Panorama Route Tours & Activities 
The Elephant Sanctuary
Tour details
Participants are requested to meet at the tour operator's office, from where a guide will take them to the elephants.
Day programs are fixed through telephone booking or a reservation. Drive-bys/walk-ins are accommodated wherever possible, but cannot be guaranteed a place on a program. They may need to be moved to a later timeslot. To avoid disappointment, please make an advance booking.
The Elephant Sanctuary
Instant booking available
Elephants are highly intelligent and delightful. Participants will discover a different character, personality and temperament in each of the elephants.
The participants will learn a lot about elephants and also get to touch, feel, feed, walk trunk-in-hand and even ride these magnificent animals.
The Elephant Sanctuary hosts a unique and fully guided educational program that sets itself apart from anything else that South Africa has on offer in terms of elephant interaction and touching elephants. Guest numbers are limited to ensure personal attention and maximum elephant interaction for each guest, making this a truly memorable and enriching experience.
Visitors can learn more about elephant habits, behaviour, different personalities and anatomy through up-close and personal interaction. You get an opportunity to touch, feed and even walk trunk-in-hand with these magnificent animals.
The Elephant Sanctuary’s elephant walk is unique because you don’t just walk with or alongside the animals – you actually walk trunk-in-hand with them. Now imagine walking hand-in-hand with a child or loved one, then remind yourself that in this case the other hand is a trunk!
The main focus of The Elephant Sanctuary is to educate people about all aspects of elephants and elephant husbandry. If we discuss the elephant’s ear, for example, you will get the opportunity to actually touch one and to get a closer look at the smoothness of the skin on the back of the ear compared to the rough skin on the outside.
We also offer a short elephant-back ride – a privilege historically reserved for kings.
The Elephant Sanctuary’s elephant back riding program is conducted in a controlled environment to make it a safe yet exciting experience. Elephant rides are done bare back to enhance your contact with the animal and lasts ten to fifteen minutes. Our experience show that a 10 to 15 minute elephant back ride is long enough to fully experience the unique motion and feeling you get when riding on the back of an elephant.
The safety of our guests is of paramount importance. We want our guests to have an educational experience where they learn first-hand through touch, sight, smell and simply being close to the elephants. The program teaches our guests a broader and better understanding of elephants and their conservation, along with the animals’ dynamics and anatomy. We also share with guests our knowledge on the history and future of elephants in Africa.
Elephant brush downs
This very special educational program is unique to The Elephant Sanctuary. The experience includes brushing down and grooming of the elephants with their handlers on a one-on-one basis, followed by our trunk-in-hand elephant interaction educational program.
The elephant brush down starts promptly at 7:15. Booking is essential.
Rates: R 450.00 per adult and R 225.00 per child(4-14) years.
Elephant trunk-in-hand program
An amazing 1.5 hours of up-close and personal interactive educational program with the elephants in their natural environment. Our experienced guides shares in-depth information and insight into African elephants whilst you discover elephants as never before.
Have the opportunity of walking trunk-in-hand with elephants. It is a wonderful experience unique to The Elephant Sanctuary. You get the opportunity to learn about elephant personalities, habits and behaviour. Food to feed the elephants is included in the program.
Duration: 1.5 hours. (Please note: these programs run throughout the day. Booking advisable.)
The trunk-in-hand elephant educational program starts promptly at 8:00.
Rates: R 450.00 per adult and R 225.00 per child (4-14) years.
Trunk-in-hand program and elephant back ride
This experience includes the full trunk-in-hand elephant educational program followed by an elephant riding experience – a privilege historically reserved for kings! It is a truly amazing experience to ride these magnificent animals.
The elephant back ride is a short ride of approximately 20 minutes to let you experience riding on the back of an elephant – it is not an elephant back “safari”.
Please note: the minimum age for children to ride is eight (8) years old. Please see other conditions that apply for riding. Bookings essential.
Rates:R 750.00 per adult and R375.00 per child (8-14) years.
Sundowner elephant experience
A two and half hour elephant educational program that includes the trunk-in-hand program and elephant back ride. After the program, you enjoy snacks and drinks on our deck overlooking the dam while you can observe the elephants feeding and roaming in the background.
Please note: the elephant back ride conditions are the same as above. Booking essential.
Rates: R 850.00 per adult and R 450.00 per child (8-14) years.
The Extreme Elephant Experience:
Join us on a unique elephant experience for 2.5 hours. This includes a Trunk-in-Hand program and a elephant back ride of 20min with some sundowner drinks and light snacks at our sundowner deck. This program is ended off with some brushing of the elephants and accompanying them back to their stables.
Rates R1200.00 per adult and R 600.00 per child(8-14) years.
Participant guidelines
It is recommended that participants bring flat, comfortable shoes or sandals, a sun hat, a jacket in cold weather and a camera.
They are advised to wear jeans or long pants, if they plan on riding an elephant.
To enhance the experience, larger groups may be split into smaller components.
| Tour | From |
| Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre | |
| Walking Safaris | |
| Shangana Cultural Village | |
| Skova Owl Research | |
| Shangaan River Club | |
| Balloons Over Africa | |
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