Brilliant experience

I spent a week on this programme in July of 2013 and thoroughly enjoyed it.

My group was made up of 7 volunteers aged 19-40 something i believe and we were a mix of english, chinese and Singaporean.

Accommodation - we spent 5 nights in single sex dorm rooms in a small, basic chalet. Had access to everything you needed like a a shower, Malay + western style toilets, wifi and a little kitchen and lounge area. The place was clean and I felt really safe. The owners and their friends were always popping in and out and they're all really friendly and welcoming.
One night was spent camping in the rainforest, tents/hammocks are provided. Great little spot, right by a lovely part of the river, great for stargazing.

Food - we went to the local store at the start of the week and Dan, the group leader, bought supplies for breakfast every morning (cereal, bread, spreads) and we had access to drinking and boiling water, tea, coffee etc. lunch was delivered every morning for us to take with us on the treks. It was always rice and chicken or fish with a sauce and it was delicious! Dinner we ate at a local restaurant every evening which served Malay food. No complaints, I liked it all!

Daily Activities - we spent 4 days walking through the rainforest, following poacher trails and looking for animal prints and general signs of animal presence. The treks were long, up to 7 hours, and some of them were quite physically demanding so I'd say you need a relatively good level of fitness to be able to enjoy it. The leaders from mycat were really helpful, paitent and knowledgable throughout all of the walks. Ash and Harrison filled us with information about the tigers, poachers and the rainforest itself.
One day was spent caving which was a great experience. We spent a couple of hours walking through the cave then abseiled down it at the end.
One day was spent in a local village where the batek tribe live. We spent a few hours walking to collect leaves for baskets and other crafts they make then we delivered an English lesson to some of the teenagers.
One day we went into the national park to check the camera traps then went for a nice swim in the river.

Highlights - the highlight for me was the English lesson. The teenagers/ young adults that came to our lesson were really keen to learn from us so it was really fulfilling.

The week was really social, there's time at the chalet in the evenings to all sit as a group and chat or watch tv and the mycat guides and dan from ecoteer are all really sociable and up for a laugh. We even went out one night for a Chinese and some beers as a celebration for one of our volunteers.

I'd never done anything like this before, i didnt really realise what i was going to be putting myself through (long, tiring walks) but i ended up having an unforgettable week. I feel like the work we did was beneficial and ive come away from it with a bunch of new friends and knowledge so I'd definitely recommend it, just be prepared for your clothes to get destroyed and your body to be dinner to leeches!