Kulen Elephant Forest

This was a highlight of our trip! It was wonderful to interact with the elephants in a way that was safe for both the elephants and us. The caretakers are obviously passionate about protecting and caring for the elephants. The elephants are rescues from tourist attractions or logging camps and it is delightful that they are able to freely roam at this sanctuary. We made nutritious food balls for the elephants and then the elephants were invited to join us. The elephants who were interested came and we were able to feed them. We were able to walk with the elephants for a while and then observe as they received their daily care. As we walked with the elephants, we were able to scratch them behind the ears and they loved it! They would flap their ears and then lean into the scratches (again their participation in this was totally voluntary). We ended up fully splattered with mud, but we were delighted! Afterwards, we had a light vegetarian lunch at the sanctuary before driving back. The location on the Google maps is the main office where you meet for the departure to the sanctuary. We made our reservations at the office, but you can also make reservations using the Kulen Elephant Forest website rather than paying for a tour through a secondary site like Viator or Get Your Guide.

Wonderful staff, very informative and friendly. Wonderful sanctuary efforts. Wonderful activities - for to make food and feed the elephants, get into the water and bathe the animals and walk through their natural habitat with them.

A brilliant morning spent with the elephants! Our guide was friendly and very informative. Watching these majestic animals in their natural environment was amazing! Feeding them was enjoyable. The meal served for lunch was delicious and there was plenty to share with our small group.

Most amazing experience, meeting the elephants, and feeding them the food we had prepared earlier. Our guide, Kia, was very knowledgeable, very engaging, and quite fun too. Also served us lunch which was plentiful and delicious. Seemed like a great project to support.

Today we had a magical experience - feeding and walking with a group of elephants in the foothills of the Kulen Forest. Our guide, Seth, showed us how to make sticky rice balls for the elephants and then took us to meet four of the most wonderful animals on earth. The sanctuary cares for 9 elephants, all retired from a hard life in the tourist or logging industries. Clearly the animals are living a good life here and have excellent care. Seth clearly loves his job and was extremely knowledgeable (with a flair for hilariously terrible jokes). This was a wonderful way to wrap up our journey through this magnificent country.

This is a great close- up experience with these beautiful elephants. The tour included making the snacks and feeding them to the elephants, then walking in the jungle with them. Following was a very delicious lunch. I highly recommend 👍

Bucket list stuff! None of the glitz and glamour, but up close and personal with the daily life of an elephant. Clearly very happy and content, these elephants are well looked after. What a treat to witness them in such a low impact but intimate manner. Just…. Go. You won’t regret it, you’ll have memories yo cherish for life.

We spent the day at the elephant forest and had a great time. Our guide Seth was very energetic and told us a lot about the elephants. We could really see that the elephants were well taken care of. They were in charge of where they wanted to roam and we just followed them. We would definitely recommend stopping by if you have the chance!