Get off the beaten track and get close to elephants in the hidden paradise of Tangkahan, a peaceful village nestled between the river and the rainforest. Here you will see rehabilitated elephants from Sumatra!
Where is Tangkahan?
The small village of Tangkahan is located 4 hours from Medan or 1.5 hours from Bukit Lawang. There is a wrong marker on Google Maps. Here is the correct location:
You are currently viewing a placeholder content from Google Maps. To access the actual content, click the button below. Please note that doing so will share data with third-party providers.
More InformationTrekking with elephants
At around 7 am, our driver will take you from Bukit Lawang to Tangkahan (approx. 1.5 hours). On arrival, you will set off on a jungle tour lasting approx. 3 hours. Our guide has already arranged a meeting point in the jungle with the mahout (elephant owner). Here you can observe the elephants and take photos. You can stay there for about 1 hour. Afterwards we continue to the Buluh River, where we have a picnic lunch. In the afternoon you will visit Hotspring and waterfalls. Afterwards you go back by tubing to Pantai Salak and from there you drive back to Tangkahan by jeep and our driver will take you back to Bukit Lawang.
Price:
100 euros/person, minimum 2 people
Including car, petrol, driver, guide, entrance fees, local lunch
Washing the elephants
We are aware of the worldwide criticism of elephant and animal activities. Therefore, we do not offer elephant riding or elephant washing. Although elephant washing may sound ethical, it is not. The mahouts come to the river every day to wash the elephants. Sometimes, however, the elephants don’t want to bathe and then the mahouts may force the elephants so that the tourists can bathe them. Besides, elephants don’t need us humans to bathe them.
Thanks to our network we can also organise overnight stays in Tangkahan and trekking tours on site. Just contact us.
Note:
However, we have decided to support Tangkahan as an ecotourism destination. By booking activities in Tangkahan, you are supporting conservation and sustainability activities in the region as well as a local team of mahouts and rehabilitated elephants. The local CRU initiative was founded to provide a better life for captive elephants, protect the jungle and educate locals and tourists. By supporting the people of Tangkahan, we help the locals to find an income other than illegal logging, wildlife trade or working in palm oil plantations.
We also believe that responsible and ethical elephant tourism will help save the Sumatran elephant, but this requires a high level of care and education. We are against unnatural and abusive practices and strive to improve animal welfare and promote education.
