Elephants in Florida? Where?!
Look no further than Myakka Elephant Ranch in Myakka City, Florida. The ranch is a non-profit conservation center that strives to educate their guests about elephant conservation “from tusk to tail”. We had they joy of visiting Myakka Elephant Ranch not too long ago and have been wanting to go back ever since.
Home to both Asian and African elephants, the ranch offers once in a lifetime experiences to get up close and personal with one of the world’s largest mammals. For our visit, we chose to do the “spa encounter”. During this encounter, the hosts brought in both and Asian and African elephant. They talked about conservation efforts going on throughout the world, and educated us on the animals. They were also eager to answer any questions that we had.
After the education part of the experience came the spa session. One-by-one we were selected and called up to get close to the animals and participate in giving them a bath. We first rinsed the elephants, and then scrubbed them using soap and a broom-like brush. Afterwards we again rinsed them. It was astonishing how cooperative the animals were with us, and surreal to be so close to them.
Our daughter’s favorite part by far was “doing the elephant’s nails”. There is special care that is required for their feet, and she got to put it on using a paintbrush. Never in a million years did I think that any of us would be giving an elephant a pedicure!
After the spa treatment, the hosts allowed more questions and even gave everyone ample opportunities to get photographs with the elephants.
If this sounds like something that you would like to do, you can book an encounter right from the Myakka Elephant Ranch website! Adults are $90, children 5-8 are $70, and children 4 and under are free!
Currently the ranch is closed for renovations, but they are taking bookings for November!
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