The afternoon is what you drive to Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary for, so plan the day backwards from it. The centre is about two hours from KL by car, near Lanchang in Pahang, and the parts most families come for, the talk where you feed the elephants and the bathing session when it runs, happen after the midday break. Arrive mid-morning, register early, and you see everything without rushing.
What the centre is
Its official name is the National Elephant Conservation Centre, and it's run by PERHILITAN, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. It opened in 1989 inside the Krau Wildlife Reserve as a base for the team that rescues wild elephants that have lost their habitat or strayed where they shouldn't, and moves them to suitable forest, including Taman Negara. More than 400 have been returned to the wild this way, and the elephants you meet at the centre are part of that work.
What you can and can't do now
Older blog posts and photos show elephant rides. Those have stopped. As PERHILITAN describes the visit today:
- Every visitor registers on arrival and gets a visitor pass or sticker.
- There's no riding, and barriers separate visitors from the elephants.
- You can watch the young elephants, and during the afternoon conservation talk, feed them, touch their trunks and take photos while PERHILITAN staff explain each animal.
- A documentary shows how the translocation team works.
- Bathing with the young elephants depends on the weather and other conditions, is limited to a set number of people a day, needs early registration and requires a nature guide.
Visiting hours, the midday break, show times and any charges are set by the centre and change, and Friday's schedule differs from the rest of the week. Check the latest timetable on PERHILITAN's website or by phone before you leave.
The day, hour by hour
- 8 am, leave Petaling Jaya. Head for Gombak and the Karak Highway. The stretch through the city is the slow part of the drive, so the earlier the better. Our guide to the best times to drive in KL helps you pick the slot.
- 9 am, through the hills. The Karak Highway climbs through the Genting Sempah tunnel into Pahang and past the Bentong exits. It carries straight on as the East Coast Expressway at Karak.
- 10 am, Lanchang exit. Leave at the Lanchang interchange. After the toll, turn right at the T-junction and follow the brown tourist signs. It's about 20 minutes on a mostly straight road to the centre, roughly 15 km from Lanchang town.
- 10.30 am, register. Do it first, especially if you want a bathing place, since numbers are capped. Then watch the young elephants and catch the documentary.
- Midday, break. The centre closes for a break in the middle of the day. Eat in Lanchang, or bring a picnic and drinks.
- Early afternoon, the talk. This is when you feed the elephants and meet them up close.
- Mid-afternoon, bathing, if it's running that day. If you're going in the river, change into clothes you don't mind soaking; skimpy swimwear isn't allowed.
- Around 4.30 pm, head back. You'll be in PJ in the early evening, when westbound traffic into KL is building. If you'd like a longer day out, our guide to Bentong by car covers the town you drive past on the way, and the KL to Kuantan drive carries on along the same expressway.
What to bring
- A full change of clothes, and a bag for the wet ones.
- Sunblock, a hat and insect repellent. The centre is in a wildlife reserve.
- Nothing loose. Elephants grab at hats, cameras and bags, so keep them on a strap or in the car.
- Cash for food and for donations, which go to PERHILITAN directly. The department warns that it doesn't collect through third-party bank accounts.
Weekends bring coach groups and tours. A weekday visit is calmer.
A 260 km day: car and mileage
Kuala Gandah is about 100 km from central KL by the expressway markers, plus the road in from Lanchang. From Petaling Jaya the round trip is around 260 km. That's past the 120 km included with every Grandpride rental and past the +100 km package's 220 km too, so choose unlimited mileage, which costs less per kilometre than paying for the extra afterwards.
For the car, think about the drive home with tired, damp children. The Proton X50, at RM 600 a day, is a small SUV that's easy on a long highway day and easy to clean up after. A bigger group fits in an MPV; our guide to seven-seater car rental compares them. Fuel goes back at the level it left with, and only the named renter drives, so that one person does about four hours behind the wheel.
If that's too much for one driver, book a chauffeur by the hour instead. A Toyota Alphard with chauffeur costs RM 200 an hour, and a Kuala Gandah day runs to about ten hours door to door CHECK: are hourly chauffeur bookings available for day trips into Pahang, and are there extra charges outside the Klang Valley?.
