Click
here to see an image gallery of Namtaloo
Cave.
Adventure
travel is one of the fastest growing areas of the
travel industry. It appeals to discriminating people who want to
do something different, something involving more participation and
activity. Nature tours in Khao Sok National Park are our speciality.
Our goal is to show you the wonders of the natural world without
impacting the eco-systems we visit.
We
use traditional touring canoes which are suitable for both beginners
and experienced paddlers for our nature tours. All of our leaders
take beginners through the principles of proper technique. Guests
then apply these techniques for paddling in beautiful, safe vacation
destinations.
Our favorite
canoeing destination is Khao
Sok National Park. Khao Sok is a short drive
from Phuket. Khao Sok is part of a protected area of 4,400 square
kilometers of mountains and jungle, with a 165 square kilometer
reservoir. being part of the largest area of old growth jungle in
Southern Thailand, Khao Sok hosts many large mammals including wild
elephants, Gaur, Tapir, deer, cats, wild pigs and more. Contrary
to popular belief, Khao Sok is not a true rainforest,
but a tropical evergreen forest or tropical monsoonal
forest. There is a definite dry season and the entire mass of jungle
is surrounded by deciduous forests.
Staying
in remote floating
bungalows in Khao Sok National park, we paddle
out to quiet coves and witness the movement of birds and wildlife
in their natural environment. You create a bond with nature when
you sit still. You absorb the rhytmn of life itself.
When
planning your vacation in Thailand, consider our goal: to share
our enjoyment of southern Thailand's fascinating natural environment
in small intimate groups, traveling at our own pace in areas where
we see few other visitors. We take you to our favorite places, and
you will experience for yourselves why we love to return to them,
time after time. We have minimal impact on the areas we visit. We
go to appreciate what nature has given, not to alter it. Our trips
are not suitable for people who like to see new places through tour
bus windows.
Our primary means
of experiencing an area is paddling. We use muscle-powered kayaks
to lessen our impact on the environment and to get closer to nature.
We find paddling our own craft to be the most practical balance
between exposing our guests to a new environment and not interfering
with existing ecosystems.
We
extend our love of human-powered travel to including mountain
biking. Rural Thailand offers plenty of opportunities
to ride a mountain bike. Besides encountering friendly villagers,
the backroads often harbor birds and other animals.
We also
offer hiking to special locations. Overall, however, our ability
to see birds and wildlife is much greater when we are paddling our
mobile viewing platforms (a.k.a. canoes). It is not so easy to look
around for wildlife
while walking through the jungle. Unlike trekking, we don not have
to look out for roots, thorns, rocks or leeches.
Photography
- Wildlife and scenery
If you
are into wildlife or scenery photography, Khao Sok is going to make
you very happy. With each hour of the day, the changing light brings
forth opportunities for amazing photos. Be it on foot or on the
water, the variety and abundance of wildlife also presents incredible
wildlife photography opportunities. Here is some more info on Khao
Sok's hornbills. Here are some general images
from Khao Sok. To see some professional photos of Khao Sok, check
out our friend Frit's
site.
We
believe that the enjoyment level of any outdoor experience is
directly related to the size of the group. Larger groups don't
allow personal attention.
Each
trip is important to us. Your contentment is very important to us.
Extra care and attention is given to every trip. A sizeable number
of our guests come to us through word of mouth. We pride ourselves
on this fact and intend on it happening more in the future.
Guest
comment - Deb Cliburn - Sept 13 to 16, 2008:
"It was incredible. Our first trip out on
Saturday evening we saw 2 elephants and another two showed up and
got in the water for a swim. We had to back up the kayak. It was
incredible. Anyway, on the different trips over the 4 days, we also
saw a barking deer, (and heard it bark.) We saw at least 3 different
hornbills including a group of 5 or so great hornbills.. We saw
sun bears 3 times and I have great video of those. And we saw dusky
Langurs, macaques and gibbons. We saw a pair of woodpeckers. I forget
their exact names but they are beautiful. The male has a red crest
and is black and white and the female is more yellow colored. And
if I remember right there is a great whatever woodpecker and a common
whatever woodpecker and we saw the common ones. We saw osprey, gray-headed
fish eagles, asian fairy bluebirds and an owl. And yesterday we
saw, although not very clearly, a wild boar. At the bathhouse I
saw a 4 foot monitor lizard and I am unsure who jumped further."
This cute little
guy landed on my kayak one day. What a treat!
Check
out this slide show compliments of Adventure4ever.
We don't waste any
time or money chasing after meaningless tourism awards. Our focus has
been and always will be on furthering our education, learning the latest
safety methods and honing our outdoor skills.
Dave
is the most experienced paddler in the South and he has a BCU
Level 2 Coach certificate
9/71 Moo 3 Thanon Rasdanusorn,
Ban Kuku, Phuket 83000
Tel/Fax : +66 76 216145 Tel : +66 76 240952
Dave's mobile : 081 8936558 (in country)
Moo's mobile: 081 7974855 (in country)
Poo's mobile: 086 5069030
Call Moo, Dave or Poo for logistics and to book a tour by phone
Tourism Authority of Thailand License Number 31/0204
Insurance by New Hampshire Insurance Co. of Manchester New Hampshire Policy
#670158