of course) and the elephants have to go up and down so sometimes you have to hold on. Our chubby guide was very nice and even spoke a little Spanish. He began to sing “in the jungle, the mighty jungle where the elephant sleeps at night” and we laughed. He had a hammer that would be like the equivalent of a whip for a horse. Sometimes he hit the elephant on the head, especially when he wanted to eat grass on the path. This made me a little uncomfortable.
At the end of the path the elephant will pass by a small lake and it is fun to see how it sprays water through its trunk. You can use your camera and the tour also takes photos that are then sold to you on a CD. The whole tour takes about 30 minutes and you may see monkeys and birds.
When you get off you can feed or pet your elephant in Bali. In addition to elephants there are several sun bears from Southeast Asia.
Our tour included food so we finally passed to the restaurant. The truth is that it was not so good and the soup was very spicy. I have tried better nasi and mie goreng elsewhere.
Need a hotel in Bali? Read my article In what area of Bali should I stay? or visit Booking to find options.
