Volunteer Work With Elephants

I traveled alone to India and worked 2 weeks with the elephants in the month of February. It was a life changing experience for sure and I feel blessed to have been able to work so closely with these magnificent animals. Totoram, the tuk tuk driver is a wonderful man who I felt safe with and well cared for. All the employees of VWI made me feel looked after as they checked in with me regularly to see how I was doing. The program is very affordable. The guest house was good. Living there was an authentic Indian experience that I will never forget. Although I am not a morning person, getting up at 0430 hours and being the first person the elephants saw in the morning made my day. I took bananas as a treat so they could start their day off happy. It was pretty cool to see the city come alive during the morning tuk tuk rides. Having the afternoons off to sight see or shop or hang out was perfect. I highly recommend this program to everyone. The work was not hard and the memories will be in my heart forever. Good Job VWI!

I was there 1 week in January 2015. Working days started at 5:00am. We cleaned the enclosures and fed the elephants before they went to work. Then we had a nice Masala Tea at the fire. Around 8:30am we were back and the rest of the day was free.
Accommodation with host family was basic but ok. Also food was good.
I hope I can manage to go there again. Would recommend this Project to everyone.

We got up every morning at 4.30 and got picked up by the most amazing tuk tuk driver - Totoram. Then we drove for about half an hour to where the six lady elephants were waiting for us to wake them up :) We were back at the guest house around 8.00 every morning, and then we had the rest of the day off (except for two days a week when we went back to work in the afternoon to feed the elephants).

The work was not hard at all, and there was chai time (tea time) almost every 15 minutes :P The animals are huge, and in the beginning I was a little scared, but after the second day I trusted them completely. I also got the chance to "play" a little bit with them by asking the guys who worked with the elephants to teach me how to climb one. That was probably the highlight of the week, along with washing them and riding them.

The family we lived with was also fantastic (they even invited us to a wedding while we were there), but the food could have been better. Sometimes we only got chapati for breakfast, or we didn't get breakfast or lunch at all.

I had an great time working with the elephants. Even within the one week they were there we got to know them and their personalities. The mahouts who care for the elephants are all extremely nice and feed you up with chai. Sukret kept in contact with us from the moment we booked the experience right until the very end (we now even have him and Govind on facebook). Our tuk tuk driver was the loveliest man in the world. My friend Megan spilt coffee on herself as we were sightseeing and he pulled over and rinsed her down! The host family were extremely accommodating and made us feel at home. Although while we were there, the daughter-in-law was basically in labour and one of the daughters was getting engaged, so it was a bit hectic.
I can assure you that this project and all the people are legitimate. We have a very near miss. Our driver for around Rajisthan tooko us to who we thought was Sukret, but the guy claimed to be Sukret's cousin. After attempting to take our money several times, we rang Sukret just to double check, and he said he had no idea who that man was and didn't have a cousin that worked at the elephant village. It was a close call!

My son and I were involved in this project for a week .Although this was a relatively short time, we learnt a lot about the daily care of the elephants and were able to build up a good relationship with several of the elephants, especially Rhooba. Although the Mahouts speak very little English, Govind, our Co ordinator, was with us daily to answer our questions and ensure we were still able to interact with the Mahouts and learn a great deal about the life of a working elephant.We were able to feed and bath the elephants daily and make elephant chapatis! The work does begin early, at 5 am but this does mean, the late mornings and afternoons are free to explore. Sukret, Govind and our driver were excellent helping us and providing advice when needed. The program is very professionally run and is to be commended.
People seeking to take part in the project should be aware that these are working elephants and although they are well cared for and have good relationships with their Mahouts, they are chained up for much of the time which does give rise to some welfare concerns. All the elephants were very friendly and showed no sign of depression. They were not over worked and did have regular veterinary care. In February, there are Elephant Games, when the elephants will play games such as football etc.They are trained for a period before this. This would be an excellent time to volunteer!

This program was really great! I spent a month there this past summer and I learned quite a lot about the elephants in Jaipur and Indian culture. The elephants are wonderful to work with. I loved being able to bathe them in the lake and help the mahouts paint them. It can be difficult seeing the elephants work with such heavy chairs and be chained the way they are. However, you definitely gain perspective after you learn about the elephant culture in Jaipur and learn about how other elephants are treated in other projects. I think the elephants are well taken care of and the mahouts genuinely care about them. My host family was really great too! I had a lot of time to myself, but they were really friendly and helped me with shopping. My room was great and I really liked that I had my own bathroom. I also enjoyed the sightseeing that was organized on the weekends - there are a lot of beautiful, interesting places to see in and around Jaipur. The program staff also helped me plan a trip to visit the Taj Mahal, which was stunning.
Overall, this program was amazing and I hope I can go back one day!

Doing a Volunteer work with elephants in Jaipur was a wonderful experience.
First of all, thanks to our host family they take care us well. They not only shared incredible love but also very informative, patient and gave us plenty of options during our stay.
At first on our day 1, I must admit I was rather timid around the elephants but after thirty minutes I felt like I had made some new best friends. During our stay my wife, some friends and I learned how to feed the elephants and establish a relationship. Soon, we were doing things I never imagined like bathing and feeding the elephants from close-up.

Doing a care work with elephants isn't just a fun experience but a true bonding experience between you and these wonderful, mysterious animals. Not only do you leave with a greater understanding of the species but an appreciation for mahouts efforts in creating a serene and humane habitat for the elephants. If you're going to India spend at least 1 weeks with them.

The actual volunteer project working directly with the elephants was amazing! The mahouts are wonderful to talk to and are clearly devoted to their animals. , govind and Raj were fantastic!

However, our group had travelled a lot around India before arriving at the project, and so were familiar with costs and scamming. Our host family at Prity guest house took advantage of the naiivety of the other volunteers and were taking them to shops where they would receive commission for extortionate tourist prices. As well as this, they were charging ALOT for henna, their own clothes and paintings that they were trying to sell the volunteers! They were rude and obviously did not want us in their home.

Overall the project was fantastic, and working with the elephants and their mahouts should not be missed. However, if you are interested in this project, PLEASE request other accommodation, as it ruined our entire experience.