Our Prek Toal Birdwatching trip with SVC was a major highlight in a 2 week trip packed with lots of other amazing activities and sites. The trip was a... read more great break from temple-viewing and the general hubbub around town.

The entire trip was very well-executed. Logistics were smooth, our packed breakfast was delicious, the boat trips were fun, safe, and highly interesting. Best of all, however, was our incredibly dedicated, knowledgeable, and compassionate guide, Hat. Hat demonstrated a true passion for birding and his enthusiasm was contagious and inspiring. I don't think I've ever met anyone who has seemed so excited about his job before. It was a real pleasure to see.

The bird-viewing was excellent. We made many great sightings on the boat ride to/from the hide and the sheer number of birds you can see from the hide is truly impressive. The hide itself was a bit precarious- it's a long climb up a rustic ladder, and when the platform gets crowded, it starts to feel a little claustrophobic, but it's a great viewing spot and a neat experience.

If we go back to Cambodia, we definitely plan to do a longer outing with SVC.

  JAN 17th 2019, we enjoyed an excellent trip to Prek Toal with 49 bird species found and identified. Our guide Somrich Sophear is a very knowledge young man with a... read more strong interest in Cambodian nature. He is good at finding the birds and assist in the identification. Hi is also a very pleasant person to talk to.
Sam Veasna Center provided a high quality scope, which was a great help in watching the birds from a birding platform.

  We joined a small group for the Prek Toal birding tour today. From start to finish the whole thing went off as planned. The boat trip through, and the stops... read more in the floating village of Prek Toal were just fascinating. But the bird viewing in the wetlands after the village was astonishing. We spent several hours boating through various channels and stopping periodically including an extended stay at a viewing platform. We saw thousands of birds. It was just beautiful to see. Spotted Pelicans, lesser and greater adjuants, eagles, anhingas and many others. The guide spoke English clearly, knew his birds and made efforts to include everyone regardless of birding experience. We had a great lunch too at a restaurant in Prek Toal. Sure there are cheaper things to do in Siem Reap but this is a way to experience beautiful Cambodian nature as well as to see a way of life different from anything that exists in Europe, Canada or the USA. And to top it off, the SamVaesna organization is a non-profit working to preserve the wildlife and wetlands and to help the very poor local population.

  We took the 3 Day Wild Siem Reap in January 2020. This tour took us to Trapeang Thma Lake, Changkran Roi area for camping and the Koh Ker temple... read more site. We made other stops along the way anytime we saw something of interest or good birding locations. The bird hide at Changkran Roi is a well maintained place that attracts many birds. Koh Ker is an undervisted temple site, home to many birds that make this visit very special. We absolutely enjoyed this tour and find it an excellent way to experience Cambodia. Great work is being done by groups like Sam Veasna to protect natural habitats for wildlife.
We were not able to stop at Beng Melea due to a 7x price increase in the entrance fee. If you select this tour, make sure you inquire about this.

  We went on a full day tour with Sophear at Sam Veasna in January (dry season). What an amazing trip. Both my husband and I saw a variety... read more of engendered birds while we were boating down Tonle Sap lake and then we got to the 2-3 story bird watching tower, we saw thousands of birds - nesting and swirling in the sky. We saw painted sporks, pelicans, adjutants (and many, many more). It was like being on a National Geographic TV show. Our guide was incredibly knowledgeable and he was good at spotting birds. It was one of our highlights on our trip to

  My guide on the half-day birdwatching trip was Hat, he was incredibly knowledgeable, which was very important as each of the 42 species we saw were a first for me!... read more
The day before the trip I let the Sam Veasna Center know what I would be hoping to see and they were so, so accommodating. They did everything they can to ensure I saw as many species as possible.
It was the perfect day and was worth every penny. The organisation does so much for wildlife conservation too.
I will be visiting Cambodia again to participate on another of the SVC tours.