Family volunteering holiday in Borneo
| country: | Borneo |
| departures: | 2009: 15 Aug |
| price: | From £1990 (13 days) per adult (single supplement of £200), from £1590 per child (11yrs and under) and from £1690 per older child (12-15yrs) including flights from the UK. Childrens prices based on sharing a room with at least 1 adult. |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Borneo is the third largest island in the world, famous for its jungles and wildlife, in particular the Orang Utan. Visit this fascinating island and take this once in a lifetime opportunity to get close to these amazing creatures, working alongside the park rangers to help ensure their continued survival.
Family volunteering: Younger generations are concerned about the environment and conservation and eager to make travel responsible. This trip could enable your family to discover how human development impacts on the jungle environment and wildlife, nurture understanding and appreciation and provide a great bonding experience through making a contribution as a family! Introduce your children to the benefits of volunteer travel and educate, enable and inspire them to be the force for change and good in tourism and the world.
HighlightsVisit this fascinating island and Kota Kinabalu city Make a difference to Borneo's reforestation and Orang Utan conservation Once-in-a-lifetime experience helping Orang Utan rehabilitation Enjoy jungle treks, a rainforest canopy walk and swim & snorkel in the South China Sea Great conservation voluntourism trip for a career break or ethical travel holiday Family voluntourism holiday during the school summer break
Kota Kinabalu
Your base for the first few days is Borneo’s most important city, Kota Kinabalu. Each day we include a fascinating excursion. Get your first glimpse of the rainforest trekking through Kota Kinabalu Park, witnessing life in the treetops as you walk along the 100ft high canopy walkway above the forest. Follow this exhilarating day relaxing, swimming and snorkelling in the South China Sea, in the turquoise waters of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park.
Sukau
Leaving the city behind, we then fly to the north of the island and travel to Sukau, the Orang Utan research centre where you’ll spend the next few days working alongside research assistants helping with the reforestation programme. A final highlight of your trip will be a visit to Sepilok Orang Utan rehabilitation centre, an initiative of the Sabah Wildlife Department to rehabilitate young Orang Utans enabling them to survive once released back into the wild. Once back in Kota Kinabalu, enjoy a day exploring at your leisure, maybe buying a few souvenirs, before flying back to London.
Volunteer Project
Volunteers will meet with Research Officers in the field, join their research activities to understand and observe the behaviour of the wild red apes, and learn about the conservation initiatives underway to protect and conserve the species and their habitat. Activities will range from monitoring wild Orang Utans nesting patterns and behaviour, to collecting wild seedlings that form part of their diet. The findings will be used to enable reforestation to take place in such a way as to encourage the settlement of Orang Utans and other native species.
Kota Kinabalu Park: Explore the rainforest with a specialist guide and walk among the treetops along the 100ft high canopy walkway. A thrilling experience for children (and adults!) of any age.
Orang Utans: During your time at the Orang Utan Research Centre, you will come as close to Orang Utan in their natural habitat as you’ll ever be likely to get. Not only will your family be able to observe these magnificent creatures in their natural environment but you will also be learning about and helping to preserve that habitat. A once in a lifetime experience – fun and educational!
Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre: Watch Orang Utans, known as the ‘wild man of Borneo’ during daily feeding sessions. Said to be the world’s largest Orang Utan sanctuary, the centre rescues and retrains primates for jungle life.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park: Enjoy ‘splashing’ fun at this marine park, situated just 20 minutes by speedboat from Kota Kinabalu. Ideal for swimming and snorkelling, don’t miss the unique experience of ‘seawalking’ amidst colourful fish. (Suitable for children 8 and over).
Family volunteering: Younger generations are concerned about the environment and conservation and eager to make travel responsible. This trip could enable your family to discover how human development impacts on the jungle environment and wildlife, nurture understanding and appreciation and provide a great bonding experience through making a contribution as a family! Introduce your children to the benefits of volunteer travel and educate, enable and inspire them to be the force for change and good in tourism and the world.
Highlights
Kota Kinabalu
Your base for the first few days is Borneo’s most important city, Kota Kinabalu. Each day we include a fascinating excursion. Get your first glimpse of the rainforest trekking through Kota Kinabalu Park, witnessing life in the treetops as you walk along the 100ft high canopy walkway above the forest. Follow this exhilarating day relaxing, swimming and snorkelling in the South China Sea, in the turquoise waters of Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park.
Sukau
Leaving the city behind, we then fly to the north of the island and travel to Sukau, the Orang Utan research centre where you’ll spend the next few days working alongside research assistants helping with the reforestation programme. A final highlight of your trip will be a visit to Sepilok Orang Utan rehabilitation centre, an initiative of the Sabah Wildlife Department to rehabilitate young Orang Utans enabling them to survive once released back into the wild. Once back in Kota Kinabalu, enjoy a day exploring at your leisure, maybe buying a few souvenirs, before flying back to London.
Volunteer Project
Volunteers will meet with Research Officers in the field, join their research activities to understand and observe the behaviour of the wild red apes, and learn about the conservation initiatives underway to protect and conserve the species and their habitat. Activities will range from monitoring wild Orang Utans nesting patterns and behaviour, to collecting wild seedlings that form part of their diet. The findings will be used to enable reforestation to take place in such a way as to encourage the settlement of Orang Utans and other native species.
family activities
Sabah: Situated in Malaysian Borneo, Sabah is nature’s wonderland and an amazing, safe place for children to get close to nature and wildlife.Kota Kinabalu Park: Explore the rainforest with a specialist guide and walk among the treetops along the 100ft high canopy walkway. A thrilling experience for children (and adults!) of any age.
Orang Utans: During your time at the Orang Utan Research Centre, you will come as close to Orang Utan in their natural habitat as you’ll ever be likely to get. Not only will your family be able to observe these magnificent creatures in their natural environment but you will also be learning about and helping to preserve that habitat. A once in a lifetime experience – fun and educational!
Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre: Watch Orang Utans, known as the ‘wild man of Borneo’ during daily feeding sessions. Said to be the world’s largest Orang Utan sanctuary, the centre rescues and retrains primates for jungle life.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park: Enjoy ‘splashing’ fun at this marine park, situated just 20 minutes by speedboat from Kota Kinabalu. Ideal for swimming and snorkelling, don’t miss the unique experience of ‘seawalking’ amidst colourful fish. (Suitable for children 8 and over).
a taste of volunteering trip - what's it all about?
This type of trip is ideal for people who are unable to take very long periods off work but who are interested in volunteering to work with communities in need, or in wildlife conservation. These shorter trips combine volunteering with an opportunity to see the main sights in destinations. Find out more about 'taste of volunteering'how this holiday makes a difference
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We believe that life-enhancing travel is not about seeing a place, but experiencing a place, its people, its cultures, food and ways of life. We believe that when tourists enjoy the benefits of tourism, they should do so responsibly, by ensuring that they are not contributing to the exploitation of either people or the environment, that they are contributing to the sustainable economic development of the communities who host them, and that they are respectful towards and assist in the maintenance of indigenous cultures. On this holiday you will have the amazing experience of staying in the homes of local people, interacting with them and experiencing their culture and way of life, safe in the knowledge that you are contributing directly to the local economy and making a difference to the lives of the indigenous population.
We go to great lengths to minimise the potential harm that can come from taking groups into areas of fragile ecosystems and go to great lengths to ensure that our customers are well informed about the area and aware of the impact that they can have on the environment. You will be visiting and exploring several national parks and rainforests and our local guides will only take you along established trails and will adhere to our policy of ‘leave no trace’ tourism. We work with projects that are specifically designed to preserve fragile eco-systems and endangered plants and animals. On this trip, not only will you get involved in the manual exercise of reforestation to protect the Orang Utans’ environment but you will also meet with the Research Officers and learn about further conservation initiatives to protect the Orang Utans and their habitat. You will also join in their research activities to understand and observe the behaviour of these amazing creatures and come away with a clearer understanding of the species and the efforts to preserve them and their environment. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |