We had a fantastic time! After much searching for an ethical elephant camp in southern Thailand that did not involve riding the elephants or the elephants performing tricks, I found Elephant Hills. We were on the 4 day nature rainforest safari. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. While elephants are the big attraction at Elephant Hills, there are plenty of other activities to keep your family engaged during your stay. Sprawling across a vast 459 square miles (739 square km), Khao Sok National Park is home to some of the worlds oldest rainforests. However, I seriously considered adding a leg to our trip to visit northern Thailand, a big reason being to see the elephants. Every aspect of the experience and project has been carefully considered to ensure that local people, animals and the environment are protected and supported in every way possible. I wouldnt say that it is the most family-friendly lodge in Thailand, most notably due to the lack of family rooms in the floating lodges, but if you dont mind separating parents or housing kids in a separate room, its fantastic. 01342 310 571 Call us 9am-7pm Mon-Fri / 9am-5pm Sat-Sun. We were at Elephant Hills early June as part of our trip to Thailand. Here, we got introduced to everything by our guide Tam, who was very friendly, knowledgeable, and with very good English. Day 4: Guided walk to explore the ecology of one of the worlds oldest rainforests with lunch served in the rainforest, cooked in bamboo, an old tradition of jungle explorers. Elephant Hills - Home - Facebook Brecon Beacons National Park, United Kingdom, I already have a holiday booked with Virgin Holidays, I returned early from holiday and have further questions, I am currently on holiday and I need to speak to someone. It would be the thing that the boys would mention when forced to answer all of the excited people when we returned and asked, What was your favorite part of your Thailand vacation?. When you return to camp, your immersive Thai experience continues with local dance performances and traditional Thai cuisine cooking demonstrations from an experienced chef. Elephant Hills combines the African Safari tent camp idea with the breathtakingly beautiful environment of Khao Sok in Southern Thailand. Delivery & Pickup Options - 287 reviews of Happy Elephant Thai Cuisine "I don't live in the 'burbs, but I work there, and for once I'm glad that I do. Elephant Hills are Thailand's first Luxury Tented Jungle Camps, combining the camp idea of African national parks with the Thai tropical forest environment. Elephant Hills ticked both of these boxes for us and provided us with a unforgettable Thailand elephant resort experience. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of all cookies. The rooms were large and comfortable with plenty of places to keep your gear. Elephant Hills | Luxury Thailand Tented Camp - Elegant Resorts Elephant Hills is located in the Suratthani region of Thailand. - Jungle trekking on foot with a cooking demonstration (again, your food options were respected!) Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. Enjoy the spectacular scenery with time to dip into the lakes emerald water and lunch at the local raft house. Loved elephant experience and canoe down lake. Our poor elephant was so covered in dirt that no matter how much water we used or how hard we scrubbed him with a coconut husk, he was not much cleaner after his bath. Furthermore, the resort offers 2-4 days soft adventure tours, including kayaking, lake explorations, mangrove expeditions, jungle treks and the unique Elephant Hills elephant experience. From start to finish the whole thing was very well organised, from transfers to accommodation to excursions to food. Personally, Im not a big fan of swimming in life jackets, but I understand that this is sometimes required due to insurance reasons. Dont expect to ride the elephants, as the animals here are respected rather than exploited. I would suggest an option to pay for a private bespoke experience or guide may suit some people, we sat out of a few of the activities as they were either unsuitable for my youngest child or I felt her presence was slowing down other members of our group. Elephant Hills | Thailand | If Only It was a unique experience. We were soon assigned our luxury tent so we went to unpack our bags and get organized before a quick lunch and heading off to see the elephants. Elephant Hills Khao Lak, Thailand This is Thailand's first lush tented jungle camps, inspired by African national parks and combined with Thai tropical forestry. Now that theyre clean, the elephants are ready for their lunch. Below the boys are feeding the fish their leftovers which was actually them going to the buffet just to grab food so they could exclaim they were full, then feed to the fish! Holiday Deals & Packages | Thailand quad with Elephant Hills Evening entertainment includes traditional Thai dances from local school children, film documentaries and Thai cooking demonstrations. Here are a few photos of those peaceful moments on the lake . Jul 4, 2023 Help to prepare a selection of healthy foods and snacks for the elephants before dispersing them among the hungry crowd. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7e3ffcb17fa081d0 We had a fantastic time! An overnight stay at Rainforest Camp is included in both Jungle Lake Safari tour packages, but cannot be booked individually. After a friendly introduction, sit back and relax as your new friends have the time of their lives playing in their natural muddy swimming pool. The tours range from 2 to 4 days in duration. We had the opportunity to watch them enjoy an extensive bath in the parks large elephant mud pool. We will always try to process refunds at the earliest opportunity, for requests before August our maximum timeframe is 120 days. Please choose an option below. We use cookies to ensure you have an easy, quick and reliable experience whilst using the Virgin Atlantic Holidays website. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. If your holiday is more than 6 months away, you may wish to set up a Direct Debit to spread the cost. - Fast-speed boat ride with the wind in our face, self canoeing through mangroves where we saw snakes, monkeys, and lizards Thai Cuisine. At floating camp able to jump into lake from our tents and use kayaks. This resort features a golf course, spa and swimming pool. Feeding the elephants was much more challenging than you may think! WHAT A PLACE! The fabulous five star SALA Phuket Mai Khao Beach Resort, Thailand presents a deluxe pool and villa resort offering sparkling private pools in 63 of the 79 luxurious rooms, suites and villas. We took longtail boats to the floating jungle lodge owned by Elephant Hills which they call the Rainforest Camp. I have visited over 40 countries, several of those multiple times, and knew how to get around a new destination. Elephants consume 10% of their body weight each day. Afternoon transfer. Day 1: An Elephant Experience Awaits. I had to come up with something and remembered the timeless game of thumb war! You can also log into Manage my booking to find the details there. Watch on Book our Exciting Jungle Lake Safari Tour! For something even more relaxing, you can join this full-day bamboo rafting experience through Khao Sok NP. The tents did have electricity, but no television. A visit to Elephant Hills has been on my bucket list for over 10 years. Day 2: Enjoy the mangroves by speed boat looking out for local wildlife along the way. All rights reserved. We need to work through amend requests in departure date order so we can prioritise those with the most imminent travel plans, so you may have a longer wait than usual until were able to ring you back. All tents are bugproof and have electricity, en-suite bathroom with toilet, shower and hot/cold water and a fan. Speak to our Luxury Travel Specialists for our latest pricing and offers. The complex itself is. Despite the shortfalls I would highly recommend the Elephant Hills to everyone who enjoys adventure with a soft landing. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. Start by paddling a canoe down the winding jungle river, looking out for monkeys in the trees above. The meals are all served at the main lodge where you can find a shop, fresh water, and the list and schedules for all of the tours. Occasionally, he would point out a snake or a monkey, but mostly, it was a relaxing trip in the shade as the sun descended behind the limestone formations. I was worried that everything would be downhill from there. If you need to speak to us to change or cancel your booking you can call our team on 0344 472 9646 or chat to us on SMS/Whatspp via Manage my booking. Depending on when you are due to travel, your holiday may beaffectedand well email you to let youknow as least 21 days before travel. Overnight at The Elephant Camp. Elephant Hills | Phuket, Thailand Hotel | Virgin Atlantic Holidays There must be 1 adult per child under two years of age travelling, please adjust your passenger number, To book online please select a maximum of 9 passengers, to book 10 adults or more please call 0344 557 3978. capturetheadventure Luckily, Elephant Hills had plenty planned to keep us entertained for the remainder of our stay. We did the jungle trek, which was very hot and humid and quite a climb. Thailand's First Luxury Tented Camps in Khao Sok, Southern Thailand - www.elephanthills.com - www.rainforestcamp.com We admittedly rely on screens too much in the boring moments of travel, when traveling from point A to point B. I wouldn't however describe them as luxurious & for people who dont relish the idea of sleeping under canvas, or who prefer air-conditioning there are unfortunately no alternative accommodation options which is one the few downsides. Yes, this was just one of many snacks that the elephants devour each day. You can connect with more family travelers just like you who love to explore the world. Here you can kayak around the magnificent limestone rocks that are unique to this special part of the world. You can contact our team by emailing feedback.backhome@virginholidays.com to discuss options on unused portions of your holiday. Your holiday is protected many of the flights and flight-inclusive holidays on this website are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. We then got our tent keys, we were in a 2 storey tent which was great. When one of my sons told his class about this, the teacher relayed that the children gasped in horror and asked, but what did you do without tv?? These values are based on the belief that people will want to do more to protect the planet when they have the knowledge to see why it is so important to do so.