Anyone who plans to come to Kerala for a holiday should definitely include Thekkady in their holiday plan and should never miss the elephant ride. A ride on top of the biggest mammal on earth is just an exciting one. It's a half an hour ride through the spice plantations of Thekkady. All elephants are tamed ones and each one has its own name. Normally elephants have an extension with their name which indicates the place they come from. These elephants are calm friendly elephants and they are adult elephants who are medically fit. There would be a mat on top of the elephant, on which you could sit. There would be a "papan" who takes care of the elephant and would walk in front of the elephant who controls the elephant. In Kerala there are two "papans' who control the elephant, one would be on top of the elephant and the other one who would be walking in front of the elephant. An Indian elephant is smaller than an African elephant and is easy to tame, compared to the African ones.
The elephant would be moving through a specific route within the spice plantations. When you go through the spice plantations you could feel the freshness of nature. The best time of the day to go for an elephant ride is during the morning or evening, just before sunset. The elephants are calm and you never feel nervous. Spice plantations always give you a feel of being in a forest. The Huge trees onto which the pepper plants are grown and the lush green cardamom plants give you the feel of exactly being in the middle of the forest. Even during the day, if you are in middle of a plantation, you could barely see any direct sunlight. The elephant ride is through the roads which run through the plantations. Also when you are back after the ride, try feeding the elephant..which should be something interesting. Other places where you could go for an elephant ride would be Kodanad elephant camp, which is very close to Cochin. Never miss this activity when you are planning a Kerala Holiday.