Borneo Discovery

1 Week Fully Guided Educational School Tour

Camps International runs award winning volunteer enrichment trips to Africa and Asia that are ideal for service orientated experiences such as CAS, Duke of Edinburgh and curriculum focused residential trips. We run all our own camps and have established long term relationships with the communities in which we work and live. This means our projects are worthwhile, sustainable and meaningful to those undertaking them.

Borneo Discovery
Based from two very different locations in the Malaysian state of Sabah in northern Borneo, this trip takes in traditional communities, rugged terrain and environmentally sensitive areas. Borneo provides an excellent backdrop to this trip, enabling visitors to experience life in rural communities and the peoples warmness and generosity. Students will learn about the problems the environment and these communities face on a daily basis, human-wildlife conflicts and efforts to preserve these precious areas. This trip offers students the opportunity to undertake purposeful project activities and facilitates positive learning experiences throughout.

Fully Guided Educational School Tour Highlights:

Overview:

Suggested Itinerary:
DAY 1 - ARRIVE KOTA KINABALU & TRANSFER TO COMMUNITY (Overnight Community Camp) Arrive in the state capital of Kota Kinabalu by midday. It is a 3-hour bus journey to our community camp. On arrival at the camp you will be welcomed by staff with a dance and a coconut for refreshment. Before dinner the team will receive a full safety and orientation brief. The remainder of the day is a chance to relax and settle into the traditional style accommodation and get used to the local environment. LD DAY 2 - CULTURAL BRIEF AND TRADITIONAL WAYS OF LIFE SESSIONS (Overnight Community Camp) After breakfast, the morning is filled with sessions on traditional ways of life such as construction techniques, medicines developed from local trees, introduction to cooking and food preparation, and bead making as well as a chance to meet the community and see the how people live. In the afternoon the team will be given a thorough briefing on the community project that they will work on the following day. In the evening there will be traditional dancing for the whole team. BLD DAY 3 - COMMUNITY PROJECT WORK AND SPORT (Overnight Community Camp) This will be a hard days work within the community providing either continued assistance to an ongoing project (for example construction of a classroom) or a mini-project such as classroom refurbishment or maintenance. This will be in line with our long-term development plan for the community. In the evening before dinner as a reward for their hard work, the team could challenge the locals to a game of football or volleyball. BLD DAY 4- COMMUNITY PROJECT WORK/LOCAL ATTRACTION (Overnight Community Camp) This would normally be another day of project work continuing where the team left off the day before. However, depending on the groups progress and aims, there is scope for a visit to a local attraction which could be a local beach, waterfall or short jungle trek. The evening no doubt will involve some more dancing and sitting around together with the locals sharing stories and learning some of the language. BLD

DAY 5 - TRANSFER TO BATU PUTEH (Overnight Batu Puteh Homestay) It is approximately a 6-hour drive to transfer across Sabah from the west to the east coast to the small community of Batu Puteh on the Kinabatangan River. En route the team will pass by the awesome Mount Kinabalu towering above the clouds as well as small market towns. In addition, visitors will see one of the greatest threats to Borneos jungle, wildlife and biodiversity oil palm plantations. On arrival at Batu Puteh the team will be met by this friendly community, briefed and split into groups of three to head off to their homestays for the evening. Living with a Muslim family is an experience many people remember and cherish for years to come. BLD DAY 6 - FOREST RE-GENERATION PROJECT (Overnight Batu Puteh Homestay/Jungle Camp) After a traditional breakfast of noodles or rice, the team will all meet up on the jetty ready for a days hard work. The community has undertaken an ambitious programme of forest regeneration in and around their community, primarily in the forest reserve in which they have built an eco-lodge. The work involves re-planting areas of the jungle, which have lost a lot of their indigenous trees. As a reward for the hard work, at the end of the day when the wildlife comes alive the team will cruise along the banks of the river in small boats for a jungle river safari. This could include seeing crocodiles, monitor lizards, elephants, bird life, wild boar and up to 10 species of primate, including wild orangutans. Teams can sleep in hammocks in a small jungle camp as an alternative to homestays, which may not be suitable for younger age groups. BLD DAY 7 - DAY TRIP TO SEPILOK ORANGUTAN SANCTUARY (Overnight Batu Puteh Homestay) The other reward for the previous days hard work is the chance to visit the world renowned Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary. Here they take in and care for orphaned orangutans, and try to rehabilitate them back into the wild. No visit to Borneo would be complete without a visit to see these amazing creatures. The team will then get the chance to explore the historic town of Sandakan before returning to Batu Puteh. As this is visitors last evening the community will lay on a special evening of dance and performances including the traditional art of Silat which is a cross between dance and martial arts. BLD DAY 8 - TRANSFER TO SANDAKAN & DEPART An early start sees the team depart Batu Puteh en route back to Sandakan (approx 2 hours) to catch a lunchtime flight direct back to Kuala Lumpur. B

Included:
In-country transfers Fully staffed camps and local guides Accommodation (traditional style buildings and homestay) Food (listed meals: B Breakfast, L Lunch, D Dinner) Orientation & Safety briefs Drinking water Project costs and coordination Emergency management plan RM 30 per person donation to PACOS Trust, grass roots charity Risk assessments for all activities and locations

Not Included:
International flights (can be included on request) Leader and accompanying staff costs (can be included on request) Travel insurance (can be included on request) Arrival and departure fees (if applicable) Visa Vaccinations Passport Entrance fees Personal equipment & spending money Tips or gratuities Meals other than those listed Personal laundry Additional optional activities

Although it is our intention to operate the itinerary as detailed above, it may be necessary to make some changes as a result of climatic conditions, alterations to flight schedules, or other operational factors.