www.loola.net
the region’s most exciting experiential learning programs
… now offering …
SCHOOL EXPEDITIONS TO
THAILAND’S
SPECTACULAR KRABI PROVINCE
Our partners and our focus
We offer fully customized packages for school groups of any size.
The emphasis is on unique and superb activities, adventure, nature, community involvement, enhanced cultural awareness, and experiential academic programs. All activities are designed for personal development, particularly in terms of leadership, (inter-cultural) team work, responsible risk taking and self-confidence.
Our partners are Thailand’s foremost climbing and kayaking experts.
To give schools the most exciting activities and most educational value for the best possible price, we have elected to give you great activities by the best people, while rooming the students in home-stay and dormitory style.
From one educator to another, however: teachers can stay in nice twin bungalows! J
Summary of modules (choose and create your own package!)
A Climbing for beginners, module 1, 2, 3, half day each.
B Trekking and caving (and some bouldering), half day to one day
C Deep water solo climbing (only for those who can swim! Half day).
D Boat trip and Krabi island visit including snorkeling, half day.
E Community service: help tsunami orphans, half day to 3 days.
F Jungle trekking by elephant!
G Thailand’s best kayaking program: 2 - 4 day island-hopping in Phang Nga bay!
H Horse riding on the beach (half day).
I Thai cooking (half day to one day)
J Exploring one of Thailand’s greatest natural reserves (1 – 2 days)
DETAILS ON ACTIVITY MODULES
A: Climbing for beginners (or intermediate), part 1, 2, 3 (half day each)
Learning outcomes: team-bonding, leadership, self-confidence, risk assessment
We will split the group in smaller groups of around 10 people each and we will explore Thailand’s – and in fact one of the world’s! – most spectacular climbing area, where students get to do magnificent 30 meter high climbs that will afford them breathtaking views of Railay’s world-famous limestone cliff peninsular. Ropes skills and climbing and belaying techniques will be taught and students will – under constant supervision – secure each other to nurture responsibility. Provided you take at least 3 half day modules, students can be awarded a Singapore level 1 climbing certificate. While getting to the climb sites, some spectacular walks are automatically included.
B: Trekking, caving, bouldering, abseiling (half day to one day).
Learning outcomes: team bonding, perseverance, nature & geology appreciation
Explore the fantastic trails of the Railay peninsular, passing by magnificent limestone formations, gorgeous beaches, and trails through caves with an exhilarating abseil at the end (from cave on picture right below!). Breathtaking views. Learn about local flora and fauna and about the formation of stalactites and stalagmites on the way
C: DWS: Deep Water Solo climb (only for those who can swim, half day).
Learning outcomes: team bonding, self-confidence, nature appreciation
If ever a country was made for Deep Water Soloing, it must have been Thailand!!
Warm weather, great rock, super deep natural crash pads. DWS is bouldering (climbing without ropes) but substitutes the danger of falling next to your crash pad with falling into 'deep water', hence the name. An exhilarating experience for both beginners and advanced climbers. The trip includes a food break on a beach in a secluded bay and plenty of great snorkeling sites. Note: all participants must be good and confident swimmers.
D: Boat trip and Krabi island visit including snorkeling (half day).
Learning outcomes: nature and geology appreciation
Some of the islands off Krabi are world-famous for their incredible beauty, Phi Phi island chiefly amongst them. But there are literally hundreds of such stunning islands, sprinkled throughout the bay enclosed by Krabi and Phuket’s pensinsular. Take a classic Thai longtail boat and do island hopping exploring some of the islands individual charms. Watch the bird-nest caves, amazing bays, snorkeling areas etc, and learn more about them.
E: Community service: help local schools or tsunami orphans (half to three days).
Learning outcomes: cultural awareness, team bonding, leadership, comm. skills, experiencing the intense satisfaction of doing something beautiful and lasting that truly benefits society at large.
There are a great many things one could do here, but the best CIP programs are always those where the visitors take maximum ownership over the event, and where they tell us how they would like to participate. Let us know what you have in mind (but we can give suggestions) and then we will work out a program that fits with your ideas and gives maximum value to all involved!
F: Jungle trekking by elephant.
Learning outcomes: appreciation of the tensions between economy and animal treatment, and the issue of using animals for commercial gain in general
In this module, the students are expected to do far more than just enjoy the activity: they must immerse themselves in some of the major problems that have been cited with elephant treks in terms of elephant abuse. Click the following texts from the National Geographic and a travel guide discussion group to learn about these issues. The students’ role is to research and gain an understanding of all the issues surrounding the presence of elephants in Thailand, and to play a critical role to ensure that the operators we use will not tolerate any such abuse. By applying strong critical scrutiny, our guests can help ensure a humane future for Thailand’s tourism elephants … Once you are fully convinced this activity is in the best interest of the elephants as well, enjoy your ride knowing you’ve done the right thing!
G: Thailand’s best kayaking program – island-hop your way to Paradise!
Learning outcomes: leadership, team bonding, nature & geography appreciation
This fabulous program takes students kayaking from one spectacular island to the other, starting from the world-famous maze of limestone canyons and mangrove forests of Thalin, and ending at the breathtaking island Ko Hong, where you’ll camp overnight. You’ll see a large 'hong', an interior room formed by the collapse of a huge cave system in the middle of an island. This is a most impressive introduction to the unique geology which we will explore for the duration of this trip. Circumnavigating islands, you'll observe the variety of birds such as Brown-winged, Collared and Black-capped kingfishers, Brahminy kites and White-bellied sea eagles, and you’re likely to see monitor lizards, fish, crabs, orchids, fruit bats and monkeys such as Long-tailed Macaques, Gibbons, and Dusky Langurs. There are many orchids and other flowers.Thailand's remaining mangrove forests are the breeding ground and nursery for much of the marine life in the ocean. And many creatures come to the mangroves to feed on the young fish, shrimp and crabs hiding among the root systems. We can, usually at lower tide levels, see the well-known 'mud skipper', a fish whose lungs can extract oxygen from the air as well as from the water. They love to crawl around on the mud flats, and even climb the exposed roots of the mangrove trees.
For experienced kayakers, this island-hopping can easily be extended into a 5 or 6 day kayak fest, visiting all the gorgeous island in the Bay of Krabi/Phuket, and camping overnight on stunning deserted beaches (with a stop at civilization on the off-the-beaten-track island of Koh Yao Noi. CIP programs, as always, can be woven into your kayak trip.
H: Horse riding on the beach (half day).
Learning outcomes: see module F.
The operator we use for this activity has reportedly rescued these horses from abusive treatment elsewhere. As in module F, we will be asking the student groups to carefully research the issue, and then, when fully satisfied, enjoy the ride!
I: Thai cooking (half day to one day)
Typically, in a half-day module, you will learn how to make one or two Thai dishes that you can select yourself! The advantages of choosing this module are obvious – you get to eat what you make J
J: Exploring one of Thailand’s greatest natural reserves (1 – 2 days)
This module will involve sustained and beautiful walks, and explore wild and plant life in one of Thailand’s most beautiful nature reserves.
FURTHER INFORMATION
SAFETY
Lead instructors are internationally and/or Singapore certified and have each more than 15 years experience working in Thailand. Emergency evacuation procedure in place: 24 hour stand-by fast boats, while good hospitals or clinics are never more than about 2 hours away; on-site nurse can be arranged, tailor-made insurance (see page 6).
REFERENCES:
Simply look at the more than 100 schools that are regularly using our services and what they say … Please refer to the testimonials on our website!
FEATURED: N.T.U.C Healthcare Magazine March 2003 (Chinese)
N.T.U.C Lifestyle Magazine July 2003 (English)
EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS:
The founders and owners of LooLa, Dr Marc van Loo and Ms Isabelle Lacoste, both Singapore PR, have taught across all ages and across a wide range of institutions in Singapore, and have published widely internationally acclaimed educational texts (http://www.ib-help.com). Marc is a cosmologist (hence the telescope at Loola!) and former Coordinator Critical Thinking at NTU, and Isabelle is former Coordinator of French Language at NTU and current President of the Association of French teachers in Singapore. They now share a full-time teaching job at the German European school. They have developed – and continue to develop – the educational modules together with fellow educators from Singapore and beyond.
PRICE (for exclusive, fully customized group trips of minimal 20 pax:
SG$ 100 per person per day
Fees include:
All food.
All activities as per above modules, plus mineral water, tea, coffee
Licensed and certified instructors.
All accommodation and all local taxes; all Thailand-based transport
Administrative/planning support before departure in Singapore
Excluded: Tiger Airway flight to Krabi, airport taxes, visa (if applicable, please refer to http://www.thaivisa.com/272.0.html), soft drinks/beer, travel insurance
Note: We offer a tailor-made Loola / AIG insurance for $ 4 pp per day; check http://loola.net/insurance for details.
FLIGHT
Both Tiger Airways and Air Asia fly from Singapore to Phukt and if you book early enough, the price is often less than $ 200 pp and hardly ever exceeds $ 300 pp. Airport taxes in Phuket are less than $ 20.
PAYMENT CONDITIONS
To secure the dates, we need a non-refundable deposit of $ 200 pp three weeks before departure date. 80% of total fee must be paid one week before departure. Remainder must be settled within one week after the trip.
Our Singapore-based ticketing company,
Educational Bookings and Management, is
- An STB licensed Travel Agent, Bus Reg No 52942090B,
- STB Travel agent license 01461
- Registered with GeBIZ.
CONSIDER ALSO OUR TRIPS TO THE GORGEOUS COOL HIGHLANDS OF SUMATRA !
http://www.loola.net/sumatra Malay cultural immersion and spectacular Geography trips to one of South East Asia’s most beautiful and green areas.
A note on the AIG insurance
We believe it is important that people go on trips well-insured, and that it would be a great shame if hassle or cost would prevent our guests from taking up an insurance. That’s why we asked our insurance intermediary to formulate an affordable package that delivers true insurance when you really need it, and makes it very easy to sign up.
They brought us a travel insurance program with the best insurer in town, AIG Insurance, as outlined below. To sign up, simply leave the tick after your name on LooLa’s ferry booking form, that’s all. We will bill you only if you actually end up going, and will fully refund the insurance charges in the event that you cancel your trip (even at the last moment), for whatever reason.
Please note the very important small print in red below, which insurance companies tend to put in the (sometimes very) small print. Please note that AIG’s fine print is actually the most generous in town
Details on procedures and how to claim are posted on http://www.loola.net/insurance
SCHEDULE OF BENEFITS/ PLANS (per person) / (S$)1 / Emergency Medical Evacuation / Repatriation / unlimited
2 / Accident death and permanent disability / 100,000
3 / Medical, Dental & other expenses. Note: return treatment in Singapore only 5% or $ 25,000, whichever is lower! / 100,000
4 / Hospital confinement benefit
(Pays max S$200 for each complete day you are confined in a hospital abroad) / 5,000
5 / Compassionate Visitation Benefit / 1,000
6 / Trip cancellation expenses / 1,000
7 / Trip Curtailment / 1,000
8 / Loss of personal baggage ($ 800 max per article.) / 1,000
9 / Loss of Personal Money & Travel Documents / 1,000
10 / Personal Liability
Indemnifies you for legal liability towards third parties or damage to property due to your negligence. / 100,000
Note:
Conveyance Limit : S$ 5 million per conveyance (bus, ferry,flight, car, boat, or other transport)
The above chart is for indicative purposes only. For precise definitions, please refer to AIG Policy Terms and Conditions, posted on http://www.loola.net/insurance