143 ReviewsThe Dubare Elephant Camp is a chance to get to know these giant, enchanting creatures better. With a host of activities built around this, many a guest has left the camp with a sense of responsibility to do their bit towards protecting elephants. A trained naturalist takes our guests through the complexities of elephant history, ecology and biology. Here, you not only get to observe the activities, but actually get to interact with the elephants. Generally guests spend over three hours with the elephants. Roll up your sleeves and pitch in for an elephant grooming session - watching elephants being given a scrub-bath in the river, with rituals like oil being applied to their forehead, tusks and the other aspects of elephant grooming will change your idea of pet maintenance. Once the bath is done, learn how elephant food is prepared and how theyre fed. Mahouts will also demonstrate how elephants obey commands and how they functioned during their earlier role in logging operations. And if youre in the mood, you can take a fifteen-minute elephant ride in to the Dubare Reserve Forest. You even get to witness how a howdah is tied. Meanwhile, you can also try out a coracle ride. These circular rafts give you a typical River Cauvery experience. Spotting a crocodile or two, sunning on the banks, is a highly likely prospect. The surrounding forests are home to exciting wildlife like the gaur, leopard, the wild dog, sloth bear, peacock, partridges, etc. Also during the months of July, August and September, JLR arranges for monsoon river rafting in the stretch adjacent to the camp. Both non-vegetarian and vegetarian fare is served. Upon request, we can arrange for some local cuisine to be part of the spread.
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Near Madikeri, Kushalnagar,Coorg,Karnataka,India
The Dubare Elephant Camp is a chance to get to know these giant, enchanting creatures better. With a host of activities built around this, many a guest has left the camp with a sense of responsibility to do their bit towards protecting elephants. A trained naturalist takes our guests through the complexities of elephant history, ecology and biology. Here, you not only get to observe the activities, but actually get to interact with the elephants. Generally guests spend over three hours with the elephants. Roll up your sleeves and pitch in for an elephant grooming session - watching elephants being given a scrub-bath in the river, with rituals like oil being applied to their forehead, tusks and the other aspects of elephant grooming will change your idea of pet maintenance. Once the bath is done, learn how elephant food is prepared and how theyre fed. Mahouts will also demonstrate how elephants obey commands and how they functioned during their earlier role in logging operations. And if youre in the mood, you can take a fifteen-minute elephant ride in to the Dubare Reserve Forest. You even get to witness how a howdah is tied. Meanwhile, you can also try out a coracle ride. These circular rafts give you a typical River Cauvery experience. Spotting a crocodile or two, sunning on the banks, is a highly likely prospect. The surrounding forests are home to exciting wildlife like the gaur, leopard, the wild dog, sloth bear, peacock, partridges, etc. Also during the months of July, August and September, JLR arranges for monsoon river rafting in the stretch adjacent to the camp. Both non-vegetarian and vegetarian fare is served. Upon request, we can arrange for some local cuisine to be part of the spread.
Rating from 143 reviews
Sleep Quality
RoomsServiceValueCleanliness
disha m on 29/10/2017 03:12
No Coorg trip is complete without this trip
Reach early by 9 to bathe the elephants
The crowds swell from 10
Bathing the animals is a real good fun activity which the mahauts help you
After that the elephants a taken to an activity area where they show you tricks
Later the feeding area where the mahaut gives a bundle of hay and grains for 20 to feed animals
You can carry bananas also to feed them
Elephants and nice and have huge tusks
The baby elephants are 2 but cute
All in all a very nice experience for adults as well as kids
pachakra on 22/10/2017 12:13
Dubare is a popular tourist destination. Many come here for a day trip, spend some time on the waters of the Kaveri and visit the elephant camp for a quick glimpse of the giants. I am glad we didn't do that and chose to stay for a night at the Jungle Lodges.
I have had pleasant experiences at other Jungle Lodges properties and this one was no different. No-frills, but clean and well-maintained accommodation, excellently maintained premises, simple but tasty food, knowledgeable naturalists (Mr Yashwant) and very helpful staff - would sum up our experience. Dubare is not that well-known a wildlife destination as Nagerhole or Bandipur, but the manager, Mr Kumar and his team did enough to make us want to return.
If you are driving from Mysore or Bangalore, try to come in a bit early. The parking is on the riverside and it does get a bit crowded on weekends. Jungle Lodges provides speedboats for you to cross the river to visit the resort and with typical thoroughness had a separate boarding area for guests with luggage. Parking was available near the boarding point, although I am not sure if it was "reserved" for Jungle Lodges guests.
The riverside cottages next to the "Gol ghar" (dining area) have the best view of the river, but the one next to the office (where we stayed) is the quietest. Take your pick based on what you like.
Dubare is not as big as some of the more popular wildlife destinations but the 2-hour jeep ride in the forest was worth it. The forest was beautiful after monsoon. This isn't exactly the best time for wildlife sighting, but we spotted a number of birds, deer the malabar giant squirrel. There are wild elephants in the jungle and we did hear the trumpeting of one herd close by, although they never broke cover. There were a tiger's pug marks too. I was told that there were 6 tigers there. Who knows - we might get lucky next time.
The fun part involves interaction with elephants. These are the tuskers tamed by the forest department and trained for events like the Mysore Dussera. You get a chance to bathe them when they come for their daily dip at the riverbank. It is amazing how gentle such a powerful creature can be with humans. After the bath the elephants put up a show for the crowd gathered. For a small fee you also get a chance to feed them. Personally though, I would prefer to see these magnificent creatures roam free in the jungle and not shuffle with heavy chains around their feet while being controlled with bull-hooks.
And that is why I would prefer staying there, soaking the atmosphere in and learning about the jungle rather than just visiting for a day to watch elephants do tricks.
visanila r on 27/09/2017 10:49
Situated in an island, to be reached by boat only now (Kaveri at her maximum swing now)
Here u can see,touch, feel,feed and even bathe the elephants.
Boat charges ₹30
Entry fee ₹10
Feeding ₹20/bundle
Bathing ₹100
Rafting also available
150177hamidha on 11/07/2017 04:45
Pampering Elephants....., That's what you can do at this elephant camp. You can give them a scrub and a bath and feed them and pet them. It's a great experience. Reach the camp early around 8.30am to avoid rush. It's a good place to spend your morning with kids.
pavanr256 on 20/06/2017 17:38
Standing besides an elephant tells you what she is. It is NOTHING like seeing in a zoo or on TV, these animals are HUGE and feeding them, bathing them is an amazing experience.
We visited in June, when the monsoon was just about setting in. The river was more than knee deep at the deep side and they operated steamer boats. On the return my wife and kids decided to cross the river at the shallow side. I was not adventurous so I took all their belongings and returned by boat. They described their adventure as "never before". They had lot of fun. My daughter is 8 years and she enjoyed it as well. Seeing my family do it, a few other adventurous tourists followed suite.
At this time of year, they did have still water rafting, which my wife said it was ok and was boring after the initial few minutes.
From a cost perspective it was not expensive, boat Rs. 30 per head, bathing elephants Rs. 100 per head, feeding Rs. 20 per chunk of grass, still water rafting Rs. 150 per head. Parking Rs. 30
