Champa Meuanglao
Menu
  • Home
  • Section
    • Business
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Lao Airlines
  • Contact
  • on ISSUU
  • Advertise with us!
  • ພາສາ: English
    • English English
    • ລາວ ລາວ
  • laoairlines.com
Champa Meuanglao
  • Home
  • Section
    • Business
    • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Travel
    • Lao Airlines
  • Contact
  • on ISSUU
  • Advertise with us!
  • ພາສາ: English
    • English English
    • ລາວ ລາວ
  • laoairlines.com
Travel

Pachyderm’s Paradise

posted by Mai
Jul 1, 2018 3285 0 0
Share

Through dawn’s mist they appear, their giant monotone silhouettes rolling slowly from the jungle hills towards the lake. One by one, they enter the tranquil waters of Sayaboury’s Nam Tien Lake to bathe. They are joined in near silence by other members of the herd. The gentle procession’s stillness is broken only by the distant sound of the calves’ trumpeting.

Laos, formerly known as The Land of a Million Elephants, has seen its elephant population decline due to loss of forest habitat and illegal wildlife trade. Created in 2011, by ElefantAsia NGO co-founder Sébastien Duffillot, a French elephant conservationist who has been working and living in Laos for 20 years, the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) is taking steps to reverse this trend by bringing awareness to the plight of elephants, as well as offering an opportunity for a respectful visit to see these great beasts in their natural environment.

Elephants at the Center are here to rest, either waiting to give birth or recovering from an exhausting life in logging or mass tourism industries. Do not expect to see package tours of people riding or bathing with elephants all day long – here, elephants are simply elephants!

Overall, the Center is a place that focuses on animal welfare, observation and learning. There is no interaction with elephants, as one of the goals here is to avoid close contact with humans, which would affect their natural behaviour. As the ECC hopes to be able to release these elephants into the wild, eventually, it is important that they enjoy being elephants without being subject to unnatural activities and encounters.

Visitors can observe elephants from a number of stations, one of which is a tree-top platform set in the forest surrounding the Socialization Area. The Center is home to the only elephant hospital in Laos, where biologists can answer all of your questions about the life cycle of these majestic creatures. Other activities include visiting an elephant museum, kayaking on the breath-taking Nam Tien Lake, and helping take elephants into the lush forest at night to their sleeping grounds.

The Elephant Conservation Center is a place where you can get up close with the elephants in their traditional natural environment. Away from mass tourism venues, the Center offers a holistic approach to the conservation of Lao elephants. This is not just another elephant camp, as the ECC does not relocate elephants into tourist areas. On the contrary, it takes you to them, in their natural environment.

GETTING THERE:

Free minivan (approximately 2 hours) every morning from Luang Prabang, with prior booking at ECC office, Mekong Riverside, Ban Pakham, Luang Prabang.

TEL: +856(0)71 25 23 07 and +856 (0)20 96 59 06 65 or online on www.elephantconservationcenter.com

 

TEXT BY FRANCIS SAVANHKHAM

PHOTOGRAPHS BY PAUL WAGER & ECC

 

ECC officeLuang PrabangPachyderm’s Paradiseສະຫວັນຂອງຊ້າງສູນອານຸລັກຊ້າງລາວຫຼວງພະບາງ
Share

Previous

[:en]Heart and Seoul[:la]ຄວາມຝັນຈາກແດນໄກ[:]

Next

[:en]Heavenly Flavors, Blissful Views[:la]ສຳຜັດອາຫານແຫ່ງທົ່ງພຽງແດນສະຫວັນ[:]
  • English
  • ລາວ

Recent Posts

  • Nam Kat Yorla Pa
  • Getaway in the City
  • A Stroll on the Right Bank
  • The Streets of Savannakhet
  • Return to The Rock

Categories

  • Art
  • Business
  • Café
  • Culture
  • Environment
  • Festival
  • Food
  • Lao Airlines
  • Lasting Laos
  • Lifestyle
  • Outdoors
  • Social Enterprise
  • Stay
  • Style
  • Travel

Archives

  • May 2023
  • March 2023
  • January 2023
  • November 2022
  • September 2022
  • July 2022
  • May 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • September 2021
  • April 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • November 2020
  • September 2020
  • July 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • September 2018
  • July 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • July 2017
  • May 2017

Follow Us

Contact Form 7

Error: Contact form not found.

You Might Also Like

Travel
Jan 16, 2023

Top 5 Places to Visit in Quang Nam, Vietnam

Vietnam is often hailed by many as Southeast Asia’s next ‘it’ tourist destination. It is gifted with an...

Read More
0 0
Travel
May 10, 2018

In the Heart of Hanoi

With its fading French colonial era architecture, frenetic street life, bustling markets, and a distinctly creative...

Read More
0 0
Copyrights © 2018 Champa Meuanglao. All Rights Reserved.
Website by Designix Studio
Back top