Restoring the coexistence of elephants, people, and forests—from Laos.
REGENERATIVE ELEPHANT TOURISM IN LAOS
Manifa Elephant Camp is not a Western-designed elephant sanctuary.
If you are looking for an experience that prohibits all elephant riding and limits the human–elephant relationship to observation alone, Manifa may not be the right place for you.
To condemn every human–elephant relationship as “exploitation” and confine elephants within a “sanctuary”—an inviolate space from which meaningful human relationships are excluded—is not our understanding of ethical elephant care.
Manifa aims to be a human–elephant coexistence camp: one that supports Lao mahout culture, local communities, forests, and elephant welfare as parts of the same living system.
All tours must be booked prior to departure from Luang Prabang. Please book through this website or our office in Luang Prabang. If you would like to come to the venue by your own vehicle, you can make your reservation here ($30 per person) for half day tour and meet us at 9:30 a.m. We will greatly appreciate if you can book at your earliest convenience.
Coexistence from the Land of a Million Elephants
Laos was once home to Lan Xang—the “Kingdom of a Million Elephants.”
Here, elephants were never merely wild animals to be observed from a distance.
People and elephants walked through forests together, crossed rivers, connected villages and towns, worked together, and endured hardship together. Their shared history includes not only affection, but also labour, danger, dependence, and conflict.
Yet through generations of living together, people and elephants learned from one another, depended upon one another, and helped shape the landscapes and ways of life of Laos.
Manifa does not seek to protect elephants alone.
Elephants and mahouts.
Elephants and forests.
Mahouts and their families.
Knowledge passed down through local communities.
And the Lao landscapes in which elephants and people can continue to live together.
These are the relationships we seek to protect and regenerate.
NO TO GREEN COLONIALISM
We oppose the imposition of Western ethical standards on Laos by NGOs and tourism markets acting in the name of protecting animals and nature.
Outside organisations do not have the right to judge relationships built over generations as “cruel” on the basis of a few prohibited activities, and then reshape those relationships according to standards developed elsewhere.
“No riding.”
“No touching.”
“Observation only.”
Elephant welfare cannot be responsibly judged through these prohibitions alone.
What matters is how an elephant lives throughout the day.
Does the elephant walk through the forest?
Can the elephant select and forage for natural vegetation?
Does the elephant receive sufficient rest?
Is the elephant’s health monitored continuously?
Does the elephant have a stable relationship with a mahout?
Are signs of discomfort or fatigue recognised and respected?
Is the elephant’s condition placed before the wishes of visitors?
At Manifa, we do not judge welfare through the single question of whether riding takes place. We take responsibility for the elephant’s whole life and for the quality of the care system that supports it.
YES TO HUMAN–ELEPHANT COEXISTENCE
We do not believe that every tradition is automatically right.
Training based on pain or fear, excessive workloads, insufficient rest, and inappropriate management cannot be justified in the name of culture.
But separating mahouts from elephants, erasing local knowledge, and replacing it with rules created elsewhere is not a solution either.
Our goal is not to eliminate relationships.
Our goal is to make them better.
To respect mahout experience while incorporating animal-welfare science, veterinary care, and government oversight.
To place forest walking, natural foraging, and sufficient rest at the centre of an elephant’s daily life.
To modify or cancel activities according to each elephant’s health, age, condition, and individual needs.
To use tourism income to support food, veterinary care, access to forests, and stable employment for mahouts and their families.
This is what responsible coexistence means at Manifa.
Your visit supports the regeneration of coexistence among elephants, people, and forests.
Visiting Manifa does not mean “rescuing” elephants from the people of Laos.
It means respecting the knowledge and responsibilities of the people who live with elephants and supporting the system of care that sustains them.
Not a sanctuary that separates elephants from people,
but a journey that supports landscapes where they can continue to live together.
Not green colonialism,
but conservation led by the people of Laos.
Not protecting elephants in isolation,
but regenerating the world that elephants, people, and forests have created together.
Manifa Elephant Camp
Regenerative Human–Elephant Coexistence in Laos
Manifa Elephant Camp Visitor Packages
Core Packages
- Full-Day Amazing Elephant Mahout Experience
- EUR42per person
- One-Day Elephant Mahout Experience
- Mekong Sunset Cruise back to Luang Prabang
- 8:30-18:00
- Lunch / Pick-Up / Drop-Off
- Half-Day Glimpse Elephant Mahout Experience
- EUR31per person
- Half-Day Elephant Mahout Experience
- Can come by yourself (no transportation)
- 8:30-14:00
- Lunch / Pick-Up / Drop-Off
- Full-Day Kuang Si Falls, Elephant Walk & Mekong Sunset Cruise
- EUR35per person
- Elephant encounter in the vast forest at the top of Kuang Si Falls
- Kuang Si Waterfalls / Trekking from the waterfall to the rice paddies / sunset cruise
- 8:30-18:30
- Lunch / pick-up / drop-off
Manifa Elephant Camp's 6 Key Concepts
The forest at Manifa is not just a backdrop—it’s a living participant in the elephant–human...
Work is not inherently oppressive. When approached ethically, it can be a medium...
Honoring the Past, Sustaining the Future. We preserve and respect mahout knowledge...
Respectful ways for visitors to engage with elephants.
Conservation through care, connection, and shared living.
Becoming with elephants means engaging in an ongoing process of mutual shaping,...
Combination Packages
Combine a half-day elephant experience with other packages offered by Manifa Travel
- Full-Day Kuang Si Falls, Elephant Walk & Mekong Sunset Cruise
- EUR35per person
- Elephant encounter in the vast forest at the top of Kuang Si Falls
- Kuang Si Waterfalls / Trekking from the waterfall to the rice paddies / sunset cruise
- 8:30-18:30
- Lunch / pick-up / drop-off
- Full-Day Glimpse + Pak Ou Caves, Mekong Sunset Cruise
- EUR42per person
- Half-Day Elephant Mahout Experience
- Pak Ou Caves / Mekong Sunset Cruise
- 8:30-18:00
- Lunch / pick-up / drop-off
- Full-Day Glimpse + Kayak, Mekong Sunset Cruise
- EUR42per person
- Half-Day Elephant Mahout Experience
- Kayak to Pak Ou Caves / Mekong Cruise
- 8:30-18:00
- Lunch / pick-up / drop-off
Find more combination packages with adventure activities
Multi-day package including cottage accommodation stay
- 2-Day Memorable Overnight Experience
- EUR117per person
- 2-Day Elephant Mahout Experience
- Customizable Adventure Activities
- Cottage Accommodation
- All Meals / Pick-Up / Drop-Off
- 3-Day Immersion Overnight Experience
- EUR173per person
- 3-Day Elephant Mahout Experience
- Customizable Adventure Activities
- Cottage Accommodation
- All Meals / Pick-Up / Drop-Off
- 1-Day Elephant Mahout & Overnight Experience
- EUR80per person
- 1-Day Elephant Mahout Experience
- Customizable Adventure Activities
- Cottage Accommodation
- All Meals / Pick-Up / Drop-Off
Family Elephant Packages
Packages for families with children. Two adults and two children share two elephants to keep the price low.
- 2-Day Family Overnight Experience
- EUR299per family
- Elephant Mahout Experience
- Customizable Adventure Activities / Mekong River Cruise
- Package for 2 Adults and 2 Children (sharing 2 elephants)
- Cottage Accommodation
- All Meals / Pick-Up / Drop-Off
- 3-Day Family Overnight Experience
- EUR442per family
- Elephant Mahout Experience
- Customizable Adventure Activities / Mekong River Cruise
- Package for 2 Adults and 2 Children (sharing 2 elephants)
- Cottage Accommodation
- All Meals / Pick-Up / Drop-Off
Elephant FAQs
These FAQs were developed by Manifa Elephant Camp, based on the original Elephant FAQs created in 2017–2018 for tourism in Luang Prabang. That earlier initiative was part of an EU-funded project implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), with support from relevant Lao and ASEAN institutions and tourism associations. The original FAQs reflected the perspectives of animal welfare experts working in elephant tourism across Southeast Asia, and were intended as a response to anti-elephant tourism campaigns led by organizations such as World Animal Protection (WAP).
Manifa Elephant Camp has long published those FAQs as helpful resources for promoting a more informed understanding of elephant tourism. However, we have now undertaken an independent revision to better reflect current research, ethical debates, and local perspectives. We believe our updated FAQs offer a more balanced, culturally respectful, and critically informed approach to the complex ethics of elephant tourism. Our hope is that this resource helps you, as a thoughtful visitor, reflect on what it means to support elephant tourism responsibly.
In this updated version, we have:
-
Corrected the original bias toward Western-centric animal welfare frameworks
-
Included responses from the perspective of animal rights activists—whose views were largely excluded or opposed in the original FAQs
-
Added insight from Lao communities and mahouts, whose voices and relationships with elephants are often overlooked in global debates
- Although this is a fictional roundtable generated by AI, we have not neglected to check its authenticity.
![[1] Q: Are Elephants in Tourism Wild or Domesticated?](https://manifatravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/elephant-vet4-780x636.jpg)
The most important question isn't whether an elephant is 'wild or not,' but rather,...
![[2] Q: Is elephant riding harmful?](https://manifatravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/IMG_5363-960x636.jpg)
Characters: Dr. Anya Sharma: An Animal Welfare Scholar, articulate and evidence-focused....
![[3] Q: Is it ethical to chain elephants?](https://manifatravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/PXL_20220901_040409503.MP_-960x636.jpg)
Characters: Dr. Anya Sharma: An Animal Welfare Scholar Mr. David Chen:...
![[4] Q: Is it important to use a hook with elephants?](https://manifatravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/PXL_20220901_024820365-960x636.jpg)
Characters: Dr. Anya Sharma: An Animal Welfare Scholar Mr. David Chen:...
![[5] Q: How are elephants trained to interact with humans?](https://manifatravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/h-elp-luang-prabang-workshop-960x636.jpg)
“Training is not the end of freedom; for us, it is the beginning of a shared...
![[6] Q: Should elephants working in camps be reintroduced into the wild?](https://manifatravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/PXL_20220901_030520392-960x636.jpg)
“What kind of future allows this elephant to flourish, and who is prepared to care...
![[7] Q: Are elephants working for people eligible for rescue and conservation?](https://manifatravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/DSC_5581-960x636.jpg)
“Let us not confuse working with suffering, or conservation with separation.”
![[8] Q: Should all activities involving interactions with elephants be banned or boycotted?](https://manifatravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/mahout-village-960x636.jpeg)
“Ethical tourism doesn’t mean walking away; it means walking forward—together,...
The ethics of elephant tourism from Donna Haraway’s perspective
American feminist and philosopher Donna Haraway‘s theory of animals has had a significant impact on humanistic approaches to animals and the environment. Her work challenges traditional human-centered views and promotes a more relational and interspecies understanding of the world. The following article reviews interdisciplinary research on elephants in Laos and Southeast Asia based on key concepts raised by Haraway and provides a coherent discussion of ethical elephant tourism.
This article examines the striking asymmetry in how recent scholarship evaluates...
This journey from the centaur's internal conflict to Ganesha's harmonious union...
How Donna Haraway's ethics of "response-ability" offers a framework to understand...
In Laos, elephant healing transcends Western biomedical approaches, instead embodying...
Drawing on Donna Haraway's concept of "becoming-with," we argue that traditional...
The ethics of elephant riding have become a flashpoint in global conservation...
