Nigel Mason was born in Nottingham UK in 1944 after his mother was evacuated out of London due to German bombing. He lived for a few years in England then moved to Egypt for four years with his father who was a British Army officer. Returning to England, Nigel attended boarding school in Surrey and grammar school in London. Realizing there was no future for him in England, he left for Australia in 1959. After settling in Melbourne, Nigel eventually moved onto the management of a large musical industries store before arriving in Bali in 1980. Today, Nigel is the director of the world-renown Elephant Safari Park in the mountains of north-central Bali.
Did you have an interesting childhood?
I left London for Australia alone at age 15 as a £10 immigrant. I didn’t see my family for ten years as I roamed the country timber cutting, ditch digging, fruit picking and kangaroo shooting.
What are your educational background and hobbies?
I left school at 14 to work as a ‘runner’ for a Fleet Street newspaper. My education was limited to Grade 10. However, I have spent my life learning about everything I possibly can. My hobbies have changed throughout my life: diving, swimming and others, but gardening and music have always remained with me. I play classical guitar and in Australia grew dozens of bonsai trees as well as running a landscape business for a few years. I also started the first terrarium (bottled garden) business in Melbourne in the late 1960’s. I continue gardening today as I find it relaxing and rewarding. I also snow ski every year and have done since my early 30s.
What book have you read that has deeply influenced you?
Emannuele Velokovsys’s Worlds in Collision, which I read in my 20s, made a lasting impression on my opinions regarding religion and the origins of the world.
Why and how did you first become interested in Indonesia?
I came to Indonesia on a whim in 1980 with a couple of hippie friends and fell in love with the island. At that time I also visited many other islands including Lombok, Nusa Tenggara, Komodo and Flores, Sulawesi and Java. I had no intention of staying. Since then, Bali had become by far my favorite Indonesian island as my wife Yanie is Balinese. Our two sons, who are now at University in Australia, were also born and raised here.
What are you presently involved in?
At this time I am Managing Director of Bali Adventure Tours, which encompasses our White Water Rafting Company (the islands first and longest standing operation), Mountain Cycling, Trekking, The Elephant Safari Park and our newly opened luxury 25-room Elephant Safari Park Lodge. My wife and I also have two shops in Kuta and we operate two restaurants.
Where did you get the idea of opening an Elephant Safari Park?
The park was started in 1997 after I was approached to buy nine elephants that had been brought to Bali and who were living in a dried out rice field in extremely poor conditions. As an animal lover, I’ve always had cats, dogs, birds, reptiles and various other species so elephants were an enthusiastic addition. When I was a boy I often thought that I’d like to be a vet. The elephants at the park all come from Sumatra.
Did you have many difficulties in transporting the elephants to Bali?
The difficulty of adopting and transporting the elephants was immense, taking almost four and a half years. The whole saga is well documented in the film Operation Jumbo which follows the many dramas and challenges we faced traversing three Indonesian islands and covering over 3000 kilometers.
Have you ever had a problem elephant?
None of our elephants are a problem and I’m emotionally attached to all of them. They each have their own very unique personality and are startlingly intelligent. We use kindness and gently educate and guide them by satisfying and rewarding them continuously. They are cared for extremely well by their own personally hand-picked and assigned ‘Mahout’ (guardian/care keepers) who truly love, bond and interact with their adopted elephant. They care for them like they are their own children which is actually very beautiful to watch. Our park is also the first to have proudly employed two female Mahouts. The biggest challenges of establishing and running the park have been financial, especially after two bombs affected tourism so adversely in Bali.
What is distinctive about the park compared with other eco-lodges in Asia?
For one, it’s the only place in the world where you can sleep amongst 27 endangered Sumatran elephants. There is nowhere else you can live, learn, observe, hand-bathe, feed and personally interact with this rare species. All our waste water, lakes and ponds use a sophisticated recycling system to protect the environment and we re-use elephant dung for fertilization so we are truly eco-friendly. Additionally, we have built our lodge with personal docking bays so that guests can literally step out of their room onto a chauffeured elephant and go for a walk. This is really a very exclusive feature.
Do you have the support of the locals who live in the area?
The beautiful village of Taro and its people have greatly supported us since we opened in 1997. A full 90% of the park’s 150 strong staff is from the area. We also support the village by giving royalties for each of the 27 elephants that goes out of the park into the surrounding forest on safari rides. We also have two village cooperatives that supply the elephant’s daily food and significant taxes are paid to the local regency. Since the park has been featured in the worldwide media many tourists visit the area which has enabled local businesses to boom. Such high profile celebrity guests as Christina Aguilera, Jessica Biel, David & Victoria Beckham and the late Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin - who declared the park the ‘best elephant park he had ever seen’ - have also helped to put Taro on the tourist map of Bali.
What activities are you involved in now?
At 64 years of age I am still very hands on and physically active in my business especially around the park which I visit every day. I hope to be around long enough for my two sons to take over in the not too distant future. I have just published a children’s book The Tale of the First White Elephant in Bali and hope to write more books in the future. I’ve also just opened the Park Lodge which is a new endeavor for me as a hotelier. Apart from that, I will perhaps continue to expand the business and maybe spend more time skiing before I get too old to do so!
How may interested readers learn more about the work you do?
I am always happy to meet people and walk them through the park and talk about the elephants and what we are doing, sign DVDs or books, etc. People can check out our website www.baliadventuretours.com to see what our latest news is or contact me directly at nigel@baliadventuretours.co.id. I personally answer emails from people all over the world, especially since the release of Operation Jumbo.
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please contact: <pakbill2003@yahoo.com>
