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WILDLIFEALLIANCE EXPERIENCE
SOUTHERN CARDAMOMS TOUR
‘’What we are looking at now is one of the rarest natural resources in Southeast Asia-it’s more precious than rubies or emeralds. It’s a living emerald-a tropical rainforest. Today, less than 30% of Cambodia’s rainforest remains and most of it is right here.’’ JEFF CORWIN 100 Heartbeats, Discovery Channel
High-end Itinerary
Speed 4 days experiencing the beautiful Southern Cardamom Mountain Range
See this “ocean of forest” from the air (134 km south to north and 120 km east to west), land on a high plateau overlooking the vast mountain range and witness the breathtaking views of the waterways. You will have first have experience of how Wildlife Alliance over the last decade has successfully applied direct protection methods to turn this threatened rainforest into the best preserved in Southeast Asia’s and one of Asia’s safest habitat Cambodia’s globally endangered and threatened species of mammals: Asian Elephants, Clouded Leopards, Gaur, Banteng, Southern Serow, Asiatic Black Bear, Malayan Sun Bear, Asia Wild Dog, Pileated Gibbon, Smooth-coated Otter and Hairy-nosed Otter, Irrawaddy Dolphins, and Humpback Dolphins.
- Travel by helicopter (6 seater)
- Overnight stay at ecolodgesKohSathun in Chi Phat and 4 Rivers Floating Lodge in Tatai
- All meals are made with local fresh products grown by Wildlife Alliance projects.
- When in Chi Phat, there will Lobster fishing by small boat at night and Lobster barbecues.
- In addition, at every stop, visitors will be offered fresh fruit from farmer’s gardens.
Activities
Arrive in Phnom Penh
Upon arrival, you will be met at the airport and transferred to the hotel. After time to relax or explore Phnom Penh on your own, we will head to the Elephant Bar the Raffles Hotel Le Royal for Welcome Drinks with Wildlife Alliance staff and trip participants. Overnight at Raffles Hotel Le Royal
Day 1: Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center
- 07:00am: Depart for Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center by car
- Go to the lakeside, see elephants bathing
- See threatened water birds nesting around the lake
- Tour the center, Indochinese tiger enclosures, Asian elephant enclosures, Malayan and Asian bear enclosures, pileated gibbon rehabilitation area
- 12:00pm: Lunch at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center
- 13:30pm: Return to Phnom Penh and explorer Phnom Penh on your own. Overnight at Raffles Hotel Le Royal
Day 2: Depart for the Cardamoms
- 07:00am: Take helicopter from helipad in Phnom Penh
- Land in Wildlife Alliance Patrol Station in Chambak
- Tour the station, meet the rangers, and visit the evidence room with seized chainsaws, snares, guns, vehicles and luxury wood
- Fly to high plateau with 180 degree panoramic view over the Southern Cardamoms
- Enjoy coffee and croissants and the call of pileated gibbons from the forest
- Depart for the 70 Archeological Jars Site of the 14th century
- Land at Angkorian Burial Jar Site explored led by archeologist Dr. Nancy Beaven from OTAGO University, New Zealand, and the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts
- 12:15pm: Lunch at Chi Phat Ecotourism Center
- 13:15pm: Fly to Wildlife Alliance Million Tree Nursery and join us to Restore the Life of the Land
- This is the most recognized and effective tropical reforestation center in the country. Hear how Wildlife Alliance tropical forest specialists and the people of Chi Phat are restoring the life of the land by bringing life back into large areas that were previously destroyed through slash and burn deforestation. See how clearing the forest leads to desertification.
- Tour the nursery (seed preparation from 98 tropical tree species collected directly from the forest; seed growth inside special greenhouse imitating conditions inside the forest; propagation of saplings under shade nets in irrigated lots)
- 15:25pm: Depart the Ecotourism Center for ChhayKpuos Waterfall
- Swimming at the waterfall
- 16:30pm: Depart for Chi Phat Ecotourism Center
- Presentation of the Wildlife Alliance Southern Cardamom Forest and Biodiversity Protection program, threats to the survival of elephant habitat, why Wildlife Alliance initiated the Community Based Eco-Tourism (CBET) project to help turn wildlife poachers and habitat destroyers into wildlife protectors and stewards of the forest. Brief on findings in 2012 by Dr. Nancy Bearven from University of OTAGO about the 70 archeological burial jars site in the Cardamoms.
- 19:00pm: Dinner at Chi Phat Ecotourism Center
- Go lobster fishing by small boat at night and enjoy lobster barbecues
- Overnight stay at KohSathunEcolodge
Day 3: Wildlife Rehabilitation Station, Patrolling and 4 Rivers Floating Lodge
- 07:30am: Take car to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Station
- Wildlife Alliance specialists are preparing endangered animals to be reintroduced back into the wild. The organization has rescued over 52,000 live wild animals from the illegal wildlife trade 2001 and is reintroducing most of these back into their natural habitat. You will see sun bears, binturongs, birds of prey, and reptiles
- 09:00am: Fly to the Wildlife Alliance Patrol Station in Stung Proat
- Go on patrol by boat with the rangers along Stung Proat River
- See the beautiful rainforest from the inside and hear the rangers talk about their challenges in investigating forest crimes and how they get organized to counter illegal logging networks and wildlife traffickers
- 11:40am: Fly to Wildlife Alliance Climate Smart Learning Center
- 12:00pm: Lunch at Climate Smart Learning Center
- 13:00pm: Learn how Wildlife Alliance is helping the poorest landless farmers who are suffering from annual drought and floods which have become much worse over the last ten years. See first-hand the climate-smart techniques that farmers have learned and how they are now successfully cultivating crops with year-round yields instead of just one meager harvest per year previously.
- Wildlife Alliance facilitated the government to donate land to this project in 2003 whereby each family has received 3 acres of permanent cultivation land. The organization’s agronomists and community development experts have transferred technical skills, irrigation and plowing equipment, inputs, small grants and micro-credit lending to these marginalized farmers so that they could develop sustainable agriculture production with year-round income.
- Visit family farms
- Visit the agriculture store and community vegetable nursery, irrigation system
- Hear about the Agriculture Association, Community Fund and how the income of 187 families has drastically increased
- 15:00pm: Depart for Tatai and 4 Rivers Floating Lodge
- Vision for the perfect vacation is pristine surrounding with top-of-the-line luxury, in harmony with Mother Nature. Treat yourself to complete relaxation, cradled by the soft movement of the river, in the midst of the Cardamoms rainforest.
- Enjoy a delicious gourmet Asian fusion meal. Take a kayak to the waterfall or a boat to the mangrove shoreline with sunset cocktails. You will be charmed as birds rise out of the jungle with flashes of color and musical notes from fishermen traditional roneatek (xylophone) trailing the wind.
- 19:00pm: Dinner and overnight at 4 River Floating Lodge
Day 4: JW Cambodia Eco-Holidays
- 07:30am: Depart for JW Cambodia Eco-Holidays Resort
- Relax in the beautiful landscape of BotumSakor National Park, one of Asia’s last remaining elephant corridors. VIP facilities for corporate upper level managers and a fantastic Ropes Course with Vision Quest for corporate groups, Provides on-site training for Leadership and Team Building.
- 12:00pm: Lunch at JW Resort
- Nature lodge resort and corporate training center
- Elephant rescue center and elephant tour
- Zip lines eco-adventure tour
- Coastal ecosystem discovery tour
- 19:00pm: Dinner and overnight at JW Resort
Why the Southern Cardamoms
- The Southern Cardamoms are the portion of the mountain range that directly borders the Gulf of Thailand. Therefore receiving the highest rainfall of the Cardamom Mountains and making them the most important water reserve for the region. The Southern Cardamoms have the largest number of waterways, wetlands, swamp forests, inundated grasslands and the most intricate network of tributaries and estuaries of the entire Cardamom landscape.
- The high rainfall of the Southern Cardamoms creates the richest ecosystem diversity of the entire Cardamom Mountain Range because the forest mountain slopes live in symbiosis with the coastal lowland forest swamps, wetlands and mangroves, resulting in an inter-dependant ecosystem. In this interwoven ecosystem, the coastal ecosystem cannot survive without the upstream mountain ecosystem.
In this symbiotic relationship, the function of the dense evergreen forest is to hold moisture along the mountain slopes, recharge underground aquifers, regulate water flow to the lowland wetlands and supply essential nutrients to the coastal mangroves. The function of the wetlands and mangroves is to provide fish breeding grounds and fish ling nurseries to the entire coastline.
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The Southern Cardamoms hosts the largest portion of the Asian elephant corridor, the majority of habitat sites for the Siamese crocodiles and the only site for Royal turtles.
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