Tour type
Tour Level: Moderate
Tour Comfort: Budget
Tour Period: 3 Days
tour highlights
- Get to see Borneo's endangered wildlife.
- Learn about wildlife conservation.
- Help to improve living conditions of rescued animals.
- Participate in enrichment activities for orang utans & sun bears
. - Observe orang utans in natural surrounding
tour details
Take a tour of Matang Wildlife Center to see some of Borneo’s endangered animals and meet staff of the NGO ‘Orangutan Project’ which is dedicated to the conservation of wildlife. Get a deeper insight into the cause, before you participate hands-on in tasks that aim to improve the living conditions of the resident animals such as enrichment for orang utans and sun bears. While helping the staff of the NGO during the day, your evenings will be filled with video presentations and a night walk to track nocturnal animals that have been released into the surrounding forest. You’ll also get to enjoy the serenity of the rainforest of nearby Kubah National Park. Round up your memorable experience with a visit of Semenggoh Nature Reserve to see orang utans roaming freely in their natural habitat.
Why choose this tour?
Rich flora and diversity of palm species, lies the Matang Wildlife Centre. This centre is unique among the eight orangutan rehabilitation centres located on Borneo and Sumatra, in being the only one that caters for all protected wildlife in Sarawak.Meet the team working on the 'Orangutan Project', learn about the tasks and challenges in wildlife conservation and get a chance to get hands-on to help in the quest to improve the living conditions of the animals at Matang Wildlife Centre!08:00 hours
08:00 hrs. - Pick-up from your city hotel in Kuching and transfer to Matang Wildlife Centre, where you will have the unique chance to join the team of the NGO 'Orangutan Project Sdn. Bhd.' and spend time with experts in the field who will share their experiences and knowledge about wildlife conservation with you.
After a welcome briefing and an introductory talk about Matang Wildlife Centre and orang utan rehabilitation, you will be brought on a tour of the centre. Get to know the individual animals that reside at Matang Wildlife Centre. Besides orang utans this centre also houses other endangered wildlife such as sun bears, clouded leopard and binturong. The vast majority of these animals have been confiscated or surrendered from illicit pet trade. Listen to the explanations about the work at the centre, challenges to rehabilitation and problems for wider conservation.
After lunch, check-in at the Chalet and freshen up before you start with orang utan enrichment work. Boredom can be a huge stress for captive animals and the importance of enrichment cannot be overstated. Help to create diverse enrichment items for the orang utans, distribute them to the different enclosures and observe how the orang utans demolish your hard work!
Some of your activities at Matang Wildlife Centre might see you in close proximity to the orang utan, and other animals at the centre. However please note that most primate care centres, especially those attempting rehabilitation and release in accordance with the IUCN guidelines, prohibit tourist and volunteer contact with any and all animals for two main reasons: risk of zoonosis (the risk of us passing diseases to our primate cousins) and habituation & behavioural implications (detrimental impact of having a large, ever-changing human presence around apes which might lead to a reluctance to return to their natural habitat).
In the evening, after your dinner, you may join the tracking team on a night walk trying to catch a glimpse of nocturnal animals that have been released into the surrounding forest, such as slow loris or porcupines.
Overnight at Matang Wildlife Centre
Meals included:Lunch
Dinner
08:00 hrs. - Pick-up from your city hotel in Kuching and transfer to Matang Wildlife Centre, where you will have the unique chance to join the team of the NGO 'Orangutan Project Sdn. Bhd.' and spend time with experts in the field who will share their experiences and knowledge about wildlife conservation with you.
After a welcome briefing and an introductory talk about Matang Wildlife Centre and orang utan rehabilitation, you will be brought on a tour of the centre. Get to know the individual animals that reside at Matang Wildlife Centre. Besides orang utans this centre also houses other endangered wildlife such as sun bears, clouded leopard and binturong. The vast majority of these animals have been confiscated or surrendered from illicit pet trade. Listen to the explanations about the work at the centre, challenges to rehabilitation and problems for wider conservation.
After lunch, check-in at the Chalet and freshen up before you start with orang utan enrichment work. Boredom can be a huge stress for captive animals and the importance of enrichment cannot be overstated. Help to create diverse enrichment items for the orang utans, distribute them to the different enclosures and observe how the orang utans demolish your hard work!
Some of your activities at Matang Wildlife Centre might see you in close proximity to the orang utan, and other animals at the centre. However please note that most primate care centres, especially those attempting rehabilitation and release in accordance with the IUCN guidelines, prohibit tourist and volunteer contact with any and all animals for two main reasons: risk of zoonosis (the risk of us passing diseases to our primate cousins) and habituation & behavioural implications (detrimental impact of having a large, ever-changing human presence around apes which might lead to a reluctance to return to their natural habitat).
In the evening, after your dinner, you may join the tracking team on a night walk trying to catch a glimpse of nocturnal animals that have been released into the surrounding forest, such as slow loris or porcupines.
Overnight at Matang Wildlife Centre
Meals included:Lunch
Dinner
09:00 hours
After breakfast you will continue with the fun task of enrichment. But this time you will get to entertain the sun bears. Of the eight bear species currently recognised around the world, the sun bears are by far the smallest. Sun bears are listed as 'Vulnerable' by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Their threats include habitat loss and illegal trade, whereas cubs are traded as pets, while all sun bears are at risk due to the value of bear bile in traditional medicines.
Having regained your energy after lunch and a short rest you will join for one of the maintenance projects in the afternoon. The maintenance of a wildlife centre is a never ending task and jobs range from construction of new animal enclosures, expansion or upgrading of existing enclosures, repair works and painting jobs, to farming work in the sustainable organic garden of the centre which provides food for the animals. You will be allocated tasks dependent upon the projects taking place at the time of your stay at Matang Wildlife Centre.
After dinner join a video presentation before retiring for the night.
Overnight at Matang Wildlife Centre
Meals included:Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
After breakfast you will continue with the fun task of enrichment. But this time you will get to entertain the sun bears. Of the eight bear species currently recognised around the world, the sun bears are by far the smallest. Sun bears are listed as 'Vulnerable' by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature). Their threats include habitat loss and illegal trade, whereas cubs are traded as pets, while all sun bears are at risk due to the value of bear bile in traditional medicines.
Having regained your energy after lunch and a short rest you will join for one of the maintenance projects in the afternoon. The maintenance of a wildlife centre is a never ending task and jobs range from construction of new animal enclosures, expansion or upgrading of existing enclosures, repair works and painting jobs, to farming work in the sustainable organic garden of the centre which provides food for the animals. You will be allocated tasks dependent upon the projects taking place at the time of your stay at Matang Wildlife Centre.
After dinner join a video presentation before retiring for the night.
Overnight at Matang Wildlife Centre
Meals included:Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
After breakfast you have some time free at leisure. You may want to explore one of the short jungle trails nearby, enjoy a dip in the cooling water of the clear stream that runs through the centre or simply stroll along the enclosures one more time and review all the memorable experiences you made during your stay at Matang Wildlife Centre!
Around noon it is time to say goodbye to your newly found friends. You will be picked up from Matang and depart to Semenggoh Nature Reserve with a local lunch en-route. The Semenggoh Nature Reserve occupies an area of 740 acres and acts as a sanctuary for orang utans that have been rescued from captivity. These animals have been trained or re-trained to survive in their natural habitat, learned how to forage for natural food and build nests in the trees, and were then released into this nature reserve. There are daily scheduled feeding times. However, sightings of these primates during feeding times are not guaranteed due to the fact that they are semi-wild and roaming freely within the nature reserve.
After this unforgettable experience you will be transferred back to your city hotel in Kuching.
Meals included:Breakfast
Lunch
Around noon it is time to say goodbye to your newly found friends. You will be picked up from Matang and depart to Semenggoh Nature Reserve with a local lunch en-route. The Semenggoh Nature Reserve occupies an area of 740 acres and acts as a sanctuary for orang utans that have been rescued from captivity. These animals have been trained or re-trained to survive in their natural habitat, learned how to forage for natural food and build nests in the trees, and were then released into this nature reserve. There are daily scheduled feeding times. However, sightings of these primates during feeding times are not guaranteed due to the fact that they are semi-wild and roaming freely within the nature reserve.
After this unforgettable experience you will be transferred back to your city hotel in Kuching.
Meals included:Breakfast
Lunch
customise the tour
- Extend vacation to Miri and Mulu
- Extend to Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia
includes
- 2 nights accommodation in Matang Wildlife Centre
- Meals as stated in the programme: B= breakfast, L= lunch, D= dinner
- Transfers and tours with local English-speaking driver guides in air-conditioned vehicles
- Activities at Matang Wildlife Centre with the staff of Orangutan Project Sd. Bhd.
- Entrance fees and/or boat fees as stated in the programme
- Volunteering for 'The Orangutan Project' under supervision of English-speaking facilitators and with all necessary tools and equipment provided
- Financial contribution to the conservation efforts of 'The Orangutan Project'
- Drinking water available on the vehicles
excludes
- Domestic airfare and/or International airfare to/from Malaysia (quoted separately, if requested)
- Optional tours
- Surcharges for other language guides
- Personal travel insurance
- Personal expenditure, such as drinks, souvenirs, laundry, camera fees, communications, postage, gratuities etc.
- Meals and services other than mentioned in the programme
- Drinks with meals
- Early check-in and late check-out at hotels, if not mentioned in the programme
notes
- Minimum age for participation is 16 years.
- Guests have to sign an indemnity form upon booking of this tour package.
- Meals during the stay at Matang Wildlife Centre will be typical local home-cooked meals prepared by women from the surrounding villages.
- Subjected to availability, the founder of 'Orangutan Project Sdn. Bhd.' and renowned conservationist Leo Biddle can be booked at a surcharge to guide the activities at Matang Wildlife Centre.
- Certain parts of the tours on offer are provided by independent third parties, such as airlines, hotels, transport operators and local tourist offices. Diethelm Travel is therefore not responsible for any loss, injury or damage caused thereby to the tourists, including those occurring outside of the normal touring programmers. Additional expenses incurred due to delay, accident, natural disaster, political actions and unrest shall be borne by the tourists.
- We advise that due to frequent flight changes, delays and cancellations by the various domestic airlines and trains we cannot fully guarantee that the proposed itinerary can be carried out as planned. Based on our experience, changes of departure times and/ or cancellations can occur at very short notice even after confirmation of a flight has been received. The same applies for train travel: Schedule changes occur frequently; often without prior notification. In case of schedule changes or flight cancellations we always try everything possible to arrange an alternate programme within the framework of the original quoted costs. However, we reserve the right to charge any cost exceeding the original budget to the tour operator/ travel agent or to the participant of a tour after consultation with the agent.
- Programmers, prices, services and conditions are based on those valid at the time of proposal submission and are subject to change thereafter without advance notice until all services have been paid in full.
- For air ticket reservations, we require the guests' full names AS THEY APPEAR IN THEIR PASSPORTS including passport details. Airfares and reservations are always subject to change.
- Please be advised that prices may be adjusted periodically in case of fuel price increase by our suppliers and hotel room availability at time of booking
- This is a quotation only and reservation for services has not been made nor has availability been checked.
WHAT TO BRING: - Backpack
- Loose-fitting summer clothing
- Swimwear
- Sun hat/ cap
- Sun block
- Insect repellent
- Personal toiletries
- Flat walking shoes with good grip
- Raincoat
- Torch or flashlight
Tour code: PKKCBS3A
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