Asia ’25 #8: MandaLao Elephant Sanctuary

Read this blog: The one where we walk with elephants

Friday 21st February 2025

Robert had researched elephant experiences in Laos while he was planning this trip. He was adamant that we should not ride an elephant because of the training methods and MandaLao was one of the centres which people had recommended as an elephant sanctuary which was focused on rescue and conservation. 

Awareness about the mistreatment of elephants is growing and in India we had seen the long line of elephants standing in the scorching sun in the ‘Pink City’ of Jaipur waiting to take tourists up to the Amber Fort. We vowed then we would not be a part of exploiting these fabulous creatures. 

On the 14th November last year when Robert booked our visit to MandaLao some of the dates when we would be in Luang Prabang were already showing on the website as unavailable/fully booked so we were pleased that we had a confirmed booking. However, when we walked about Luang Prabang we noticed that most of the hostels and hotels, including the Sunrise Garden House Hotel where we were staying were offering elephant experiences. As we had already booked we didn’t enquire so cannot comment on availability but some of these would definitely have been riding experiences. Indeed we saw elephants at a centre offering rides with howdahs already on their backs on the drive to the falls. 

MandaLao is an organisation dedicated to promoting increasingly humane and ethical treatment of elephants in Laos and beyond. At one time Laos was known as Lan Xang which literally means ‘the Land of a Million Elephants”. It is now estimated that there are less than 400 elephants living wild and just over 800 in total in the whole country. 

Twelve of those can be found at MandaLao.

We were in a group of eight people, one of whom was booked for a longer all day experience. The tour started in the huts at the entrance to the visitor centre [see below] with an emotional talk by an ex-mahout [elephant handler] who had previously worked in the tourist trade. He was quite evangelical [as the converted sometimes are] and whilst we understood that he had seen the error of his ways he seemed to the more reserved British psyche to be over-compensating.

We did however learn some interesting facts about elephants.

Next, we had to don what the staff referred to as “sexy boots”: long, thick, knee-length, cloth footwear which not only had a zip all the way up the front but laces around the ankles and just below the knee [see feature photo]. The guide had developed a special skill and was incredibly accurate at predicting people’s shoes size. We were also offered insect repellent and sun protection [we had applied both already] and were then advised to wash our hands as the elephants do not like the smell.

With these added forms of protection we walked down to the river to take a boat ride . . .

. . . across to the elephant sanctuary itself.

We saw the first elephant and mahout [handler] as we walked up from the boat.

Before walking with the elephants, everyone had the chance to feed them. This was to help to persuade the elephants that we were friendly and well-intentioned. Elephants have to be very food-orientated as they need to eat so much to survive. As we approached, one of them was swaying rhythmically, perhaps in anticipation of the food to come.

Only requiring about two hours sleep a night, elephants spend almost all of the rest of the day foraging and eating- mostly trees, plants, leaves and bark. We fed them bananas as a sweet treat.

Research informed us that there are two types of elephant in Africa – the savannah elephant and the forest elephant both adapted to their particular habitat. We learned some of the differences between Asian elephants and their African cousins.

Their trunks are slightly different. An Asian elephant has a highly mobile and dexterous triangular protrusion called a “dorsal finger” on the top edge of its trunk to help to grasp and handle objects and food whilst African elephants have two opposing protrusions top and bottom called the “dorsal and ventral fingers”. 

We were told to pull the bananas individually from a bunch but we could not separate them quickly enough for the elephants: their trunk and “dorsal fingers” were always reaching out in anticipation of the next one.

We were also told that if any fruit was dropped we should not try and pick it up as the elephants might view this as ‘attempted banana theft’.

Once the bananas were all gone we were ready to set off. Elephants were not the only wildlife we saw on the walk: our guide pointed it that we had an audience.

At first the elephants followed us through the fields planted with aubergines which they will not eat . . .

. . . and up to the woodland to forage. We walked with two female elephants, named Nuan and Bochan each accompanied by a dedicated mahout.

It was the dry season and many of the trees had dropped their leaves. The soil was baked hard but we were told that one of the reasons we needed to wear the “sexy boots” was that in the rainy season when there were pools of water lying on the ground they prevent leeches from attaching themselves to feed on human blood. Matilda in particular was pleased that it was not currently the rainy season.

One of the archetypal images of an elephant is one of them spraying water over themselves with their trunk. However at MandaLao visitors are not offered the option to wash the elephants as they do not sweat and the mud dried to their skin helps them to moderate their temperature. 

African elephants are generally larger and heavier than Asian elephants and have smaller heads but larger ears which fold backwards whilst Asian elephants have larger heads and smaller ears which fold forwards as can be seen in the video below.

Some of the trees we passed were teak trees which are widely used for furniture. However, in Laos they are sometimes known as the “lipstick tree”. Our guide demonstrated that if you rub a perfectly green leaf between your fingers it will release a red coloured sap which women use to rub on their lips.

Elephants who have worked in the tourist trade providing rides are often unable to breed. The howdahs [seats] used are heavy and rest on the ovaries of a female elephant or the undescended testicles of a male elephant and therefore can damage these reproductive glands and reduce their fertility.

The organisation has recently acquired land and built MandaLao II – a sanctuary where elephants can be returned to a protected area to live natural lives in the wild. So far none of the elephants from the centre we visited has been transferred there.

Commercial demand for elephants has declined, in part because of the increased mechanisation of the lumber trade. In addition, there has been a gradual shift amongst tourists and particularly European tourists, away from wanting to take elephant rides. Consequently the price of elephants has fallen and MandaLao can therefore afford to acquire and re-home more animals. The aim is to preserve their lives and ideally grow the elephant population in Laos.

We were told that a five to six year old elephant would currently cost around $20,000.

MandaLao was the first sanctuary to buy and rescue elephants but since the decline in tourist demand for rides another three companies locally have stopped offering rides and are now aiming to rescue elephants and provide more humane walking experiences.

Surprisingly, given the high fibre diet, elephants often become constipated. It is not a ruminant and has a single stomach but its digestive system is not very efficient absorbing less than half of the food it eats.

We learned that one of the jobs of the mahout is to relieve elephant constipation. The elephants have learned that the mahouts will help them. They will turn around, presenting their rump so that the mahout can alleviate the problem either manually or by using a hose to try and soften and lubricate the dung.

Matilda was a little anxious about getting too close to the rear of an elephant, without the added complication of constipation.

Apparently all the mahouts in Laos are men, not because women cannot train as mahouts but because none generally apply for the job.

An elephant trunk is incredible. It has no bones or joints but over 40,000 individual muscles [compared to around 600 in the human body] which make it very flexible and we watched fascinated as Nuan and Bochan wrapped their trunks around thin twigs, branches and whole saplings to gather food.

Seven of us walked back to the centre for lunch [see Dish of the day] whilst one of the group continued on for a the full day experience and a picnic with the two elephants in the jungle.

The elephants at MandaLao also provide commercial opportunities other than walking. Their diet is very fibrous, based largely on leaves and trees. We watched the canopy shaking as one of the elephants uprooted a sapling and dragged it behind them as they ate the foliage. The dung is collected by the locals and used to make elephant dung paper: the shop was selling souvenirs.

Elephants are often seen as symbols of strength and wisdom and up close they are both intelligent and majestic. We were amazed at the arrogance of those who felt entitled to exploit these complex creatures. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with the elephants at MandaLao and would recommend this experience.

Video of the day:

Selfie of the day:

Dish of the day:

Route Map: