Bali is one of 17,500 islands which form the country of Indonesia. It is a province and it is the westernmost of the group of islands known as the Lesser Sunda Islands. Situated east of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes not only the island of Bali but also a few smaller offshore islands, such as Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and a Nusa Ceningan to the southeast. The provincial capital, situated on the Island of Bali is Denpasar. It is the biggest city by population in the Lesser Sunda Islands. The town of Ubud in Greater Denpasar is known as  Bali’s cultural centre.

Bali is a beautiful small island with breathtaking waterfalls like Sekumpul in the north and white sand beaches at Nyang Nyang in the south and lots of wonderfully stunning features in the middle. It has a magical blend of colourful culture, friendly people, stunning nature, countless activities, tropical weather, culinary delights, vibrant nightlife, and beautiful accommodation. Bali is rated regularly as one of the best travel destinations in the world. This however, causes tourists, especially backpackers, to flock to Bali to explore its natural awe and wonder. To try to stem over tourism and preserve the islands natural beauty the government has just ( February 2024) introduced a tourist tax. Foreign travellers visiting the island will now pay 150,000 rupiahs (around £7.50 or US$9.50) in addition to any other visa fees. 

We arrived in Bali by cruise ship. It was a particularly hot and sticky day. Our welcome to port consisted of a musical group of, what looked like school children, dancing, playing drums and xylophones in a very professional way….What a lovely welcome it was…full of warmth, colour and culture.

We were ushered to our coach as we headed of for our tour. We had done a lot of research into the tour we had opted to take. Many people would frown and call an Elephant riding Safari unethical. However, most people who know us are aware that we have a passion and love of wildlife and conservation, in particular we like to support the protection and enhancement of endangered species and promote animal welfare. Bali has a multi-award-winning park which is  dedicated as an elephant rescue facility it is  also home to Bali’s largest herd of critically-endangered Sumatran elephants, 6 of which were born at the sanctuary. So we decided to have a once in a lifetime experience and visit the sanctuary and take part in elephant trekking, interact with these majestic creatures by getting up close & personal with them. The park is fully committed to conservation and has set high standards in how to care for elephants in a purpose-built environment. Wow! Did we have a great, fun time. 

It took us a considerable time by bus to get to the sanctuary, the bus even stopped for a toilet break. On arriving at the sanctuary each group had an allocated entrance time. While we waited we looked around a small museum at the entrance to the park. This told us all about the Sumatran elephants plight for survival and how the sanctuary had come about.

When our allocated time came we were walked through some amazingly green and colourful  gardens. As we strolled down to where we could see some elephants you could witness that they are well cared for in a healthy and stimulating environment that caters to all their daily needs. We walked around a large lake in which some elephants were walking through whilst being ridden by their handler and tourists…..

Some of the elephants where doing what elephants do and squirting water from their trunks all over their backs and unsuspecting visitors, who squealed in delight or was it surprise. This made one particular elephant do it all the more !!!! The elephants quite obviously enjoyed this even if their passengers hadn’t expected to have an extra shower!! 

The elephants walk along side a raised platform, where you wait to get on to the seat.

To mount the seat you step out and sit down all at the same time, so as not to put your weight directly on to the elephants back. This was a tricky manoeuvre for the first person as you need to sit on the far side of the seat which is made for two. My long legged husband was summing up how to do this when he said ‘ladies first’….oh what a gentleman…. So off I stepped stretching my short, dumpy legs as far as possible….have I mentioned it was a hot and sticky day!!!…..thankfully I managed to reach the right part of the seat, however my trousers were not as fortunate, they were stuck to me and hadn’t enjoyed the stretch causing them to rip across the derrière (backside) …oh dear!!!!…

John mounted with the utmost of ease and our handler/driver set our majestic beast on its way. We wandered through the gardens stopping when ever our elephant wanted to browse or communicate with another elephant.

There was no harassing of the elephant. The only thing I didn’t like was seeing two elephants chained in two different areas. They had vegetarian and water around them.  Our handler/guide explained that they were both males on musth (periods of heightened testosterone levels)and this causes the elephants to have aggressive behaviour during this time. So for the safety of the workers, tourists and other elephants when the males enter a period of Musth they are segregated and chained. 

After about an hour  our elephant entered the lake and wandered around it. We would have welcomed a ‘trunk shower’ but that wasn’t on our mounts mind, although spraying water around our elephant was mindful to keep us dry.

We were returned to the dismounting area and we both disembarked without incident. Our elephant was then rewarded with fresh greenery and lots of cooing from us. 

We were provided with a pleasant lunch and wandered around the gift shop for a while. We were then invited back to meet some of the younger elephants who had a few tricks to show us… placing a garland around our necks and kissing our checks with its trunk in return for some food we had been given to reward it.

WOW !!! What a wonderful experience we had had.

The cost of rescuing, researching, breeding these critically endangered species is such that without the tourism this conservation could never take place. Would we do it again? Probably not but we are pleased we did it and contributed towards the survival of this species.

Our tour continued to the art and craft market in Ubud. The first thing we did was purchase a batik wrap so I could cover my exposed derrière!! . We had a good look around and we were  fairly well hassled by the stall holders. We only bought a carved wooden chopstick holder. I really liked the blown glass bowls which sit on natural branches of trees…the glass is blown to the shape of the tree branch holder. There was however no way of getting something like that home. I am very fortunate to have a fantastic treasure of a friend who a month later went to an awful lot of trouble to import me one of these for my birthday. It now sits proudly on my windowsill, at home, with coloured lights adorning it’s interior. 

Our trip back from Ubud was a long one. The traffic was horrendous, but the sightseeing was great. Thankfully it was a Ships Tour we had taken because we were two hours late getting back to port. Being a Ships Tour the Ship waits for your return, otherwise we would have ‘missed the boat’, as the saying goes. We were not the last bus back and scurried aboard with other cruisers looking down from their balconies shaking their heads as if we were the cause of the ships departure being delayed….which of course we were but not of our own making….

What a wonderful day we had had…full of first time experiences. Our bus tour through the magnificent countryside had demonstrated why this Island is so popular, it is defiantly a place we would like to revisit.