Family wildlife volunteering holiday in Thailand
| country: | Thailand |
| departures: | 2009: 16 Aug |
| price: | From £1075 (13 days) excluding flights, includes local payment US $250. Price includes accommodation, transfer, transport including internal flights, activities and some meals. We can arrange flights from the UK |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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introduction to Family wildlife volunteering holiday in Thailand
Your chance to really get up close and personal with these gentle giants in their jungle habitat. There is also time to discover Bangkok, explore the jungle, and float down the river on bamboo rafts.
Minimum age: To participate children must be 10 years or over.
During the programme on days 4-6, you will be assisting the mahouts (elephant trainers) at the 'Elephant Nature Park’. You will become familiar with elephant commands and experience a hands on approach to feeding, bathing and observing the elephants close up. Learning about the reforestation of elephant habitats and herbal cures for treating elephant disease, you’ll be taken out on an exciting overnight elephant safari where you will see the elephants in their natural environment.
Activities include volunteer programme at the Elephant Nature Park, klong (canal) tour, jungle walk, bamboo rafting and optional swimming
Minimum age: To participate children must be 10 years or over.
During the programme on days 4-6, you will be assisting the mahouts (elephant trainers) at the 'Elephant Nature Park’. You will become familiar with elephant commands and experience a hands on approach to feeding, bathing and observing the elephants close up. Learning about the reforestation of elephant habitats and herbal cures for treating elephant disease, you’ll be taken out on an exciting overnight elephant safari where you will see the elephants in their natural environment.
Activities include volunteer programme at the Elephant Nature Park, klong (canal) tour, jungle walk, bamboo rafting and optional swimming
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Bangkok. Arrive and check in to our hotel. Tonight you will meet your tour leader for a briefing. (D - dinner) |
| Day 2: | Bangkok. This morning we take a guided tour of the Grand Palace and the magnificent Wat Phra Keow (temple of the Emerald Buddha), then make an exciting journey by longtail boat along Bangkok’s canals or ‘klongs’. Later this evening, we board our overnight sleeper train to Chiang Mai. (B - breakfast) |
| Day 3: | Chiang Mai. Arrive and check in to our hotel in the lovely city of Chiang Mai, known as the capital of northern Thailand. Today we visit the hilltop temple of Doi Suthep, which legend says was founded by an ancient Thai king after he saw a white elephant at the site. We will also visit the orphanage supported by our company for children from the area’s hilltribe minority groups. (B) |
| Day 4-6: | Elephant Nature Park. This morning we leave Chiang Mai and travel to the ‘Elephant Nature Park’, our home for the next three nights. In the jungle of Northern Thailand, Lek, the founder and her team of volunteers house, feed and care for elephants that have been injured or abused. You and your family will have the chance to join in all the daily chores. It is a great chance for children to learn about these amazing animals. (BLD) |
| Day 7: | Bangkok. Today we take a guided walk in to the jungle to explore, then continue by bamboo raft down the river. Later, we return to Chiang Mai and transfer to the airport for our flight to Bangkok. (BD) |
| Day 8: | Krabi. Transfer to the airport for a flight to Krabi. (B) |
| Day 9-11: | Krabi. Three whole days to relax on the beautiful sandy beaches of southern Thailand. (B) |
| Day 12: | Bangkok. We return to the airport for our flight to Bangkok. On arrival transfer to our hotel. (B) |
| Day 13: | Bangkok. Tour ends. (B) |
highly commended
This tourism business was Highly Commended in our 2007 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society.Since 2004, the Awards has recognised individuals, companies and organisations in travel making a big commitment to the culture and economies of local communities and helping to conserve biodiversity.
small group family holiday
This is a 'small group family adventure' - typically you will join several other families and travel in a group of approx. 16 people. The trips are great value and a great way for you and your children to meet new people! While itineraries are pre-planned there is some flexibility and you'll have plenty of time to yourselves. Most adventure kids tend to be aged between 7 and 15, but some are younger (minimum age 6) and some older (perhaps travelling as part of a larger family group). Please check with the operator to confirm the minimum age for this trip.how this holiday makes a difference
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Volunteers work in partnership with the Elephant Nature Park assisting the mahouts in the care of rescued elephants. There are a variety of duties including feeding and bathing. Participants may also spend time marking trees to deter illegal loggers, repair fencing and collecting elephant data to help future conservation efforts.
During the tour there is an opportunity to visit a children’s orphanage which is also one of our responsible travel projects. This orphanage is also involved with the breeding of pigs for distribution to hilltribe families under the P.I.G project – a self-sustaining pig-breeding programme. Tour leaders give a responsible travel briefing to all participants identifying simple steps that encourage them to minimise their impact on the local environment. Local service providers are used and they are paid at a fair rate thus keeping the income in the local economy. We operate within the guidelines of an extensive environmental policy and we believe that giving something back to our hosts is essential. We have been quietly involved in projects throughout our destinations for many years, we strive to work with local people and small, family run establishments and we actively encourage our travellers to learn about and respect the environments we take them to. The company actively encourages travellers to act in a responsible manner by including environmental and social guidelines in pre-departure information and online. These guidelines aim to help minimise impact on a destination and provide simple tips on behaviour, dress and conduct. |
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. |
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