The newly launched Cardamom Tented Camp – an initiative by Minor International, Yaana Ventures and Wildlife Alliance – is offering 3D2N and 4D3N eco-tourism experiences at Botum Sakor National Park in southwest Cambodia.
Guests are put up at the camp’s tent-style accommodation and shown a presentation on the 18,000ha national park. They are then led by Wildlife Alliance rangers on guided hikes, following abandoned poaching and logging trails through a dense forest inhabited by macaques, gibbons, hornbills and more.
Hikers can also inspect confiscated snares, traps and improvised hunting rifles at a ranger station. They may then choose to kayak back to camp on the Preak Tachan river.
Packages include breakfast, lunch and dinner in the camp’s riverside restaurant. The programmes also leave guests free time, allowing them to explore on their own or in small groups, or lounge by the floating pier and birdwatch with their binoculars.
Guests also have the option of joining a second ranger patrol on a different route during their stay.
The 3D2N package commencing in Trapeang Rung starts at US$198 per person on a twin/double sharing basis (single room surcharge US$65), while the 4D3N package starts at US$289 (single room surcharge US$95). Packages including pre-arranged transfers from Trat or Phnom Penh are US$389 and US$479 respectively.
Any tented camp profits will be reinvested locally, which could help keep the area out of the hands of loggers, poachers and mining operators, according to a statement from Yaana Ventures.
