The Leap | Teach, Trek, Conserve + Adventure in Borneo

Booking my trip to Borneo and the Philippines with The Leap was easily the best decision I've ever made. I knew I wanted to travel with The Leap as my sister had previously gone to South Africa with them and had an absolutely amazing time. They make you feel safe and secure, providing brilliant guides that you can confide to about any problem. The reason I chose Borneo was the vast variety in activities they offered. From setting up our own jungle camps, to scuba diving around the coral in the Philippines and even swimming with whale-sharks, The Leap offers you so many great opportunities. My favourite part of the trip was that we spent a lot of time with local communities in more rural areas. This gave us such a better insight into their culture and such a unique experience, with the families welcoming you into their homes happily. We also got to see the most amazing variety of wildlife, even an orangutan in the wild which is something so rare. I've made lifelong friends within the group and made so many unforgettable memories. If you want to make the most out of your gap year, I would definitely recommend The Leap as a company!

I was lucky enough to be in the first team for the Leap's new Philippines program which is 4 weeks in the Philippines after 6 weeks in Borneo. From Manilla a short flight took us to Legazpi City and then a 2 hr drive down to Bulusan on the East Coast. The people we met in Bulusan were lovely, so welcoming, kind and friendly. We worked on different projects in Bulusan, a huge beach clean-up which the local people took part in too, on a beautiful palm-fringed beach. We worked in a local school, planted rice in a paddy field and helped volunteers clear the trails around the lake.
The 2nd part of the program takes you to Ticao Island where you live with local families in the village on the beach for the first few days and then to Ticao Island beach resort. We island-hopped, saw fireflies, snorkled with beautiful fish, rode horses and there is a dive centre there too. If you should run out of things to do there is always a karaoke machine around.
The volunteering projects on the island are working in local schools and teaching children as well as teaching them about waste management.
I had an amazing time in the Philippines, lovely people, beautiful surroundings, fun and worthwhile projects, even the food, from what I understand not generally highly rated, was great.

One of the best moments in this programme was when we finished building a kitchen and a proper shower room/toilet for a family in Mentu, Sarawak. When our project leader told us that it would be the first time that the only child in the family took his FIRST EVER proper shower, we were so touched. It is doing these things,even if it was for a week that enabled us to forever change the life of one family.That's why I chose the Leap, that is not only for personal impact but having an impact in other people's lives as well.

I will never forget my time in Borneo, I learned so much from my experiences and they will stay with me for a long time. The Leap is such a friendly small company that makes you feel like you're one of their family when you are out far away from your own. They have selected such great people out in the local communities to look after you and teach you, they are some people I will never forget. I recommend travelling with an organisation like The Leap for first-time travellers as this way you can guarantee you will be with a good bunch of people and learn the ropes of travelling with pros. An example of something we did was a night in a jungle sleeping in hammocks and it was a little scary but we had such a great team out with us we felt fine. This is not one to select if you don't want to get your hands dirty or do manual labour because almost everyday consisted of either shovelling cement or chopping bamboo. It was the best fun I had on my Gap year and made some great friends!

Absolutely wonderful organisation, days are planned fully with more than enough to do and the program is flexible enough to incorporate other things you might want to do. The safety and security is first rate and reaching The Leap with questions is very easy. Weekends are planned to keep you as busy or chilled as you choose. Having been a part of several programs with various organisations, I can safely say The Leap was by far the best and I would definately go again!!