Hosted by Elephant Care Relief Foundation

Volunteer Ethically with Sri Lanka's Domesticated Elephants

Name: Volunteer Ethically with Sri Lanka's Domesticated Elephants
Brand: Elephant Care Relief Foundation
SKU: 252518
Rating: 5 (3 reviews)

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5.00 Rating

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Location

Sri Lanka
- Kandy

Length

1 to 52 weeks

Project Types

Youth Conservation Wildlife Conservation Elephant Conservation Tourism

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Program Details

Language

English

Age Min.

Age Max

Timeframe

Year Round

Housing

Guesthouse Host Family

Groups

Small Group (1-15)

Travel Type

Budget Family

Pricing

Starting Price

250

Price Details

Week long volunteering with amenities included:
Price changes based on amount of people signing up and how many weeks you are volunteering for.
We price the project at this as almost all the money received by the volunteers goes towards the elephants. This is either by trying to save more, or by trying to expand the project to have better facilities for taking care of even more elephants.
You see the impact of your payment immediately when coming to the project, be it through extra facilities we can provide for the elephants, or even through the addition of an elephant to the project. We show you that your money goes a long way.

What's Included

Accommodation Some Activities Airport Transfers Equipment Meals Transportation

What's Not Included

SIM cards Travel Insurance Visa

Last Updated: Oct 14, 2019

Last Reviewed: Oct 03, 2019

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5 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Here at the Elephant Care Relief Foundation (ECRF), we care solely for the welfare and well-being (mental and physical) of Sri Lanka's domesticated elephants. We pride ourselves in being one of the only properly ethical and sustainable projects that do this in the country. We save elephants from labour camps and tourist back-riding places, and focus on healing their bodies and minds, giving them a life they deserve to live. We make sure they are properly fed and washed, whilst also walking them distances that they are comfortable with, and giving them the love and attention that they deserve.

You'll have the opportunity to get up close to these animals, creating a personal connection that you'll never forget.

We don't condone back-riding and abuse here at the ECRF. We want to bring Sri Lanka's domesticated elephants away from this way of life, making sure that they continue to be treated correctly from now until the future. Our dream is to save all elephants on this Island.

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Video and Photos

Volunteer feeding the elephant a sweet treat

Volunteers walking with elephant in the rice fields

Project manager Myszka chopping down a tree for the elephants

Myszka and Amarasiri with Amarasiri's family

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Program Highlights

Make a direct impact on Domesticated Elephant Conservation
Ethical Volunteering
Nice and relaxing with hard work at some points
Understand and interact with local culture
Leave with an unforgettable experience

Program Impact

The impact you create by volunteering on this project is huge. Just one week volunteering helps an elephant stay out of the harsh and distasteful environment that they are used to, and gives them a better life that they want to lead.

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Program Reviews

5.00 Rating

based on 3 reviews

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Rating Spread Volunteer

5 rating 100%
4 rating 0%
3 rating 0%
2 rating 0%
1 rating 0%

Impact 5
Support 5
Fun 4.35
Value 5
Safety 5

Good for Solo Travelers, Couples, Students

Showing 1 - 3 of 3 reviews

Here I have definitely made the most important experience with an elephant! Here you will be enlightened a lot. The host family is super-hearted and takes care of your well-being. You can look forward to an experience in which you get close to the traditional cultural life through the accommodation and host family. It was great fun to get the food for Mali and scrub her skin at the river. She is such an amazing and wonderful creature. Short to the process: after breakfast you go together with the host father to the place where Mali and her Mahoud live. There he buys sweet parts so you can greet them with it. After that, you walk through the jungle to get her food, helping the Mahoud carry. When enough is found, you go to the river to wash her, it's really fun. After that you will get lunch and go back home by bus. You are always accompanied, so do not worry. I think such a project exists only here and it is the best that you can do as an elephant lover.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?

On my last day it rained so hard that the project could not actually have taken place. But the Host dad drove with me to Mali, because I still wanted to say goodbye. That was really nice of him, because it rained really really hard.

It’s a program where you learn to appreciate the needs of an elephant, they usually live in really bad conditions and with this program they are trying to make a change. Really recommend it. Also you get to live with amazing people and get to know other volunteers. When I when I was with a beautiful elephant named Mali, she was really kind and let all of us be near her and helping her
With this program you learn to appreciate nature and all its surroundings, you can really disconnect from the rest of the world and focus on other needs that we have in this world. I really recommend it for all types of persons, from animal lovers, to people who want to get out of their comfort zone. Sri Lanka is specially a beautiful country and you can make a change if you want to do it.

What was the most surprising thing you saw or did?

Seeing how lovely the elephants are and how friendly they are

Compared to many many elephant projects in Sri Lanka this one is by far one of the most caring for the elephant itself. Plenty of chance to see the real Sri Lanka and meet and live alongside a Sri Lankan family. The family is one of the nicest, most accommodating family I’ve ever met and I was sad to leave them finally after 2 months. Would highly recommend!!

Questions & Answers

About Elephant Care Relief Foundation

The Elephant Care Relief Foundation (ECRF) is an ethical project, located in Sri Lanka, which cares solely for the welfare and well-being of domesticated elephants. We save elephants from tourist back riding places and labour camps, and make sure they live a life they deserve on our project. We are one of the only projects in Sri Lanka that do this...