Elephant Sanctuary Plettenberg Bay 🐘 — Attraction in George

My husband and I stumbled across this sanctuary on our Honeymoon. We aim to be responsible tourists and so, such places do make us nervous. I was anxious that there may be signs of abuse, circus like behaviour or mistreatement of these majestic animals. With little information to go off online I can only base the elephant's welfare off what I saw. The enclosures were large and well looked after & the elephants appeared to be fed a range of food. I believe we had the lead ranger and it was him that instilled confidence in me over the welfare of these beautiful elephants. He spoke about them with great respect and he knew all about their anatomy, particularly emphasising the empathetic nature of elephant's. For me it was clear he felt connected to them and dearly cared for them. The tour itself involved a walk with the elephants (holding their trunks) and then feeding them Pumpkin (which they loved). It truly was incredible being so close to the elephant's and the other rangers again, showed great respect.

Overall we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and saw it as a highlight of our trip so far in SA. The rangers appear to be doing a fantastic job in looking after these rescue elephant's who were raised in captivity and so, cannot be introduced into the wild. The only reason I did not give 5 stars is because I asked a lot of questions to the rangers so as to understand the ethics about the sanctuary. However others may be less inclined to ask and so, may leave confused or concerned. It would be great if the ethical side of such sancturies was openly spoken about during the tour :)

Please keep caring for these stunning animals - the team are doing a fantastic job and deserve to be...

It has always been a dream of mine to be able to hang out with an elephant and experience their majestic nature up close. This place was excellent for that! We booked the brushing experience and walking tour with the elephants first thing in the morning on Tuesday.

Our main guide was so passionate about the elephants and knew the answers to all my questions. I can see how some people may think this is touristy. In fact, a lot of people just come to these places to say they took pictures with an elephant and touched one.

The guides at first seemed like they were just going through the motions with the routine of brushing, teaching, walking the elephants, etc. but once they saw I had a giant elephant tattoo on my forearm and genuinely cared about learning more about the elephants and less about the pictures, they warmed up to me.

The time slot allowed of 1 hour does not allow you to truly connect with an elephant and observe their behavior, however, it does let you interact with an elephant, learn about their anatomy and behavior, connect with wonderful guides and feed them apples.

As an elephant “novice” this place was exactly what I was looking for. If you’ve been to a bunch of elephant sanctuaries, going off other people’s reviews, it may be different than what you’re expecting. But the elephants are healthy, happy and the guides are truly committed to taking care of them (most of the elephant keepers + guides sleep with them every night to protect them from poachers), which to me, is wonderful. And I will remember their passion and the beautiful memories of Thandi, Marula and...

This is a circus or a tour to get the perfect Instagram picture, not a sanctuary! It hosts 5 elephants at the moment. The elephants may have come here hurt and have been able to recover, but are now being reinforced to interact with people several hours a day seven days a week through food. They are kept in a relatively small habitat. Please do not support that kind of interaction! Me and my wife should have put more effort in researching the program and feel bad for going there.

Detail of our encounter: We booked the brushing encounter. Upon arrival the group went in the relatively small enclosure the elephants are kept in together. Everyone took turns in the following: walking a short distance with one of the three elephants (they touch your hand with their trunk - you feel like walking a pet), giving the elephant a hug and - in our case - a small brushing routine. Afterwards there is another photo session and you are able to feed the animals. Photos are taken free of charge during all parts, tips are expected. The total interaction time one has directly with the elephant is several minutes. The rest of the time you spent there you watch other people do the same. This "first"/main part takes up to one hour. The last half hour we were shown a video that was taken of the whole group during the encounter which can be purchased at the shop and asked to come see the shop items.

Was it a once in a lifetime encounter? Yes. Were beautiful pictures taken? Yes. Do I feel bad for the animals? Absolutely. Would I recommend it? Not a chance, out of respect for these...