In Reply to: goin to bali end of July posted by tashs on Wednesday, 20. June 2007 at 19:11 Bali Time:
I am also going at the end of July and doing the elephant thing too.
I have cut and pasted a post from another forum which sums the whole thing up
Hi there, I have just returned from a week in Bali on Monday, and had the same elephant-park dilemma as you! There are 2 elephant parks in Bali, both are about 1-1.5 hours from Kuta.
I chose to go with the Bali Adventure Tours elephant park in Taro http://www.baliadventuretours.com/BAT-Elephant_Park.htm and I booked before I arrived in Bali (even though it may be cheaper to bargain over there, I just wanted the peace of mind!). It cost me US $61 (about 80 AUD) and included pick up and drop off back to my hotel in Kuta, buffet lunch at the elephant park (which was excellent - so much food, asian & western!), elephant ride went for about 20-30 minutes through the jungle & water pool, and we also got to have our photos taken with the elephants (as many as we wanted!), got to feed them, pat them etc.
There was also an elephant show which went for about 20 minutes where some of the elephants do tricks (painting, play basketball, play harmonica, balancing on wooden beam -type-things, carrying their 'drivers' in their trunks etc) which was definitely the highlight for me! The woman presenting the show was great, educating the crowd about elephants and the park/conservation.
This park also has a baby elephant (2 years old?) and it's so cute! I had so many photos taken with it! There is also a huge gift shop where you can also buy elephant paintings, and an elephant museum which was pretty interesting (complete with elephant skeleton!)
Now, I was staying with a group of people who actually went to the OTHER elephant park that same day! http://www.balielephantpark.com/index.html
My friends found a good deal/discount through a street vendor and they ended up paying about US$20 less than me. Their elephant ride went for about the same time as mine (20-30 mins), there was not so much 'jungle' where they went for their ride, but they still walked through a water pool etc. They also got to pat the elephants and have photos taken with them. Can't remember if they got to feed them or not, sorry.
This park doesn't do a full elephant show like the other one as such, apparantly one of the elephants played the harmonica but that was about it (none of the other fancy stuff like the first one!!), and not so much focus on conservation/education. My friends also had a buffet lunch which they said was pretty good, and there is also a gift shop (but no museum). There is also NO baby elephant at this park (my buddies where quite miffed when they found out I got to pat a baby one!!). However according to their website you can have the option of going for the longer elephant rides (15, 40 or 60 min rides).
In my opinion, as beautiful & relaxing as the elephant rides are, I think 20-30 minutes is plenty. I saw my frieds' photos and the 'jungle' at the second park I mentioned is nowhere near as dense as what we went through with the bali adventure tours one (so many different trees, flowers & creatures to look at!) My friends were actually suprised at where the 2nd park was, as it is not in a very secluded/remote area!
I am glad I paid the extra and went with the park though Bali Adventure Tours (geez, I sound like such an ad for them!) but they were great, and I was 110% happy with the whole experience.
I guess if you're on a budget and want the option of going for a longer ride, the 2nd park might be the go for you, however I guarantee the kids will love the elephant show at the first one! It's so much fun!