• Community development & interaction programme
• Working with a local Sabahan community
• River cruise within Klias Wetland Reserve
• Optional Day trip to Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary (at additional cost)

Day 1, Kota Kinabalu – Ulu Moyog community Homestay - Arrive at Kota Kinabalu Airport and transfer to Ulu Moyog community homestay. Settle into accommodation and freshen up. Meet local representatives and orientation of community before dinner. (LD)

Days 2, Brief and Familiarisation – Project and itinerary briefing followed by an introduction to the Bahasa Malay language. The afternoon is a familiarisation trip to the town of Kota Kinabalu. (BD)

Days 3-5, 7-9, Community Interaction – Six rewarding days interacting with the community. The mornings will be spent participating in one of the ongoing local projects. Depending on your skills, experience and energy we will look to get you working on the current priority within the community – this could be anything from working in the nearby medicine garden to improving infrastructure within the community itself. The afternoons will be a chance to learn more about the lives, traditions and skills of the local community by joining in with their day to day activates. This will include harvesting, participating in the local market, dance, sport and social interaction. In addition you will contribute with English lessons to both the young and old, which are always well attended, and a lot of fun. (BLD)

Day 6, Afternoon/Evening trip to Klias River – Spend the morning in Kota Kinabalu catching up on some shopping or relaxing. After lunch get picked up and taken two hours south of Kota Kinabalu to the Klias Wetland, a mangrove forest reserve. Here you will have a boat tour where you should be able to see the fascinating and rare Proboscis monkeys as well as other wildlife. After a traditional Malay dinner watch a display of Fireflies as they come out in the early evening before returning to the homestay. (BD)

Day 9, Community Farewell – After a final day of work with the community you will have an opportunity to say goodbye to the people that you have worked closely with over the previous 9 days. This no doubt will take the form of more local dishes to eat, perhaps a drop of local rice wine, dancing and gongs. (BLD)

Day 10, Departure - Transfer to Kota Kinabalu airport and depart. (B)

Please be aware that the exact nature of the work you will be involved in will depend on the current needs and priorities of the school and village. As volunteers it is important to remain flexible and keep in mind that sometimes priorities and/or emergencies may arise which may result in your duties changing at short notice. We also reserve the right to change the order of your itinerary, not the components, to suit client numbers and seasonality.

Fitness

None of the activities featured require anything more than a reasonable level of fitness. No special skills are required for any of our projects.