Day 3 – elephants, monkeys and firebreaks!

Today we had an early breakfast and headed in the mini vans on the 1 1/2 hour journey to the elephant sanctuary from Siem Reap! Once we arrived it was time to settle in and discover our new accommodations; brand new wooden bungalows with beds an mosquito nets. We all went to bed feeling like princesses tonight! (Yep, even the boys haha)

We headed to the main building for our orientation talk and meet the volunteer coordinator Dino. He discussed what we would be doing this week, how and why it was so important. We also were introduced to the washroom facilities which are bucket showers and with no hot water! Welcome to the real Cambodia! And lucky it’s hot here 🙂

We were then all given a watermelon and walked toward the forest where we were amazingly greeted by a elephant! Everyone had to opportunity to feed the elephant a small watermelon, and being this close to such a majestic creature is an amazing experience. But it didn’t stop there! We headed down the path and came to the monkey enclosures. They ate the fruit we gave them and are very cheeky! These monkeys have been rescued and are being rehabilitated to be released back into the surrounding large forest.

It was then onto the hard work! Helping establish a fire break for the sanctuary to prevent major forest fires an the destruction on the important habitats of elephants and many other species. It was hard and hot work under the Cambodian sun but I am very impressed with the volunteers and their energetic spirit 🙂 with rakes and makeshift tools we were able to clear a large section of weeds and debris next to the road. As a reward for the hard work we went for a short jungle walk to a local river and some had a nice refreshing dip!

Back at the sanctuary it was time to relax until dinner time. Refreshing showers, hammocks, and naps were had! A buffet style dinner was devoured and a documentary about the rescue of the elephants here at the sanctuary was shown. A very competitive card game was then had and we were all reminded that the few hours (6-10pm) of electricity a day were over when all the lights went out! Everyone is looking forward to a big day tomorrow!

Good night and a good tomorrow 🙂

~ Jess

Day 2 – History, Siem Reap and Tarantulas!

Today was a packed full day! We began with a bakery breakfast and then a tuk tuk ride out to the Killing Fields just outside of Phnom Penh. The killing fields is a memorial to those thousands of people who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge in the area. It is a very eye opening experience to learn about the recent history and actually see where it all happened. The volunteers were humbled and the mood was a little quieter on the way home, everyone considering what they had learned today.

Once we got back to the hotel it was time for doing the last bit of repacking and onto the bus towards Siem Reap. It was around a 7 hour bus ride but we had some pretty interesting and exciting rest stops…not to mention the bus games of two truths and a lie as well as riddles galore! Our main stop was in a small bus bustling little town with some unique snacks…what you may ask? Why tarantulas of course!! Both edible and live! Please see photos below for evidence.

In the evening we got into Siem Reap and headed out straight away for some yummy dinner. The bustling city had new things to see around every corner and after dinner we discovered some night markets and massages! But it had been a long day and we headed back to the hotel for some rest in preparation for the big day tomorrow heading out to the elephant sanctuary!

Good night and a god tomorrow!

~ Jess

Cambodian Internet :)

Hey folks at home!

Apologies for the lateness of the blog today. We made it safely into Siem Reap yesterday and are now at the elephant sanctuary. Here at the elephants there is very limited Internet, as we are in the middle of the jungle! I will be attempting to upload the blog of only text and add the photos when we are back in civilisation ok sunday 🙂 Rest assured everyone is having an amazing time here and we saw our first elephant today! I guarantee the photos are amazing so thank you in advance for having to listen to me waffle on 🙂

Tomorrow we are heading down to the river to construct a dam for the elephants to swim in 🙂 oh did I mention there were monkeys. There’s monkeys! 😀

Until the Internet is working 🙂

~ Jess

Day 1 – The adventure begins!!

Hey everyone at home, my name is Jess and I’m the team leader on this amazing Cambodian adventure we are about to embark on. It’s going to be filled with new and exciting things as well as truly rewarding results. Something different is around each corner and I can’t wait for it to get started! Right at the start I’d like to say a huge thankyou to the volunteers who have come over here to help make a difference in the lives of the incredible people and animals and thankyou to anyone back at home who helped them in their goal to make it to Cambodia. Enjoy the blog and feel free to comment!

Today was a day filled with airport pickups; tuk tuk rides (a motorbike pulling a 4 seater cabin), markets, general exploration and volunteers meeting their new family for the next 2 weeks. For those that had arrived already, a local Cambodian lunch was eaten (much better than plane food) and it was a free afternoon to explore until dinner when everyone would be here.

By the time dinner came around, everyone was here and introductions were had all around the dinner table. It’s great to see everyone getting on so well already! After dinner it was off to the night markets to wander around the many stalls of clothes, shoes hand bags, arts and crafts and much more. It was also time to try one of my absolute favourite delicacies…fried milk! How to describe it? A custard like substance deep fried with delicious batter. For those that it did not appeal to (understandable I suppose) there was also deep fried Oreos and fried ice cream. YUM! But it’s an early start tomorrow and after an hour or so we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

Most of the crew! (Team name coming soon)

At the night markets in Phnom Penh

Good night and a good tomorrow!

~ Jess

On the road again

(be sure to follow our new blog at www.rovsiemreap.wordpress.com)

Hello, Hello!

Just a quick post today to let you all know we made the rather long journey from the Elephant Sanctuary to the beautiful city of Siem Reap.

Getting up nice and early we had an early breakfast all together then jumped on the bus to make the 12 hour journey!

Throughout the journey we were treated to a wide selection of Cambodian Karaoke songs, some big budget Western action films (Pacific Rim and Battleship) and beautiful scenery throughout.

At our longest stop in Skun a couple of our volunteers took the brave step to try the fried Tarantulas on offer!

Alex, Ronelle and Eve the brave few

Arriving into Siem Reap at 8pm we all went out for dinner after meeting our fantastic local guide Bun. Many were exhausted from the long day and went straight to bed while others kicked on to check out the fabulous at the famous Night Markets.

All in all a long but productive day and everyone is so excited to explore the city properly tomorrow!

We are now be going to be moving over to our other blog site so be sure to make the change and keep sending your messages of love and support to our amazing volunteers.

You can follow all our amazing work next week at www.rovsiemreap.wordpress.com

Much Love

Dan

Our Final Day with the Elephants

Elephants always Photobombing!

Today was our final day with the beautiful creatures who have become very dear to our hearts over the past week.

We split into two groups for the morning to feed the Elephants tasty banana tree treats.

Bree making friends

Lena with a very happy Ruby!

Two of our fantastic volunteers Lena and Dahlia are vets in training and were able to get some incredible information from Jack as he showed them how to take Elephants pulse and feel their heartbeat.

Jack, Lena and Dahlia

After feeding the Elephants we were able to give them a bath and then observe the incredible creatures for the rest of the day.

Jase giving a bath!

Twice the fun!

It has been an incredible week, with these animals. We have learnt so much about the elephants and ourselves. To know that we have been lucky enough to spend time with Elephants in their natural environment and volunteer on the sanctuary has been amazing.

All this work has resulted in some rather strong volunteers!

Tomorrow we are off bright and early to the beautiful city of Siem Reap, now its time to celebrate and reminisce on our amazing week with the Elephants.

Might as well jump!!!!!

A beautiful day for a waterfall

Today was a fantastic day of two halves!

Lena, Amy, Ronelle, Tori, Clare and Lizzie

We started off working hard harvesting bananas trees to feed to all our Elephant friends tomorrow. Everyone took turns, cutting down the trees, stripping the dead leaves and hacking up the tree itself into moveable pieces.

Don’t mess with Valerie, Jade and Jane.

Jase flexing the muscles

After the hard work of carrying the banana pieces down all 278 steps it was definitely time for a lunch break!

Next on the agenda, the stunning waterfall within the Sanctuary area. Trekking through the jungle we headed in on a beautifully scenic 30 minute walk arriving at an even more beautiful location.

Beautiful group in a beautiful location

While the water was rather chilly nothing could stop us from having a fantastic afternoon swimming, climbing the vines and sitting behind the waterfall

Alex climbing up

Amy and Brittney on the vines

Everyone had an amazing day, well deserved after all the hard work.

Catch you tomorrow!!!!

Happy Hacking and Hoeing

Today was the day to get dirty, get sweaty, and get our work done!

Armed with our tools, ready to go!

We were set the task of clearing out the weeds and long grass that had grown in the Bamboo , Pineapple and Banana fields for the Elephants. With the determination and dedication I have come to expect from our great group everyone got straight to work on the various tasks. Hacking and Hoeing it seemed the weeds had met their match!

Brittney and Eve armed with their knives

Dynamic duo Lizzie and Saphron getting it done

As the day grew hotter it was time for a well deserved lunch. Curry on the menu, smiles on the faces and definitely time for a rest. Cards were played and naps were taken by a few tired friends.

Eve having a nap in the hammock

After lunch we were back into it, this time focussing on the Pineapple and Banana field. With games of 20 questions going on all afternoon while we were working the time flew by. Jason also found a new friend, a Tartantula in the field!

Might be eating you in a few days….

Come the end of the day everyone was ready for a nice shower, some good Cambodian food and an early night.

Catch you all tomorrow!

 

 

We see Elephants and Dahlia arrives!!!

Today was an incredible day for two great reasons!

Firstly, and most importantly our new friend Dahlia finally arrived and joined us. She had some troubles with her flights and unfortunately missed the first few days but we are so glad to have her here now

Lane, Dahlia and Clare!

Secondly, we met the Elephants! All ten of them!!!

We started the day with a delicious breakfast at our accommodation of Omelettes, Banana Pancakes and Fruit Salad. Hopping into our minibuses we travelled to the Elephant Sanctuary, where we spoke with Jack about our plans for the week and all the aims of the Sanctuary.

Splitting into two groups we went off to observe the Elephants in two different jungle areas.

Elephant Photobomb

Back: Lane, Jane, Eve, Jade and Bree. Front: Clare, Jase

Jase Making Mates

Ronelle, Amy and Tori helping out with an Elebath

Stopping for a delicious lunch at the Elephant Basecamp we sat round discussing our wonderful morning, singing songs and swapping stories.

Heading back after lunch we swapped areas to meet the rest of the Elephants.

Brittney, Amy, Ronelle, Valerie and Jack. Jungle Trekking

Jade finding a Cambodian swing!

An amazing start to our time at the Elephant sanctuary, can’t wait for tomorrow!!!

Off to the Elephants we go!

On the road we go!

Leaving Phnom Penh nice and early we loaded into our two minibuses heading towards The Elephant Sanctuary. For most of the group this was their first time experiencing Cambodian driving which is an experience in itself!

We were lucky enough to have a very smooth ride by Cambodian standards not that anyone would have noticed with all the hilarious stories we were finding out about each other. It seriously feels like the group has known each other for so long already!

The team outside our  accommodation

After arriving we took a short walk down the main road to familiarise ourselves with the small town and check out all the interesting fruit stands

Clare, Jane, Lena, Jade with Jase looking on trying their coconuts!

We then met with the director of the Elephant Sanctuary Jack who talked us through what we would be doing over the next weeks and got everyone excited for the next few days. Following this with a delicious meal and some great stories a fantastic night was had.

Enjoying our delicious dinner!

Time for bed, Elephants in the morning!!!