Way Kambas is a National Park located on Lampung Province. This park is one of the most prominent Asian elephant conservation areas in Indonesia. It is popular for its school for elephants and currently there are approximately 200 elephants living in this park.
However, this park is more than just a conservation area. This is also a popular tourist destination with mostly natural attractions. Here is some information you need to know before heading to Way Kambas.
General information
Way Kambas National Park is located at the southern part of Sumatera Island. The park is entirely located at East Lampung Regency and the east coast of Sumatera. This National Park has a long history beginning from the Dutch colonial era. The status of the area keeps changing to accommodate and protect this area.
This park pride itself for conserving and protecting The Big Five Mammals; Tapir (Tapirus indicus), Sumateran Elephant (maximus sumatranus), Sumateran Tiger (Panthera tigris), Sumateran Rhino (Diserohinus sumatranus), and Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus).
Elephant Attractions
Among all other mammals in this park, Elephant is the most approachable. The elephants here are trained to avoid conflicts with human, some of them are really friendly with the human they are trained to do some skills. For tourists, they can see elephants dancing, playing football, and doing other tricks.
Apart from that, tourists can also interact directly with the elephants. They can ride them to explore the park. The other popular attraction is bathe the elephants. This big beast really loves playing with water, so they enjoy bathing time too.
Bird watching
Apart from the big mammals, you can also try bird watching in this park. You can do this at Way Kanan Resort. Way Kanan has a relatively pristine forest ecosystem. Way Kanan is also a great starting point if you want to see the ecosystem gradation in this park. Along the way, you can find riparian, brackish forest, mangrove forest, and beach ecosystems.
Jungle trek
The trek that you can explore in this park is not a ‘wild’ one. It is a predetermined trek, with clear footpath to follow. This two-kilometer long trek is great for amateur trekker who want to see a natural forest ecosystem. At the ‘base’ of the trek, you can also find facilities like cafeteria, lodging, gazebo, praying room, and toilet.
Way Kambas is more than just a sanctuary for elephants. It is a great place for them to learn so they can live in the wild. This place is also a great destination for tourist who wants to enjoy the forest which is rich in flora and fauna species.
