Animals Asia Bear Sanctuary Visit

On arrival you will be met and transferred to downtown Hanoi and your hotel. The rest of the day or evening is at leisure.

This morning is free at your leisure. Perhaps take an early morning walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, the Lake of the Restored Sword, a popular morning site for tai chi and other traditional exercises. Or wander up to the Old Quarter for an initial taste of its hustle and wonderful street scenes.

At midday your guide will pick you up at the hotel and transfer you to Koto Restaurant for lunch. KOTO stands for Know One, Teach One – the essential idea of KOTO’s Vietnamese-Australian founder, Jimmy Pham. Jimmy founded his unique hospitality training centre back in 1999, giving at-risk and disadvantaged youth the opportunity to break the poverty cycle by forging a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.  Over 1200 graduates have now passed through KOTO, including sous and executive chefs, hotel and resort general managers, business founders and owners, and many more. All are contributing to their families and society, and many have been the first graduates in their families.  After a delicious KOTO lunch, transfer back to your hotel.

At 6pm, around sunset, meet your guide and head out for a Hanoi street food walking tour through the Old Quarter. Not only does this adventure offer the opportunity to try some of Hanoi’s most famous culinary treats, it ventures into fascinating and lively parts of the Old Quarter which are difficult to locate without local guidance. Whether you try the array of delicacies on hand, or simply enjoy the tour for its fantastic street scenes and local characters, this is an unforgettable insight into historic Hanoi’s traditions.  (B)(D)
 

In the morning your guide will pick you up at the hotel and transfer you to Animals Asia’s Tam Dao bear sanctuary.
 
Spread over an area of 11 hectares, the sanctuary has almost 30,000 square metres of semi-natural outdoor enclosure space designed to stimulate the bears’ natural behaviours. 
 
After introductions and a safety briefing,  visit the bear dens, gaining insights into the process of how cubs, the majority rescued from poachers, are integrated over time into the adult dens. The majority of adult bears arrive with medical issues related to the bile farms, your time at the hospital will show the wide range of expertise and equipment needed to allow the beers to recover and lead healthy lives.

Before lunch, you’ll be assisting the Nutrition Team to make the enrichment tools for the afternoon bear exercise. A delicious local lunch is provided at the sanctuary. After lunch, you will be responsible for distributing the toys around the enclosure, prior to the bears being let in, when you will be able to observe their behaviour from outside.
 
In the afternoon, after a rewarding and moving day, your driver and guide will return you to your hotel. (B)(L)

After breakfast, your tour ends with a transfer to the airport. (B)