"I have forwarded your company
(Endemic Guides Eco Tour) to
quite a few colleagues and
friends so hopefully they will
come out to the
Elephant Sanctuary that we so
much enjoyed. The kids still
talk about their day there so
I have recently been to
our local zoo here in Perth
and our daughter was once
again telling all of her class
mates that she rode and played
with the elephants in
Malaysia.
I once again thank you for a
wonderful trip and yes if I am
ever there again, I would
certainly try and get back to
Sue Walters
Australia, 2006.
What Wendy's (Australian) commented about us. (@
2006)Finding a tour to Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary
near Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, proved a little difficult .The travel agent
could find nothing so I resorted to the internet, where I too was left none
the wiser. I did however find information about the sanctuary and was lucky
enough to notice a photograph credited to Endemic Guides.
I contacted them and booked a tour through internet.
Our guide Lee arrived punctually in an air conditioned car and drove us to
the hills about 1 ½ hours from KL. He was happy to stop should we need to,
and at Karak Village he stopped and bought us their local specialty, custard
tarts, delicious! The next stop was at a roadside stall to purchase local
fruit. The rambutans were a treat and after our visit to the sanctuary we
called them “baby elephant” fruit because of their long spiky hair. We also
stopped to take a closer look at a tree full of hornbills, 14 in total.
Our first official tour stop was Deerland hidden away in the countryside
near Kuala Gandah. Here we were able to hand feed deer, monkeys, ostriches
and mouse deer. We were privileged to meet Hitam (black) the baby sun bear
and to be able to hand feed and pat him. His large father Muda, enjoyed the
milk and nuts we were given to hand feed him and while he was engrossed in
the consumption of food and milk we were able to rub his big bear belly.
The manager and keepers were friendly and informative and they obviously
cared greatly for their animals.
From Deerland we continued on to Kuala Gandah, the reason for our holiday in
Malaysia. We were not disappointed. We watched a video about elephant
relocation, followed by a tasty local lunch cooked fresh at the café. Drinks
and choice of menu were included in the tour price. Lee looked after us
considerately but not intrusively and he allowed us all the time we wanted.
We fed the older elephants by hand, rode the larger one on land and then in
the river, before being ceremoniously dumped in the water
when he lay down on command. The baby elephants were so adorable! Wiry black
hair about 5cm long covered them completely and they were tubby and curious.
I could have watched them forever. One thought my skirt looked worthy of
further investigation and I have a photograph of me standing with my arm
around his neck and his trunk holding my skirt.
Lee kindly took photographs all day with his own camera and we now have them
on disc as a wonderful memory. After a magical day with the wildlife of
Malaysia we headed back to KL. The next day I booked to take the same tour a
second time because Ihad enjoyed it so much. We were lucky enough to have
Lee as our guide again, and every minute of the tour was just as wonderful
as the first one.
Thank you Endemic Guides!
What Maya Said about Endemic Guides (2007);
I did the Kuala Gandah/Deer Park tour in May this year, with my husband
and 4 year old daughter, Nina. The tour was definitely one of the
highlights of our trip, which says a lot as we were on a 2.5 month
round-the-world trip which included stops in Europe, USA and French
Polynesia. Lee is a great guide - friendly, easy to talk to and is very
knowledgeable. I grew up in KL, and had been to Kuala Gandah before, so it
seemed strange to be booking a tour when I could've organised it myself....
but it was much easier having someone else organise everything and, as there
were just the 3 of us on our tour, it really just seemed like we had a good
friend showing us around.
We enjoyed both of the main attractions: holding a
python and feeding sun bears, ostriches, rabbits, Javanese deer and mouse
deer at Deer Park; and feeding, riding on and bathing elephants at the
sanctuary - being able to get so close to all those animals was truly a
magical experience. I agree with your previous clients that some of the
animals (especially the adult sun bears, and the monkey) at Deer Park need
larger cages, and we thought the elephant rides could've been a bit longer,
but the great thing about both places is how low-key and relaxed they are,
and we hope they stay that way. We also enjoyed the documentary on the
elephant relocation programme.
We will definitely do more tours with you when we are next in Malaysia,
and will recommend you to our friends and family. Everyone who sees our
photos is amazed. Thanks to Lee for such a fun day, and also for taking
some great photos of us (and to Jen Ney for sending us the photos on CD).
Maya - Australia 2007
Feedback From Richard
and Toni Figueroa-Powell
Toni & Richard, September 18, 2007..................Our lunch
at the Elephant sanctuary was tasty - I happend to like Malaysian food so it
was great to eat some more while we were there. The reason for our trip
realised once we walked out into the elephant compound and the
elephants began to join the visitors. What a treat! Watching the elephants
being bathed, feeding them, riding them and interacting with the two
babies was so very special. Added to the sanctuary staff were very
accommodating..................Continue
here.
Gaille here from Sydney Australia
I would like to thank you and our wonderful guide for the wonderful
experience we had with the elephants.After being extremely ill and having to
cancel our first booking, I was glad to recover enough to try again 4 days
later. I am still recovering from the sickness, but it does not cloud my
memories. It was the best day I have experienced with such magnificent
animals. To the degree that we are going to sponsor an elephant for the kids
for Christmas...
Thank you also for the get well card you left at my hotel - it meant alot.
Now, to our Guide (Mr Prem). What a legend! He taught me so much about
Malaysia - as my 10 year old son was doing a project on Malaysia. He taught
us a traditional kids song, and answered so many questions that Josh was
able to use for his project. Would you kindly pass on to him that Josh
received 60 out of 70 for his project. He lost 10 marks for forgetting to
put silly things in 0 he had in fact answered but forgot to highlight.
Thanks you all again for an amazing experience and please by all means add
our comments to your website. We would be honored to recommend your tour!
Regards
Gaille, Helen, Marianne, Jenni, Dolce, Robynne and Scott! September 2007
I have taken a long time to contact you about our holiday to Malaysia in
October.
I organised the tour of the Deer Park and Elephant Sanctuary via email with
you, prior to our holiday.
We wanted to let you know, that our tour with Mr. Lee was a highlight of our
fantastic holiday. Mr. Lee and his driver also took us to see the Batu
Caves, which were very interesting.
The sunbear at the Deer Park made us all laugh, and we were very lucky to
have such a close encounter with him.
The Elephant Sanctuary was amazing. We were able to feed the elephants and
then swim with them, and we have lasting memories of this wonderful day.
Mr. Lee had so much interesting information to share with us, and he is such
a delightful person.We loved everything, including the lunch he had brought
with him to share, and the opportunity to learn so much about Malaysia. We
even stopped and saw the rubber dripping from th rubber trees.
In closing I wanted to thank you on behalf of my family, for a fantastic
day, that added so much to our holiday, and pass on our appreciation to Mr.
Lee for all his efforts.
Kind Regards,
Donna Boord (3rd Oct 2007)
I just wanted to get in touch to say thank you so much for your help
with booking our day trip to Kuala Gundah elephant sanctuary on 29
January. My husband and I had an awesome time!! We loved Deerland Park
and feeding the animals, it was a unique experience and we were able to
get up close and personal with many animals we have never seen in person
before. Like many people I guess, the sun bears were our favourite,
followed by the Hedgehog!
Kind regards
Stacey Matthews Jan 08 - Australia
