Ecotourism experiences refreshed for 2023 at Anurak Community Lodge, Thailand
Leveraging its stunning location at the edge of the biodiversity hotspot of Khao Sok National Park in Thailand, Anurak Community Lodge is offering its nature-loving guests refreshed ecotourism activities.
General Manager Travis Clark reveals what visitors can look forward to in the new year.
As 2022 slips into 2023, down in the south of Thailand, Anurak Community Lodge is relaunching three hands-on ecotourism initiatives that, to be honest, fell a little bit by the wayside during the Covid go-slow and tourism shutdown years.
We’re coming back strong with three experiences that are central to our existence as an ecolodge on the perimeter of the magnificent Khao Sok national park forest.
Our guests want to convene with nature. They want to understand it, protect it, and enjoy it in a respectful low- or no-impact way.
Enjoy the informative fun of our Scavenger Hunt
One such project is our Scavenger Hunt, a free self-guided activity.
We give guests an A4 annotated map of our six-hectare grounds. The map lists 16 species of tropical flower, herb, plant, or tree. These include, for example, star gooseberry, frangipani, purple mangosteen tree and so on. The guests have to find each species type by walking through our grounds, and ticking it off on the map. Guests will find an informative pictorial plaque explaining about the plant at the given location.
For the betel nut palm, for example, guests will learn that this slender green palm (Areca catechua) grows to about 15 metres tall and gives a sweet fruit known as betel nut which is often used in medicine and essential oils. The betel nut palm is thought to have originated in the Philippines, but it is now widespread in the tropics.
And so on for 15 other species.
Kids and adults love the Scavenger Hunt. Kids especially enjoy the physical ‘search’ component. It’s educational and easy to do.
Explore our special corner of amazing Thailand on the Anurak Trail
Easy too is a walk around our one-kilometre circular forest track called the Anurak Trail, a comfortable 45-minute to one-hour hike into the adjacent national park.
Anurak staff have refreshed the sign posts and cut back some overgrown parts of the path. Guests get an easy-to-use map for the trail that passes through distinctive scenery that is the hallmark of the area. There are plenty of fig, bamboo, dipterocarp trees, and even a palm oil and coffee plantation.
At one point guests walk through a cave-like passageway with impressive limestone cliffs towering above. These rock faces are very much part of the southern Thailand landscape in Surat Thani, Krabi, Phangnga, and Trang.
Help us restore the rainforest
Anurak staff are also in the process of enhancing and reintroducing our Rainforest Rising project. This is an initiative for which, over a period of years, Anurak guests plant saplings of indigenous tree species in areas where alien palm oil trees were introduced as a commercial crop many years ago.
Rainforest Rising was created in cooperation with the Forest Restoration and Research Unit of Chiang Mai University. Guests at the lodge pay 300 baht (about US$10) to plant an indigenous species of tree sapling. It becomes ‘their’ tree. They can opt to receive emails on its progress and the development of the reforestation project as a whole.
Beyond these three projects, Anurak Community Lodge is Travelife certified, meaning it passes rigorous responsible tourism checks assessed by the Europe-based company.
As you would expect, Anurak is strong on recycling, reducing, and reusing. It’s all part of our low- to no-impact responsible travel & tourism endeavors.
With the Scavenger Hunt, Anurak Trail, and Rainforest Rising projects back to the fore, we look forward to welcoming new (and former) ecotourism guests back to Anurak Community Lodge in 2023.
Featured image (top of post): On the Anurak Trail.
About Anurak Community Lodge
Located a 75-minute drive from Surat Thani airport, 2 hrs 30 mins from Phuket airport and 2 hrs from Krabi airport, Anurak Community Lodge is an award winning eco-retreat for active lifestyle visitors who respect nature and local community traditions. The 19-key lodge offers Deluxe Green Double, Eco Double, Eco Twin options, plus one Superior Safari Tent. Surrounded by spectacular limestone karst scenery, the lodge is an ideal base to explore adjacent Khao Sok National Park and majestic Chiew Larn Lake. Anurak Community Lodge is Travelife Gold Certified.
Full information and bookings at AnurakLodge.com.
