I had a great half day bird watching tour around Siem Reap this afternoon, with my guide Hat. We managed to find 45 species with perhaps the highlight being a... read more number of Oriental Pratincole. Hat was extremely knowledgeable, spoke perfect English and ensured I had a memorable trip. Many thanks, Michael Violette.

  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.

  We had a fantastic trip with Sam Veasna Center - they were super communicative in the days leading up to our trip with lots of advice on what we should... read more expect and what to wear. We had Hat as our guide who picked us up...More

  At short notice, by walking into the Siem Reap office, I organised this tour for the next morning. I was picked up from hotel promptly at hrs by my guide... read more Sarom. We took a 25 minute tuk tuk ride out into local countryside which was...More

  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.

  We took the Koh Ker, Beng Mealea Forest Temples tour, which more than met our objective of seeing more of the local habitat and countryside beyond the most visited Angkor... read more temple circuit. The added advantage was birding, which included close-ups of in our case 67 different birds, enhanced by photographs using the Swarovski optik scope. Our young guide Mr. Reth Sarom was both an accomplished sighter of the species but also had the added advantage of a command of the cultural history of the Koh Ker site; his versatility was evident and we strongly recommend his services to others. Overall, the experience with this tour more than compensated for the crowds and pressures we experienced on our first day at the most visited sites in Siem Reap -- I was glad to have explored the web to find Sam Veasna rather than rely on the standard itineraries furnished by our top-of the-range hotel.