Dates and Prices 2011 Season
Research assistants and Dissertation/Senior Thesis volunteers
Below is a list of dates and prices for the marine and forest expeditions with Operation Wallacea in the 2010 season. When making travel arrangements, it is essential that you arrive at the start location by the times noted in each section. The earliest time you can depart on the expedition end date is also noted. For more details on the journey to and from the expedition sites, please see the "Information for Volunteers" section for each specific country.
IndonesiaHonduras
Egypt
Madagascar
South Africa/Mozambique
Cuba
Peru
Guyana
Mexico
Prices
The start point of the expeditions depends on which point you will be doing first. If you are joining the Lambusango forests programme, expeditions start in Bau Bau on Buton Island in SE Sulawesi on Thursday at 1300hrs. If you are joining the North Buton programme first, the expeditions start at Ereke on Buton Island in SE Sulawesi on Thursday at 1300hs. If you are joining the marine based programme first, the expeditions start in Bau Bau on Buton Island in SE Sulawesi on Thursday at 1800hrs.
The expedition end times vary depending whether your last week is in the forest or on the marine site. Note all those going to the North Buton site will be finishing in Bau Bau. The finish point for those returning from the marine sites will be in Bau Bau on Thursday at 0700hrs whilst for those returning from the Lambusango programme, the finish will be in Bau Bau on Thursday at 1200hrs.
In order to ensure that university volunteers have the various training courses available to them, those joining as Research Assistants or Dissertation/Thesis Students, can only join the projects in odd numbered weeks (in bold). All these volunteers move between the numbered weeks (in bold). All these volunteers move between the forest and marine sites on odd-numbered weeks. Thus if you join for 4 weeks, you need to choose either two options from the forest and two from the marine side or to choose all 4 options from either the marine or forest sides. General Surveyors can join the programme in any week except week 1.
You need to book your international flights to arrive in Indonesia on the Tuesday evening before your expedition at one of the following three entry points: Jakarta, Bali (Denpasar) or Makassar. On the Wednesday night, you will overnight in Kendari and on the Thursday will travel by boat to Bau Bau (for the Lambusango and marine expeditions) or Ereke for the North Buton programme. For the UK students, STA (opwall@statravel.co.uk) have organised package flights to Kendari with a local travel agent partner to manage local flights. The STA package includes all your travel to and from the start points of either Bau Bau or Ereke. If you are starting from outside the UK, you need to organise your flights to Jakarta, Bali (Denpasar) or Makassar and your local Opwall office will put you in touch with a local travel agent to organise the rest of your travel. Your return flights from Jakarta, Bali (Denpasar) and Makassar can be arranged from the Friday after your expedition. Note you are responsible for your travel costs up until the start time of the expeditions and from the end point of the expeditions.
2011 Dates
| Start Date In Bau Bau or Ereke | Finish Date in Bau Bau | Week |
| Thursday 23 June 2011 | Thursday 30 June 2011 | 1 |
| Thursday 30 June 2011 | Thursday 07 July 2011 | 2 |
| Thursday 07 July 2011 | Thursday 14 July 2011 | 3 |
| Thursday 14 July 2011 | Thursday 21 July 2011 | 4 |
| Thursday 21 July 2011 | Thursday 28 July 2011 | 5 |
| Thursday 28 July 2011 | Thursday 04 August 2011 | 6 |
| Thursday 04 August 2011 | Thursday 11 August 2011 | 7 |
| Thursday 11 August 2011 | Thursday 18 August 2011 | 8 |
| Thursday 18 August 2011 | Thursday 25 August 2011 | 9 |
| Thursday 25 August 2011 | Thursday 01 September 2011 | 10 |
Expeditions start in San Pedro Sula on Wednesday at 0700hrs (if you are starting in the forest) or 0900hrs (if you are starting with a marine project) and finish in San Pedro Sula on Tuesday at 1200hrs. You will need to book your flight into San Pedro Sula on the Tuesday before the expedition and contact Maya Temple Tours (dennis@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 expedition. In order to ensure that university volunteers have the various training courses available to them, those joining as Research Assistants or Dissertation/Thesis students can only join the project in odd numbered weeks (in bold). All volunteers move between the forest and the marine site in odd numbered weeks. Thus if you join for 4 weeks, you need to choose either two options from the forest and two from the marine side or choose all 4 options from either the marine or the forest side. General Surveyors can join the programme in any week.
2011 Dates
| Start Date In San Pedro Sula | Finish Date In San Pedro Sula | Weeks |
| Wednesday 08 June 2011 | Tuesday 14 June 2011 | 1 |
| Wednesday 15 June 2011 | Tuesday 21 June 2011 | 2 |
| Wednesday 22 June 2011 | Tuesday 28 June 2011 | 3 |
| Wednesday 29 June 2011 | Tuesday 05 July 2011 | 4 |
| Wednesday 06 July 2011 | Tuesday 12 July 2011 | 5 |
| Wednesday 13 July 2011 | Tuesday 19 July 2011 | 6 |
| Wednesday 20 July 2011 | Tuesday 26 July 2011 | 7 |
| Wednesday 27 July 2011 | Tuesday 02 August 2011 | 8 |
| Wednesday 03 August 2011 | Tuesday 09 August 2011 | 9 |
| Wednesday 10 August 2011 | Tuesday 16 August 2011 | 10 |
Egypt
SINAI EXPEDITIONS (EXPEDITIONS 5)
The Sinai expeditions to the St Katherine Protectorate start from the town of St Katherine at 1200hrs on a Sunday and finish in Dahab at 0800hrs on a Saturday. The cheapest way to travel is to organise a return flight to Sharm el Sheikh that arrives before 0800hrs on the Sunday and that leaves after 1400hrs on the Saturday. Then contact our Egyptian partners, the Nature and Science Foundation (NSF). The will organise for you to be met at the airport and taken by coach to St Katherine and will also organise your return (cost approx $50 for the return transfers). If you arrive early they can also organise accommodation for you in a Bedouin camp in Wadi Mandar for approximately $25 per person dinner and accommodation.
Research Assistants - 2011 Dates Sinai
| Start date in St Katherine | Finish date in Dahab | Expedition Number |
| Sunday 03 July 2011 | Saturday 30 July 2011 | 5 |
WHITE DESERT EXPEDITION (EXPEDITION 6)
This expedition which is only available for Research Assistants starts from Baharia Oasis at 1200hrs on Tuesday and finish at Baharia at 1200hrs on Monday. The cheapest way to get there is to organise a return flight to Cairo that arrives on the Monday and that leaves on Tuesday after the expedition end. Then contacts NSF and they will organise inexpensive accommodation in Cairo if you arrive before the expedition starts.
Research Assistants - 2011 Dates White Desert
| Start Date In Baharia | Finish Date In Baharia | Expedition Number |
| Tuesday 16 August 2011 | Monday 29 August 2011 | 6 |
Dissertation/Thesis Expeditions (Expedition 8)
Dissertation/thesis students have a single expedition of 6 weeks when they can work with scientists at the northern Madagascar site. The expeditions begin at Mahajanga airport at 1000hrs on the Friday and finish on the Thursday and 1000hrs at either Nosy Be airport (for volunteers that are finishing their expedition on the marine site) or at Mahajanga airport at 1200hrs (for volunteers that are finishing their expedition in the dry forest). The easiest way to get to the site is to organise your flights to Antananarivo arriving the day before you expedition starts and then internal flights in line with your expedition start/end points. You can do this through DBCAM (www.dbcam.org) or STA or other international travel agents.
Dissertation/Thesis students - 2011 Dates
| Start Date in Mahajanga | Finish Date in Mahajanga | Expedition number |
| Friday 24 June 2011 | Thursday 04 August 2011 | 8 |
Research Assistant Expedition (Expedition 9)
The Research Assistant expedition to the south of Madagascar begins from the airport in Fort Dauphin (Taolagnaro) on a Saturday at 1200hrs and finishes from the same location on a Friday at 1000hrs. The easiest way to get to the site is to organise your flights to Antananarivo arriving the day before your expedition starts (allowing you to connect with an internal flight the following morning) ad departing either late on the Friday that your expedition ends (after 5pm) or on the following day. You should organise your internal flights to arrive at Taolagnaro on the morning of your expedition start date, and to depart Taolagnaro on the morning of your expedition end date.
Research Assistants - 2011 Dates
| Start Date in Fort Dauphin | Finish Date in Fort Dauphin | Expedition number |
| Friday 08 July 2011 | Thursday 04 August 2011 | 9 |
The expeditions start on a Saturday at 0800hrs and finish on a Friday at 1200hrs. However, the start locations vary for the different projects. For the Kruger projects, the projects start and finish from the Inzikazi Camp in the Mdluli Concession at Pretoriuskop, whilst the KZN projects start and finish at the Zululand Rhino Reserve near to the town of Mkhuze. The Lalongane projects in Mozambique also start from the Zululand Rhino Reserve. If you are working on the Kruger or Pongola projects before you join the southern Mozambique projects you will be transferred to the site without needing to return to Zululand Rhino Reserve. The easiest way to get to these start points is to organise your flight to Johannesburg to arrive by 0800hrs on the Friday before your expedition and then contact Wildlife Ecological Investments (clive@wei.org.za) the NGO that organises the logistics for the research programmes to arrange for your overland return transfers from the airport (7-8 hours) and first night's accommodation. You will be responsible for these costs £195 (approx $350) before the expedition start time. You can book your return flights after 2100hrs on the Friday at the end of your expedition.
If you are doing a project in the Waterberg, the start point would be the Research Camp in either Welgevonden or Lapalala (you will know this after submitting your proposal). Transfers from Johannesburg airport to Waterberg, which take approximately 3-4 hours can be arranged by WEI for £95 (approx $170).
If you are wanting to combine the Waterberg sites with Mozambique you will need to return to Johannesburg after and take an overland return transfer to Mozambique.
Note those joining the projects as Research Assistants can only start in weeks 1, 4 or 7 if going to KwaZulu Natal, weeks 1 or 3 if going to Kruger and weeks 3, 5 or 7 if going to Mozambique. Those doing dissertation in Pongola can only start in weeks 1 or 4, whilst in the Waterberg they can start only in weeks 3. Those joining as General Surveyors can do so in weeks 3-9.
2011 Dates
| Expedition start date | Expedition end date | Week |
| Saturday 11 June 2011 | Friday 17 June 2011 | 1 |
| Saturday 18 June 2011 | Friday 24 June 2011 | 2 |
| Saturday 25 June 2011 | Friday 01 July 2011 | 3 |
| Saturday 02 July 2011 | Friday 08 July 2011 | 4 |
| Saturday 09 July 2011 | Friday 15 July 2011 | 5 |
| Saturday 16 July 2011 | Friday 22 July 2011 | 6 |
| Saturday 23 July 2011 | Friday 29 July 2011 | 7 |
| Saturday 30 July 2011 | Friday 05 August 2011 | 8 |
| Saturday 06 August 2011 | Friday 12 August 2011 | 9 |
| Saturday 13 August 2011 | Friday 19 August 2011 | 10 |
The expeditions start and finish on a Friday at 0800 at the Colony Hotel, Isla de la Juventud, and finish on a Thursday at 1400hrs at the same locations. You need to book your international flights to Havana and then take a Cubana Air flight from Havana to the town of Nueva Gerona on the Isla de la Juventud. Most volunteers are going to be staying at the Colony Hotel on the Thursday night so you may need to arrive in Havana by the Wednesday night before your expedition and overnight there.
On the return journey you would need to organise your flights from Nueva Gerona on the Thursday afternoon and could either overnight in Havana or take an evening flight home from Havana airport.
Once you have your international flights to Havana booked you will need to organise your travel to and from the expedition start and finish points, and for any accommodation needed in Cuba outside the expedition times. These arrangements are most cost effectively made by emailing Ernesto at our Cuban travel agent partners, Quick Viaggi (quickviaggi@enet.cu). You just need to email your full name, passport number, nationality and arrival and departure flight details, and he will organise your accommodation and transfers to meet your international flights much more cost effectively than arranging it from outside Cuba. Note that General Surveyors can join on a number of dates for a 2 weeks expedition. Research Assistants have fixed 4 week itinerary.
Research Assistants - 2011 Dates
| Start Date On Isle Of Youth | Finish Date On Isle Of Youth | Expedition number |
| Friday 29 July 2011 | Thursday 25 August 2011 | 6 |
Peru
All expeditions start and finish in Iquitos. The expeditions to Pacaya Samiria during the high water season (in March and April) begin on a Sunday at 1200hrs and finish on a Friday at 2000hrs. Only 2-week expeditions for General Surveyors are available during this period.
The expeditions to Pacaya Samiria during the low-water season (June to August) also begin on a Sunday at 1200hrs and finish on a Friday at 2000hrs. Research Assistants can sign on to 2, 4 or 6 week expeditions starting in weeks 5, 7 or 9. Dissertations/Thesis students need to be on site for 6 weeks and can only start in week 5. General Surveyors can join any week.
Most people arrive in Iquitos on the Sunday before the expeditions and then overnight in the beautiful Casa Morey house which belongs to AmazonEco the Opwall partners in Peru. The mansion, situated in the heart of Iquitos, overlooks the Amazon. AmazonEco can organise, pick up from the airport, dinner, bed and breakfast for $30. Return flights can be booked on the Saturday after expedition end.
Low Water Season 2011 Dates
| Start Date in Iquitos | Finish Date in Iquitos | Weeks |
| Sunday 17 July 2011 | Friday 22 July 2011 | 5 |
| Sunday 24 July 2011 | Friday 29 July 2011 | 6 |
| Sunday 31 July 2011 | Friday 05 August 2011 | 7 |
| Sunday 07 August 2011 | Friday 12 August 2011 | 8 |
| Sunday 14 August 2011 | Friday 19 August 2011 | 9 |
| Sunday 21 August 2011 | Friday 26 August 2011 | 10 |
The expeditions towards the end of the wet season in July and August (expeditions 1-3) start on a Tuesday at 0800hrs and finish on a Monday at 1200hrs at the Iwokrama Research Centre.
The easiest way to get these start points is to organise your flights to Georgetown and then contact the tourism department at Iwokrama (tourism@iwokrama.org) . You need to arrive in Georgetown by 1200hrs on the Monday before you expedition and can fly out on the Tuesday after your expedition. They can arrange overnight accommodation in Georgetown at the beginning and end of your stay and transfers to and from Bina Hill and Iwokrama. Depending on the numbers travelling together, the total cost is around $150 for the in-country transfers and accommodation before and after the expeditions. Iwokrama can also organise visits to the other parts of Guyana outside the expedition dates. Expeditions 1 and 2 are for General Surveyors only, whilst expedition 3 is for university students only.
Research Assistants - High Water Season 2011 Dates.
| Start Date In Iwokrama | Finish Date in Iwokrama | Expedition number |
| Tuesday 19 July 2011 | Monday 15 August 2011 | 3 |
In 2011, there is only one expedition being run in conjunction with the Amigos de Sian Ka'an (ask) which starts at the ASK offices in Cancun (Calle Fuego, 2 Mza 10, SM. 4) on Monday at 1200hrs and finishes on Sunday at 1200hrs at the same place. You will need to fly into Cancun the morning of the start of the expedition and can fly out the evening of the end of expedition.
2011 Dates
| Start Date In Cancun | Finish Date in Cancun | Expedition number |
| Monday 20 June 2011 | Sunday 17 July 2011 | 1 |
| Expedition Length | UK Sterling | Euros | US Dollars | Canadian Dollars |
| 2 weeks | 975 | 1,250 | 1,650 | 1,750 |
| 4 weeks | 1,850 | 2,400 | 3,000 | 3,300 |
| 6 weeks | 2,500 | 3,250 | 4,100 | 4,500 |
| 8 weeks | 2,950 | 3,800 | 4,900 | 5,400 |
The expeditions are nearly all-inclusive but do not include costs of flights and transport to and from the start of each expedition, accommodation before or after the expeditions, any insurance cover needed beyond medical and evacuation cover, costs of additional elective training (eg canopy access course, dive training beyond PADI Open water), dive equipment rental, PIC cards and PADI training books, local taxes and Park entry fees.
