Author:
Beth – @onepennybackpacker
Location:
Tampat Do Aman, Eco Lodge and Jungle Camp, Sabah, Malaysia, Borneo.
Job:
General labourer and restaurant worker for 17 days.
Routine:
Free breakfast at the Jungle Cafe before 9 am
9.00am -2.00pm work hours
9.00 am meet Howard, the owner to find out the days tasks.
Tampat Do Aman spreads across such a wide area of land encompassing: the accommodation facilities, nature reserve, jungle camp and beach restaurant. The owner will drop you by 4×4 to your work area if necessary.
Jobs varied from: clearing jungle pathways and trails, erecting buildings with a team, painting, clearing rubbish and debris, community work in the village, making signs for the camp, beach cleaning, checking customers into accommodation, driving the 4×4 and shuttling tools to work areas and customers from restaurant to accommodation, waitering in the restaurant and more!
Would suit:
You must be willing to listen to clear instructions and use your initiative to complete a task; and be able to work both alone or within a team. You will need to carry out physical labour in hot weather and adapt to different tasks each day. It would suit someone who wants to experience a remote, jungle life and have a break from modern technology and the internet lifestyle.
Pros:
Free meals and accommodation
Free shuttle service from the main town to Tampat meaning you do not need to worry about your own transport to get here.
Free WiFi at the beach restaurant
Every afternoon and 1 day per week off – giving you enough time to explore the local area, beaches and jungle walks.
The use of snorkelling equipment, kayaks and surf boards in your free time.
Small family business, working within the community not against it; therefore you are working with local people and are able to immerse yourself in their culture.
A unique jungle experience: eco compost toilets, outdoor showers, traditional bamboo hut accommodation and locally sourced, fresh meals.
We learnt about jungle living in a remote area of Borneo and about the culture of the Rungus people.
Cons:
It is often hard physical work in the humidity and heat.
Depending on whether there are other volunteers, you may be working alone.
Very remote location – no shops or ‘convenience stores’.
Very limited phone service/internet
The minimum of a 2 week commitment may be a lot of time for some travellers – but we loved it so much we stayed longer!
Accommodation etc:
The harder you work, the more you will get.
Accommodation and food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) is provided free of charge.
Food is ‘limited’ to local cuisine and you must pay for Western food/drinks. However, if you work hard, there are discounts and freebies given!
How did you hear about it:
We found Tampat through the recommendation of a friend, but it can also be found on the workaway website.
To sum up:
Tampat Do Aman means ‘A place of friends, a place of peace’ and it certainly is just that. It is such a simple and earth conscious way of living: working alongside local people and being able to explore the beautiful coral reefs and beaches unspoilt by tourism in your time off. We were always spoilt with the most breathtaking sunsets every single night. We learnt so much about the culture and everyday life living so far from modern civilisation. This volunteer experience had to be an absolute 5/5 for us! Tampat’s instagram: @tampat_do_aman
Beth:
AKA @onepennybackpacker describes herself as as:
Happy-go-lucky, British girl, who loves the underwater world, outdoor adventures and meeting new people from all walks of life. Living a low budget lifestyle whilst experiencing everything she can from the countries she visits. She quit the day job to explore the world.
Check out her amazing, info packed feed on instagram
A very well written review of what we do, what we are about .
We always try to make things a ” win / win ” for us and the volunteers and 95% of the time this works out pretty well for both parties.
We are a business that does a lot if great work for the community and has a good reputation for looking after and delighting our customers , these are the things that are at the core of what we are about. We can’t always take on volunteers but for sure if you are interested you can drop us an E mail :tampatdoaman@gmail.com and we can see what availability we have.
” Thank you ” to Toby and Beth for taking the time to write this review.
Best wishes to all , Howard