Partying with the pachyderms

ERVINA AND her friends scream with fear and joy as their rubber tubes are rocked by the currents of the Serangan River in Langkat regency, North Sumatra. 

But the tourists from Sibolga, North Sumatra fall quiet when they notice four Sumatran elephants approaching from the opposite direction. Several fair-haired tourists are riding the mammals.

The silence doesn’t last long though as the girls are liberally sprayed by the elephants, soaking them all over and evoking laughter from the foreign riders.

The elephants continue upstream and after about 30 minutes join a few other pachyderms waiting by the river, which divides Tangkahan village in two.

Five minutes later the beasts are all lying down in the water. “Come on, it’s time to bathe the elephants,” says a mahout, and the tourists promptly gather to rub the bodies of Sumatra’s largest animals.

“It’s amazing. I’m bathing an elephant,” says Belgian tourist Elyn Remy as she scrubs the pachyderm’s tough skin and gets sprayed by her mammoth charge for her trouble.

Matthijs van der Spek from Holland first planned to bathe Tangkahan elephants in 2014. “But last year the elephant package was fully booked.

“Finally, I got this year’s package. It’s so good to bathe and be bathed by elephants,” he laughs.

Ervina’s group and the foreign visitors have all fallen in love with the “hidden paradise” of North Sumatra in Tangkahan. The ecotourism village is situated on the fringe of Mount Leuser National Park and is about four hours’ drive west of Medan, the North Sumatra provincial capital.

Although little known in Indonesia, the village is very popular abroad. “Up to October this year alone, nearly 5,000 visitors have come from 47 countries, mostly from the Netherlands, Germany and Australia. For 2016 the elephant package has already sold out,” says Rudkimat, 46, chairman of the Tangkahan Tourism Institute (LPT), which manages the zone.

“We also have a waterfall, cave, warm water pool and forest,” he adds. “The park’s forest can be explored by tubing along the river and tourists often catch sight of orangutans, monkeys, gibbons and other animals. They can also ride elephants for the cruise.”

Bathing elephants has become Tangkahan’s prized package. “Usually our package combines the bathing spree and forest trip, a favourite of foreign tourists in spite of its fairly high price,” Rudkimat says,

In organising this programme, the LPT cooperates with the local Conservation Rescue Unit (CRU), which is especially tasked with managing elephant-related tourism. At present there are 11 elephants in Tangkahan, including three young ones.

The LPT employs around 130 local residents, who act as rangers, guides, interpreters, porters and administrative and financial staff. 

“The majority of these employees are former illegal loggers,” Rudkimat says.

Rudkimat used to be an illegal logger himself with a number of followers, felling trees and taking logs out of the forest. He later realised his activity was causing damage to the Mount Leuser National Park and harming community interests.

Darwis, now a guide, also worked as a logger in the 1990s. “My grandpa and father were loggers until 2000,” he says, claiming he earned a good income from illegal logging. “But I just spent the money and remained poor, quite apart from the risk of being struck by falling trees, which severely injured and killed some of my peers,” he says with a grimace.

Students from Medan eventually convinced the villagers to end illegal logging though many were opposed to the idea of losing their income.

“A small part of the community supported the students’ suggestion. The atmosphere between villagers was tense,” Rudkimat says.

Opposition diminished as the ecotourism programme started showing a substantial profit and villagers stopped felling trees to join the LPT. 

“Now my income is quite substantial, 3 million rupiah [Bt7,400] per month. During the holiday period, I can earn 5 million rupiah or more,” he adds.

“The total income of the LPT has amounted to more than 9 billion rupiah annually in the last several years,” Rudkimat continues, adding that some residents have built guesthouses or homestay facilities. 

“There are about 20 such homes with no less than 300 rooms. Others have also opened restaurants in the tourism zone.” 

CRU manager Edi Sunardi is grateful to the Tangkahan tourism initiative as his unit shares its earnings. “Minus operational costs, we share around 57 per cent. We spend the funds on elephant care and the salaries of 14 mahouts,” he explains.

That means the government doesn’t need to provide a budget for elephant maintenance in the conservation area. “More importantly, Mount Leuser National Park’s environment and forest remain well preserved. We’re proud of the Tangkahan community,” he says.