Gap year expedition in Borneo
| country: | Borneo |
| price: | From £1560 - £2860 (1-3 months) excluding flights. Price depends on length of stay. Includes accommodation, meals, transfers, entrance fees, activities, guides and 24 hour in country support. Minimum age 18, maximum age 24 |
| offers: | Travel in January, February and March 2009 and save 10%! Offer is valid on bookings before 12th December 2008. |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Whether you stay with us for 1 month or 3, you will rotate through our community and wildlife camps and have the opportunity to trek through mountains and jungles and SCUBA dive with gappers from the UK, Australia and Europe. Our camps have been established in partnership with local communities and we continue to fund ongoing projects and sustainable development everywhere we operate.
Highlights:
Working and living alongside a rural Sabahan community will be one of the highlights of your Borneo experience. Their warmth and generosity despite obvious hardships is incredible. In line with our camps in Africa, our camp has been established in partnership with the local community, providing a connection not only to much needed project work but also into the social heart of the village.
The range of activities you can be involved in include teaching in the primary and pre-school as well as teaching English to the village elders themselves, refurbishing the school classrooms, assisting with harvesting and planting, development of their agro-tourism project and indigenous medicine garden. As with all rural communities you can become involved in the nightly games of football, volleyball or badminton or simply watch, chat and make friends with the other bystanders.
Wildlife:
This phase of your adventure will be conducted on the banks of the mighty Kinabatangan River in eastern Sabah. The river runs from the heart of Borneo and is steeped in history since it used to be the only way of getting into the deep interior jungle. Communities along the banks have developed mini eco tourism projects in order to create alternative streams of income.
You will participate in an environmental project, helping to reforest areas where the jungle has become sparse. This is hard work in the heat and humidity of a Borneo jungle but your reward is the opportunity to see wildlife at close quarters from a boat. The banks of the river are teeming with life including crocodiles, wild boar, occasional elephants, assorted birdlife and at least 8 different species of ape and monkeys which of course includes the Borneo Orang-utan.
Several of these great apes nest near your work site so you may have the chance to get up close and personal with one. If you fail to see one at the work site then your day trip to Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary will certainly guarantee you see a number of them up close. During your stay on the Kinabatangan you will spend several nights jungle camping amongst the Borneo wildlife and insects as well as several nights in a traditional family home.
Ocean:
Since Borneo is an island the ocean is never far away. Some of the beaches are amongst the most secluded and under developed you will ever encounter. Your community camp is in the north of the island very near to the Northern Tip of Borneo which has a stunning beach. On your days off you will have the opportunity to snorkel or relax with a BBQ on the beach. For the more adventurous there is the opportunity to gain your PADI Open Water diving qualification and conduct dives in a variety of locations. These additional ocean adventures can be booked and paid for before you travel but can also be added on at any stage of your placement (subject to availability).
Mountain:
As you arrive in Borneo you may be lucky enough to glimpse the huge Mount Kinabalu. At 4096 metres it towers over Sabah although is hidden by cloud most days. If you are feeling adventurous you can sign up to carry out the two day trek to the highest point in South East Asia – if you are into mountains then this is an opportunity not to be missed. The trek takes you from a starting point of 1800 metres to approximately 3300 metres on the first day with a distance of 6 kms. This usually takes between 4 to 6 hours and you reach the lodge to watch the sun set above the clouds. After a fitful nights sleep you will be awoken by your guide at 0230 and you will start your trek by torchlight to the summit. This is a further 2.6 km and takes approx 3 hours, getting you to the summit for a spectacular sunrise. This is an amazing moment – but don’t forget you still have to trek down again. It takes another 6 hours or more to trek back down to the park gate where you will be picked up and whisked back to civilisation and a hot shower.
This additional climb of Mount Kinabalu can be booked and paid for before you travel but can also be added on at any stage of your placement (subject to availability).
Highlights:
- Key involvement in ongoing community projects, including construction, teaching and sports
- Work on environmental project in Lower Kinabatangan region of eastern Sabah
- Visit to Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary
- Opportunities to Scuba Dive, Mountain or jungle trek as well as R&R days
- Eastern and Western Borneo locations including homestay, jungle camping and community camp
project elements
Community: Working and living alongside a rural Sabahan community will be one of the highlights of your Borneo experience. Their warmth and generosity despite obvious hardships is incredible. In line with our camps in Africa, our camp has been established in partnership with the local community, providing a connection not only to much needed project work but also into the social heart of the village. The range of activities you can be involved in include teaching in the primary and pre-school as well as teaching English to the village elders themselves, refurbishing the school classrooms, assisting with harvesting and planting, development of their agro-tourism project and indigenous medicine garden. As with all rural communities you can become involved in the nightly games of football, volleyball or badminton or simply watch, chat and make friends with the other bystanders.
Wildlife:
This phase of your adventure will be conducted on the banks of the mighty Kinabatangan River in eastern Sabah. The river runs from the heart of Borneo and is steeped in history since it used to be the only way of getting into the deep interior jungle. Communities along the banks have developed mini eco tourism projects in order to create alternative streams of income. You will participate in an environmental project, helping to reforest areas where the jungle has become sparse. This is hard work in the heat and humidity of a Borneo jungle but your reward is the opportunity to see wildlife at close quarters from a boat. The banks of the river are teeming with life including crocodiles, wild boar, occasional elephants, assorted birdlife and at least 8 different species of ape and monkeys which of course includes the Borneo Orang-utan.
Several of these great apes nest near your work site so you may have the chance to get up close and personal with one. If you fail to see one at the work site then your day trip to Sepilok Orang-utan Sanctuary will certainly guarantee you see a number of them up close. During your stay on the Kinabatangan you will spend several nights jungle camping amongst the Borneo wildlife and insects as well as several nights in a traditional family home.
Ocean: Since Borneo is an island the ocean is never far away. Some of the beaches are amongst the most secluded and under developed you will ever encounter. Your community camp is in the north of the island very near to the Northern Tip of Borneo which has a stunning beach. On your days off you will have the opportunity to snorkel or relax with a BBQ on the beach. For the more adventurous there is the opportunity to gain your PADI Open Water diving qualification and conduct dives in a variety of locations. These additional ocean adventures can be booked and paid for before you travel but can also be added on at any stage of your placement (subject to availability).
Mountain:
As you arrive in Borneo you may be lucky enough to glimpse the huge Mount Kinabalu. At 4096 metres it towers over Sabah although is hidden by cloud most days. If you are feeling adventurous you can sign up to carry out the two day trek to the highest point in South East Asia – if you are into mountains then this is an opportunity not to be missed. The trek takes you from a starting point of 1800 metres to approximately 3300 metres on the first day with a distance of 6 kms. This usually takes between 4 to 6 hours and you reach the lodge to watch the sun set above the clouds. After a fitful nights sleep you will be awoken by your guide at 0230 and you will start your trek by torchlight to the summit. This is a further 2.6 km and takes approx 3 hours, getting you to the summit for a spectacular sunrise. This is an amazing moment – but don’t forget you still have to trek down again. It takes another 6 hours or more to trek back down to the park gate where you will be picked up and whisked back to civilisation and a hot shower. This additional climb of Mount Kinabalu can be booked and paid for before you travel but can also be added on at any stage of your placement (subject to availability).
award winner
This tourism business won an Award in our 2008 Virgin Holidays Responsible Tourism Awards - organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Daily Telegraph, World Travel Market, Geographical Magazine, of the Royal Geographical Society and BBC World News.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.
how this holiday makes a difference
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Highly Commended in the Responsible Tourism Awards 2007, Best Volunteering Organisation category, we own our ground operation, which means we have complete control over the integrity of our projects and the quality of the experiences we provide. We additionally subsidise our philanthropic objectives through additional funds raised by our Charitable Trust.
Our camps act as a source of local industry and employment with food produce and project materials bought locally. Local skilled workers are hired to assist volunteers with the projects work. Accommodation styles vary dependant on your programme and camp location however, all permanent accommodation is constructed using locally sourced materials in keeping with traditional styles. Temporary camps (e.g. jungle) are designed to create as little impact on the natural surroundings as possible. The conservation project work at Batu Puteh is centred around their efforts to re-generate the surrounding forest. Although in areas the forest is dense and healthy, in other areas due to flooding, poor soil and some human impacts, the forest has de-generated and allowed secondary growth of smaller plants. These plants have restricted larger trees from taking root and hence the programme aims to help these trees to re-claim the area. This is achieved through firstly clearing selected areas of secondary growth and then planting native species of saplings. These saplings must be grown from locally collected seeds, transplanted and nurtured in a nursery prior to being transported manually into the forest. The clearing, nursery work, planting and subsequent care of the saplings is very labour intensive work, particularly in the hot and sweaty conditions of a Borneo jungle. Beach clean ups and providing adequate rubbish facilities reduce the amount of waste going into the ocean. Teaching the importance of this practice and the value of the ocean in local schools helps the project become sustainable for the future. Teaching younger generations about pollution and keeping traditional methods alive through education is a big part of what we do. We provide and assist with the plantation of cash crops indigenous to the area. As well as going some way to off set the carbon emissions created by travel, it is also a sustainable source of income. It also protects the surrounding environment from more serious money making solutions such as over logging. The UK office is here to assist you with your booking and help you prepare for your trip. There is also a 24 hours emergency mobile which can be left with your relatives in case they need to contact us/you urgently. |
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. |