Kerala and Golden triangle - which tour company?

[milliefiori]

Has anyone visited Kerala and the Golden Triangle in the same trip to India? And if so, who did you go with and would you recommend them?

We'd like a tour that gives youplenty of time at each site, not quick photo opp and back on the bus.
Really want to see all the key sites and visit tea/spice plantations. Responsible wildlife/sanctuary visits would also be a huge plus (especially a chance to feed or bathe elephants or see big cats but only if genuine sanctuaries.)

There are so many companies that seem to offer similar experiences. I don't know where to start.

Are you travelling with kids/teens? If so I’d highly recommend Stubborn Mule Travel.

Have you looked at Exodus? They have a great variety of tours and have a genuine commitment to animal welfare friendly tourism. Any venue (whatever it’s calling itself) that allows you close enough to an elephant to feed or bathe them will be using hooks - please, please avoid them! In terms of how you can recognise an ethical venue it’s simple - if humans can interact with the elephants, it’s not. Does make for less photo opportunities but some particularly horrible practices go on in elephant venues. Below is a quick guide (and apologies for being preachy, my DH works in this field and seen some heart breaking stuff!). www.worldanimalprotection.org.uk/elephant-friendly-tourist-guide

@SJane48S Thank you for that info about elephants. I hadn't realised. I'll look at Exodus.

@PichmondRark - probably not. DTeens are almost grown and are now making their own plans to holiday with friends. This could be our first holiday without them...But if they wanted to come, I'd include them, obviously.

No problem. My DH has done investigative work at multiple venues in India and Thailand and some of the pictures and stories are by British standards bloody awful and upsetting. There are genuine sanctuaries out there that do need tourist pounds to make ends meet so don’t be put off completely, there is a link at the bottom of the link I used above which lists the good from the bad. I didn’t check though if it included places in Kerala.

Whilst in Jaipur you can go to Ranthambhore Tiger reserve. You should stay near the reserve and check very carefully what vehicle will be used to take you into the park. Avoid the big lorries! It’s also very crowded with tourist Jeeps but it gives you a possibility of seeing a tiger in a stunning reserve. It has changed markedly from 1987 when we first went and were the only jeep there! Be warned!

Use a decent travel company like Audley who can arrange everything for you and they won’t use the lorries in Ranthambhore!

We stayed at the Taj Kumakaron Resort in Kerala. Not on a boat. The big advantage was a fantastic pool! I wouldn’t want to be there for a week though. Not enough to do in my opinion. The higher tea areas are better.

I have never been to an elephant sanctuary and would probably avoid. Go and see wild elephants in India or Africa if you want to see elephants.

Or Sri Lanka. Will keep this short as it's going off point for the OP - while seeing wild elephants in their natural habitats in an ideal world is obviously to be strived for, genuine sanctuaries are vital for elephants no longer used in the tourist or logging trades and their mahouts. They are expensive to run, get no state funding and need tourists to survive. Genuine ethical sanctuaries tend to be more expensive than non ethical as they don't offer all the photo friendly options (rides/bathing/feedding). However seeing and safely following at a distance troops of elderly elephants (usually with deformities thanks to giving rides or dragging huge logs) wandering free and finally at peace and their own leisure is hugely rewarding and does teach you a lot about elephant behaviour. We don't live in a world that always treats animals humanely so yes, I'd agree Bubbles that seeing wild animals is great but also supporting operations that ethically rehabilitate them is important too.

Sorry OP and Bubbles for soap box standing, OP hope you've had some joy sourcing something suitable!

I would thoroughly recommend Trinetra Tours. We toured the northern triangle with them and couldn't fault them in any way. They will propose an itinerary for you or you can make your own suggestions. We had a private driver which meant we could spend as little or as much time at each place as we liked with no pressure and it was perfect.
Don't be put off by their website, it's a bit busy and not user friendly, but drop them an email and take it from there. They also do southern India.