Elephant fantasy

little etoile

Hey all. : )

First time posting (whoohoo!).

So I know this is going to sound silly and maybe ignorant Americanish of me, but ever since I was a kid, whenever I imagined going to India I pictured myself riding on the back of an elephant through the jungle. My boyfriend and I are traveling to India for the first time next week, and I am hoping that I can make this fantasy of mine come true.

However, I read in another post that elephant adventures such as this are rare, if not nonexisistant now? Is this true? If not, can anyone recommend a good way I would go about making this happen, specific agencies to use, and perhaps a cost estimate? We'll be arriving in Delhi, but we then have a week to travel wherever before I am locked into a volunteer medical program in Rishikesh area for four weeks.

Thanks so much for the help. I look forward to sharing our travel stories when we get back!

guerik

You're in luck - elephant safaris are available in Rajaji National Park (from the town of Chila)
It's in between Haridwar and Rishikesh, there are regular buses to and from Chila from both and there are nice little huts to stay in in Chila if you feel like staying the night. (fancy huts)
I went on one in Feb this year with a few students from my Hindi course and we saw a few different types of animals (mostly cool birds and antelopes) but it was just a nice ride around the jungle too - the mahouts are very friendly and the elephants are lovely. No idea how much it costs as we paid for accomodation and a couple of types of safari all together, but it didn't seem very expensive.

Found this site which gives you a rundown of the prices etc - http://www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/distric...jaji_park.aspx

There were also wild elephants around at the time, which we saw and they were exciting (mainly because the locals kept talking up how dangerous they are - we were in the back of a truck when we saw them!) and apparently a cheetah or big cat of some type (which we tried to go see a couple of times but didn't have much luck in the dark!)

PeakXV

Well if Mark Shand (see this link):



http://http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2002/04/14/stories/2002041400150400.htm

isn't on your best buddy list then I recommend a tiger safari by elephant at Corbett National Park since your headed in that general direction anyway. There is also a Mahout School in South India (Kerala?) that would be sure to hone your skills. Welcome to IM, I'm sure there are other Elephant Gurus who will fill you in with much more ...... at any rate do pick up a copy of one of Shand's books .. would be a good read and appetizer for you flight to India.

Best of Luck!!

__________________
We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?