07 Mar 2016
Tags: family travel, Family holiday, tailor-made travel, Family Adventures, adventure travel, travel with kids, China, Borneo, Mongolia, Cuba, costa rica, Oman, sri lanka, India, Indonesia, Vietnam
Stubborn Mule, the tailor-made family adventure specialist, has been scouring the planet for some of the most interesting and exciting activities for kids.
Founder Liddy Pleasants, who, having cycled 3,000 kms around South East Asia with her then 5 and 3 year old kids before launching the company, knows exactly what's required to keep kids entertained whilst on holiday.
"We've travelled the world on family adventures with our children and we know what works; we know that children will be persuaded to leave the pool to enjoy exploring the Sri Lankan coutryside if they are riding on the back of a bullock cart. We know that an evening in the desert in Jordan can be made even more special if a story teller stops by the camp after nightfall," she says.
Kick the bucket and spade to the kerb, say 'Sayonara' to the fly and flop, here's what you and your family could be doing during your holidays this year.
There's no better place in the world to learn Kung Fu. In the foothills of the Song Shan mountains, the Shaoilin Monastery, birthplace of Zen Buddhism is home to the Shaolin Monks who over the centuries have become masters in Kung Fu. Here, children can learn the basics of the martial art taught by the monks.
Other activities your kids will love: taking a cable car to top of Jade Dragon mountain to see glaciers in Lijiang; learn how to make dim sum in a Chinese home; make your own traditional Chinese fan in Yangshou.
How to get there? China Family Adventure, 15 days from £10,000 based on a family of four travelling. The price includes international and internal flights.
Hone survival skills in Borneo
Bear Grylls, eat your heart out. Deep in the Borneo jungle and under the expert tutelage of a local guide, kids are taught how to survive in the wild, what plants you can eat to survive - and how to cook them.
Other activities your kids will love: Sharing tea with a local cheiftan; watch turtles lay their eggs on Selingan Island and going rubber tapping in a plantation at the foot of Mt Kinabalu.
How to get there? Borneo Family Adventure, 15 days from £9,000 based on a family of four travelling including international flights.
In the heart of the Gobi desert, and taught by local nomads, you'll learn the skills which have kept the peripatetic people alive - and thriving - in this unforgiving landscape for centuries: archery, ger making and more. Fermented camel milk, anyone?
Other activities your kids will love: Hunt for dinosaur eggs in the Flaming Cliffs; visit Karakorum, the 13th century capital of Genghis Khan's Empire; go horse (or camel) riding across the Mongolian steppes.
How to get there? Mongolia Family Adventure, 15 days from £9,500 for a family of four travelling including international flights.
Watch the sun rise from a volcano rim in Indonesia
Nothing, we repeat, nothing, gets kids more excited than getting up close and personal with an active volcano. Taking ponies out pre-dawn before climbing to the crater of Mt Bromo to watch the sun rise is a magical sight. Sulphur fumes? Maybe not magical, but top bragging rights once they tell their friends.
Other activities your kids will love: exploring the temples at Borobudur and Prambanan; spending two nights in a spice plantation, snorkelling around the protected marine park surrounding Menjangan Island
How to get there? Indonesia Family Adventure, 15 days taking in Java and Bali priced from £8,500 for a family of four including international flights.
THE go-to destination for 2016, but be warned: if you want to see the 'untouched' Cuba, while Castro is still alive, go now, before American tourists arrive following the thawing of diplomatic relations after decades of relative isolation. Adventure tourism is also opening up and although the infrastructure may not be as well developed as other areas in the region (Costa Rica, for example) ziplining is a recent addition and, families tell us, their favourite adrenaline fuelled activity there.
Other activities your kids will love: Cycling around Vinales, exploring caves, hiking through National Parks, taking a classic car ride in Havana, visiting a coffee plantation; relaxing in Caribbean waters and uncrowded beaches at Cayo Las Brujas.
How to get there? Cuba Family Adventure, 14 days from £8,000 for a family of four including international flights.
As parents look for safe destinations in the Middle East, Oman ticks all the boxes. Great infrastructure, less expensive and touristy than Dubai, Oman is an adventurous families paradise. The kids favourite, though? Bimmah Sinkhole: a circular limestone hollow about 500m in from the coast that boasts the most incredibly clear turquoise waters. Swim in the cool pool or dip your toes in (fish pedicure FOC).
Other activities your kids will love: Taking a camel ride across the Wahiba sands, jumping down sand-dunes; see endangered green turtles at Ras Al Jinz turtle reserve; take a catamaran off the coast of Muscat.
How to get there? Oman Family Adventure, 11 days from £7,500 for a family of four including international flights.
Dine with a Maharajah in India
There's a little place we know, Karauli, where you can stay the night in a Maharaja's palace as well as haggle in the Bazaar and wander around the City Palace. Few travellers know of it, which is what makes it all the more special.
Other activities your kids will love: Spending two nights in a traditional but luxurious mud hut (there's an outside pool) in Shekhavati (Rajasthan); visiting an 18th century observatory near Jaipur; visiting one of the finest bird sancturies in the world, Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary, seeing the Taj Mahal in real life!
How to get there? India Family Adventure, 12 days from £6,000 for a family of four including in international flights.
There's a reason Sri Lanka is the most popular destination for families in 2016. Untouched beaches (only recently re-opened and as yet undeveloped), a top spot for dolphin spotting, a climate which makes it perfect even during the summer months and at four hours less flying time than Vietnam (Stubborn Mule's second most popular family destination), a more bearable long haul option for those with young children. The most popular family activity, though, is joining the fisherman on Ngapali Beach for an early morning boat ride to help bring in the days catch.
Other activities your kids will love: Stay overnight in safari tents in Walpattu National Park, the largest National Park in Sri Lanka but much less touristy than Yala National Park, spot wild elephants on a jeep safari in Minneriya National Park, see blue whales (Sri Lanka is one of the best places in the world to see them), take a bullock cart around a traditional coconut plantation, visit 'The Temple of the Tooth' in Kandy.
How to get there? Sri Lanka Family Adventure, 15 days from £8,500 for a family of four. Price includes flights, accommodation, transport, activities and excursions, guide and some meals.
Amongst the stunning karst limestone scenery of Halong Bay is a giant cave, where the walls are lit by hundreds of candles. Eating dinner here is a very rare experience for most tourists, but children will love watching the bats as they fly in and out at sunset.
Other experiences your kids will love: making traditional Chinese lanterns, learning how to cook a Vietnamese meal, taking a cycle rickshaw around Saigon, staying overnight in a hilltribe village.
How to get there? Vietnam Family Adventure, 15 days from £9,000 for a family of four including flights.
From July to September, you can watch the incredible sight of pregnant turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs or watch babies emerge and take their first swim. An experience you won't forget!
Other experiences your kids will love: ziplining through the rainforest canopy, a skywalk through the rainforest canopy at Monteverde, seeing the Arenal volcano, taking a starlit dip in the hot springs at Arenal, white water rafting trip down the Sarapiqui River.
How to get there? Costa Rica Family Adventure, 15 days from £9,000 for a family of four including flights.
For bookings, contact Stubborn Mule on 01728 752 751 or visit www.stubbornmuletravel.com.
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About Stubborn Mule
Stubborn Mule offers 100% tailor-made family adventures to Asia, Africa, Latin America and beyond. It was founded in 2009 by LIddy Pleasants, who has nearly 20 years first-hand travel experience and who cycled 3,000km around South East Asia with her young family. Stubborn Mule is ATOL protected.
