Elephant Village

Elephant Village ensures the support of indigenous & disadvantaged people in remote areas by giving them employment through the creation of more than 40 jobs under fair social circumstances.

Elephant Village ensures the support of the survival of so far 9 elephants living now in harmony with nature and community, kept away from abusive work and cared by professional vet’s.

Elephant village ensures the preservation of a virgin river valley that otherwise would be destroyed by receiving a 20 year leasing agreement from the Lao government to establish a sustainable tourism project..
 
 
 

The History of Elephant Village

Elephant Village founder Mr.Markus PESCHKE first dreamed of establishing an elephant camp amid the jungle, cliffs and waterfalls of Xieng Lom village on an exploratory trip down the Nam Khan River in 2001.

Behind the Elephant Village, Mr. Markus came on across temple ruins. He discovered that these bricks were once part of a settlement known as Baan Xang (Elephant Village). According to local sources, this village was established in the 1890’s for the capture, training and care of royal services elephants of Luang Prabang the capital of Lane Xang Kingdom.

The Elephant Village was founded in October of 2003. After intense preparations that included the mapping and cutting of a special elephant trail to the Thad Sae Waterfall. Starting such a project was possible only because its founder, Markus Peschke, had a long history in the local tourism industry, with his “Indochina Spirit” restaurant in the center of Luang Prabang as the base of operations. The trekking, rafting and hiking tours were well received, so there was a good chance to attract customers for elephant riding as well.

At the beginning, the camp rented two elephants from nearby Hong Sa district. But this turned out to present some difficulties, since none had ever rented an elephant for that purpose before, and it was not certain weather the elephants would be suitable for tourist rides at all. So the camp bought its own elephants.

  
 

The Care and Share philosophy

Elephant Village’s mission is to provide a peaceful home and sustainable future to elephants in LAOS. Tourism activities contribute the elephants with the opportunity for support themselves and the neighboring local villages.

Elephant Village is managed in a sustainable and fair manner that actively benefits both, elephants and local villages. Most of the camp staff comes from villages nearby. The elephant food supplement is purchased from villages around the camp.

At Elephant Village everyone’s safety comes first. Therefore, not only the humans (especially the Mahouts), but also the elephants are trained for tourism activities.

 
 

Why book with us?

  • Elephant earn their own living /  alternative to logging
  • Stop brutal logging work
  • Rehabilitation for old and handicap elephants
  • Community support
  • Fulltime veterinarian
  • Elephant information center and education program

Elephant Village invests in sustainable tourism and treats the areas we visit, and their residents, respectfully and responsibly. We provide a higher standard of service, and charge slightly higher prices, to provide local communities with assistance and capital.

 
 

So, what is the difference?

  • We provide a permanent home to our elephants and create local jobs.
  • We grow or buy elephant food to discourage slash-and-burn farming.
  • We have an elephant care staff of professionals from around the world.
  • We created a village fund, to fairly distribute the income from our tours.
  • We cooperate directly with villages, and donate school supplies etc.
  • We develop exciting new ideas and products, and bring them to the local market first.
  • We DO NOT invest in redundant and overpriced hardware.
  • We DO NOT copy others’ ideas, and form alliances with the communities we visit
  
 
2008 © ELEPHANT VILLAGE  Ban Xieng Lom, Luang Phabang, Laos
Tel / Fax : +856(0)71 252417, +856(0)30 5140614       E-mail: info@elephantvillage-laos.com