There's a park in Bali where you can swim and play basketball with elephants
The park's owner, Nigel Mason, has been fighting for animal rights in Bali since 1980. For this reason, he ensures the elephants are well attended to and treated with love.
You can touch and hand-feed the gentle giants who will approach you.
Guests who stay at the lodge will wake up to elephants right outside their window. The rooms are built with a balcony landing so that you easily jump on board the elephants that approach and wait to take you to breakfast.
Guests can tour the park while riding an elephant through the tropical Taro rainforest. There's a research laboratory and a botanical garden on site.
There's a lake here where the elephants like to swim — sometimes with guests still on their backs.
Since the park's opening in 2002, the elephants have become accustomed to interacting with humans.
Specialists have taught the elephants how to paint so that their artworks are exhibited and sold to generate funds for continuing their rescue.
Ready for a game of hoops? Throughout the day, you'll find the elephants playing basketball and soccer in the park's recreation area.
There are four shows that take place every day in the park. Times vary throughout the year but you'll be able to see the elephants do tricks with each other, and with people on site.
It's fascinating to see the incredible intelligence of these creatures, who quickly learned how to hula hoop around their trunks.
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