Exploring Cambodia’s Rainforest
Cambodia’s Cardamom rainforest is constantly facing outside threats from loggers selling rare Asian hardwood trees to manufacture furniture or produce charcoal, as well as poachers looking for in-demand species such as the Sunda Pangolin. Our eco-friendly activities are specifically designed to leave no trace on the environment, but to also give you the chance to directly participate in conservation through sustainable tourism. To help protect the forest, we work with 12 Wildlife Alliance forest rangers; a portion of the rooms’ revenue at Cardamom Tented Camp goes directly to the Wildlife Alliance to help fund ongoing projects that stop logging, sand dredging, land-grabbing, poaching, and wildlife trafficking.
Our most popular package is our 3-day 4-night Explorer package; a perfect balance of adventurous activities geared towards learning about the region, the challenges our Wildlife Alliance Rangers face, as well as enough downtime to independently relax, unwind, and explore. As we hike the trails that were once used as logging and poaching trails, guests can also catch a glimpse of rare plant varieties now thriving as well as endangered wildlife that are slowly returning to our protected areas.
Upon arriving, guests get a brief walk through about our conservation and protection projects with the Wildlife Alliance. As one of our key partners, your stay helps fund the forest rangers, who sometimes spend days at a time camped deep in the jungle to catch poachers and illegal loggers. Your stay with us keeps boots on-the-ground and ensures that we can continue our direct-protection efforts in Cambodia’s Cardamom rainforest, one of the last pristine wildlife corridors in Southeast Asia.
Following the introduction, settle into your comfortable safari-style tent. Each of our nine tents provides visitors with cozy-fully-furnished accommodations. With Twin, Double, or Triple beds; fans; bamboo and rattan furniture; relax indoors or outdoors during your downtime. Our bathrooms have hot water with rain showers and utilize locally-sourced-eco-friendly soaps and shampoos.
After settling in, take a short exploratory hike around the camp or relax at our riverside restaurant as the sun sets over Botum Sakor. Enjoy a tasty dinner served at the restaurant, before turning in for the night.
On Day 2, we’ll meet the Wildlife Alliance Rangers with our English speaking guide. Together, our group sets off on a patrol over a network of abandoned poaching and logging trails through the dense forest. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife, like macaques, gibbons, or hornbills. Midday, our group will stop at the ranger station for lunch. Confiscated snares, traps, and improvised hunting rifles are on display there. Afterwards, we either kayak or hike back to the camp.
If you are a keen birdwatcher, then you may be lucky enough to spot some amazing birdlife. The park is an extremely important habitat for populations of resident and migratory birds. With 196 officially recorded bird species, estimates suggest a much larger number could actually inhabit the park. Naturalists also estimate that Botum Sakor could be home to over 2,000 different groups of the rare pileated gibbon, which is only found inhabiting Cambodian forests west of the Mekong River, southwest Thailand, and small pockets of Laos.
This package not only includes ranger-guided hikes and field trips into Botum Sakor’s lowland rainforest, but also allows guests the flexibility to embark on other guided or self-guided expeditions on Day 3, including treks deeper into the forest to visit one of our wildlife hides; kayaking along the winding waterways of the mangrove-lined Preak Tachan River; or simply relaxing by the river to soak up the jungle’s magical ambiance.
On the last day, if you are an early riser, you can do one of our self-guided hiking trails around the camp. As you say goodbye to Cardamom Tented Camp and board the boat back to Trapeang Rung village, rest assured that your stay has helped to provide on-the-ground protection to Cambodia’s Cardamom rainforest, one of the largest jungle habitats in Southeast Asia.
Whether you’re at the campgrounds or out hiking, keep a pair of binoculars handy for those rare opportunities to see endangered birds and other wildlife!
It’s also worth noting, as you pack for your journey, that we are not a typical hotel. As getting to Cardamom Tented Camp involves a boat ride, we have limited luggage capacity on our boat and in our tents. The boat leaves from the Trapeang Rung Resort Pier in Trapeang Rung village at 14.00 to Cardamom Tented Camp. In Trapeang Rung village, we have facilities where you can safely leave larger suitcases: we advise guests to store their hefty luggage for a few days and bring a 35-40L small backpack or carry-on-sized bag instead.
For more information on Cardamom Tented Camp’s trekking activities, such as our ranger patrols, or any of our packages, get in touch with us.
