Dissertation/Senior thesis dates and prices

Costs

The costs of the expeditions are the same for each country as listed below. These costs include all the support for project preparation, field supervision, food, accommodation, £1 million medical and evacuation insurance cover, usage of the equipment, required training courses such as jungle training and forest ecology or dive training to PADI Open Water and reef ecology courses, medical and safety cover and transfers around the projects from the start point to end point of each expedition.  Note if you are doing an undergraduate dissertation or senior thesis, you need to be on site for a minimum of 6 weeks (includes any required training).  After finishing their dissertation, some students like to spend 2 weeks as a Research Assistant.

Note you need to pay in the currency of your resident country if that is £ sterling, Euros, US$ or Can$. If it is none of these currencies then you need to pay in US$.

What is not included

Each research site may involve a few additional costs over and above the fee payable to Opwall and the partner travel agency.  The costs not covered are: any insurance cover needed beyond medical and evacuation cover, costs of additional elective training (e.g. canopy access course, dive training beyond PADI Open Water), dive equipment rental, PIC cards and PADI training manuals, local taxes and Park entry fees.  The detailed guidance notes on the Opwall website for each country quantify any additional costs but these are not substantial in any of the countries. 

Organising transport to the expedition

There are two ways of organising your transport to and from the start and finish point of the expeditions.  You can use the partner travel agencies STA Travel (UK, US and Australia) or Victor Travel (Canada) who will organise all your travel arrangements.  Alternatively, you can put together the travel arrangements yourself using the contacts at the top of the dates for each country. The travel partners use exactly the same in-country partners as those listed above each of the country expedition dates.  It is slightly more expensive than putting the package together yourself but has the advantage that it is a lot less work, the travel arrangements are all bonded and, if you miss one connection, you don’t have to buy a replacement from your own money.

Indonesia
If you are joining the Lambusango forests programme for your first week, the start point of the expeditions is in Bau Bau on Buton Island in SE Sulawesi on Thursday at 1300hrs.  If you are joining the marine based programme for your first week, the expeditions start in Wanci Island in the Wakatobi Marine National Park on Thursday at 1400hrs.  Note the end point of the expedition for those returning from the marine sites will be Wanci Island on Wednesday at 1700hrs whilst for those returning from the Lambusango programme the finish will be in Bau Bau on Wednesday at 1200hrs. Dissertations coded IL will be based in Labundo, those coded IN will be based at the node camps and those coded IH will be based on Hoga Island.

Getting to site cost effectively involves contacting a range of in country providers for different parts of the journey; so in this case it is much easier and cheaper to work through STA Travel or Victor Travel (Canadians only) to book all your transportation.

Honduras

For those starting in the forest, expeditions start in San Pedro Sula on Wednesday at 0700hrs. For those starting on one of the marine sites, the expeditions start in the town of La Ceiba on Wednesday at 1400hrs. The end point for volunteers leaving from the forest sites is San Pedro Sula on Tuesday at 1200hrs. The end point for volunteers leaving from the marine sites is La Ceiba on Tuesday at 0800hrs. If you are making your own travel arrangements, you will need to book your flight into San Pedro Sula on the Tuesday before the expedition and contact Maya Temple Tours (opwall@mayatempletours.com) who will arrange for your airport transfer and hotel accommodation for the night. You can book your flight leaving San Pedro Sula anytime after 1400hrs on the Tuesday at the end of the expedition. Dissertations coded HM will be based at one of the Cusuco forest sites, those coded HC will be based on the Cayos Cochinos Islands, those coded HU will be based on Utila and those coded HB will be based on both Cayo Menor and Utila Island.
 

South Africa and Mozambique

The expeditions start on a Saturday at 0800hrs and finish on a Friday at 0800hrs. If you are doing a dissertation in Pongola (coded SP), the start and finish points are the Pongola Reserve Research Station.  If you are doing a project in Welgevonden (coded SW), the start and finish points are the Research Camp in Welgevonden.  If you are doing a dissertation at Malongane in Mozambique (coded MM), the start and finish points are the Thobeka Lodge at Kosi Bay in South Africa.

If you are making your own travel arrangements, you need to book a flight to Johannesburg arriving at least by 0800hrs on the Friday before your expedition and then contact Wildlife & Ecological Investments (opwall@wei.org.za), the NGO that organises the logistics for the research programmes, to arrange for your overland return transfers from the airport. If you are going to Pongola the 7-8 hour transfer and accommodation before the project starts costs £195 (approx. $350). If you are doing a project in Welgevonden, the 3-4 hour transfer and accommodation the night before the project starts costs £95 (approx. $170).  If you are based in Welgevonden and want to do a couple of research assistant options at the end of your dissertation/thesis project, you will need to return to Johannesburg after and pay for a separate overland return transfer to Thanda or Mozambique. You can book your return flight from Johannesburg leaving after 2100hrs on the Friday of your expedition end.

Peru

All expeditions start in Iquitos on a Sunday at 1200hrs and finish in Iquitos on a Friday at 2000hrs.  Dissertation students can only start in weeks 1 or 3 and dissertations based in the Pacaya-Samiria Reserve are coded PP. If you are making your own travel arrangements, you need to book a flight arriving into Iquitos at least by 0900hrs on the Sunday of your expedition start. You can book your return flight leaving Iquitos anytime on the Saturday after your expedition.

Madagascar

The Mahamavo dissertations start on a Saturday at 1600hrs at Mariarano village and finish on the Friday at 0800hrs at Mariarano village. The Ifotaka expeditions start on a Saturday at 1600hrs at Ifotaka village and finish on Friday at 0800hrs at Ifotaka village.  If you are making your own travel arrangements, you need to organise a flight to Antananarivo anytime on the Thursday and contact Shaun Reveley (ecotour@moov.mg) who will arrange for your internal flights (or overland) to Mahajanga and onward overland transfer to Mariarano, or flight to Fort Dauphin and onward transfer to the village of Ifotaka. Your return flight from Fort Dauphin can be booked for Saturday afternoon after 3pm. Dissertations coded MI are based in the Ifotaka forests in the south whilst those coded MN are based in the Mahamavo forests in the north.

Cuba

The expeditions start on a Friday at 0800hrs at the Colony Hotel, Isla de la Juventud, and finish on a Thursday at 1400hrs at the same location.  If you are arranging your own travel rather than using STA Travel or Victor Travel (Canadians), you need to book your international flights to Havana arriving at least by Wednesday.  You will then need to contact Quick Viaggi (quickviaggi@enet.cu) who will book your internal flight to Nueva Gerona on Isla de la Juventud and all accommodations and transfers outside of the expedition dates. On the return journey, you can book your flight from Nueva Gerona to Havana later on Thursday evening or, if the flight is full, Friday morning and your flight out of Havana leaving Friday  afternoon.