Undergrad Research Assistants
Dates and Prices
Costs
The costs of the expeditions are the same for each country as listed below. These costs include all the food, accommodation, £1 million medical and evacuation insurance cover, participation in the survey programme, training courses such as jungle training and forest ecology, dive training to PADI Open Water, medical and safety cover and transfers around the projects from the start point to end point of each expedition.
| Expedition length | Price in UK £ | Price in US $ | Price in Can $ |
| 2 weeks | 1,075 | 1,750 | 1,750 |
| 4 weeks | 2,025 | 3,200 | 3,200 |
| 6 weeks | 2,750 | 4,350 | 4,350 |
| 8 weeks | 3,500 | 5,500 | 5,500 |
Note you need to pay in the currency of your resident country if that is £ sterling, US$ or Can$. If it is none of these currencies then you need to pay in US$, with the exception of the Republic of Ireland and other European countries who can pay in £ sterling.
What is not included
The main additional cost, is the cost of international travel and in-country transfers getting to and from the expedition sites. This varies depending on which country you are travelling from and which expedition you wish to join.
Once at the expedition site virtually everything is included in the expedition price except for:
- Any insurance cover needed beyond medical and evacuation cover provided by Opwall (see insurance section)
- Costs of additional elective training (e.g. canopy access course, dive training to higher levels than PADI Open Water)
- Dive equipment rental, PIC cards and PADI training books
- Local taxes and Park entry fees.
The money and travel information pages on the Opwall website for each country will detail any additional costs but these are not substantial in any of the countries.
Indonesia
If your expedition starts in the forest, the official start point is Labundo on a Thursday at 12.00hrs. If your expedition finishes in the forest, the end point is Labundo on a Wednesday at 13.00hrs.
If your expedition commences at the marine site, the official start point of your expedition is Hoga island in the Wakatobi National Park on Thursday at 08.00hrs. If you are leaving the expedition from the marine site your expedition will end on Hoga Island on a Wednesday at 07.00hrs .
Note you can only change between the Buton forests and Hoga Island after spending a minimum of 2 weeks at one of those sites. Thus if you are going to the forests you need to spend at least two weeks there before moving to the marine sites.
| 2013 expedition week number | Start Date in Labundo or Hoga | Finish Date in Labundo or Hoga |
| 1 | Thursday 20 June 2013 | Wednesday 26 June 2013 |
| 2 | Thursday 27 June 2013 | Wednesday 3 July 2013 |
| 3 | Thursday 04 July 2013 | Wednesday 10 July 2013 |
| 4 | Thursday 11 July 2013 | Wednesday 17 July 2013 |
| 5 | Thursday 18 July 2013 | Wednesday 24 July 2013 |
| 6 | Thursday 25 July 2013 | Wednesday 31 July 2013 |
| 7 | Thursday 01 August 2013 | Wednesday 07 August 2013 |
| 8 | Thursday 08 August 2013 | Wednesday 14 August 2013 |
| 9 | Thursday 15 August 2013 | Wednesday 21 August 2013 |
Honduras
If your expedition starts in the forest, the official start point is Gran Hotel Sula, San Pedro Sula on a Wednesday at 07.00hrs. If your expedition finishes in the forest, the end point is Gran Hotel Sula, San Pedro Sula on a Tuesday at 12.00hrs.
If your expedition commences at the marine site, the official start point of your expedition is La Ceiba on Wednesday at 14.00hrs. If you are leaving the expedition from the marine site your expedition will end at La Ceiba on a Tuesday at 08.00hrs .
Note you can only change between Cusuco and either of the marine sites after spending a minimum of 2 weeks in the forest. Thus if you are going to Cusuco you need to spend at least two weeks there before moving to one of the marine sites.
| 2013 expedition week number | Start Date | Finish Date |
| 1 | Wednesday 12 June 2013 | Tuesday 18 June 2013 |
| 2 | Wednesday 19 June 2013 | Tuesday 25 June 2013 |
| 3 | Wednesday 26 June 2013 | Tuesday 02 July 2013 |
| 4 | Wednesday 03 July 2013 | Tuesday 09 July 2013 |
| 5 | Wednesday 10 July 2013 | Tuesday 16 July 2013 |
| 6 | Wednesday 17 July 2013 | Tuesday 23 July 2013 |
| 7 | Wednesday 24 July 2013 | Tuesday 30 July 2013 |
| 8 | Wednesday 31 July 2013 | Tuesday 06 August 2013 |
| 9 | Wednesday 07 August 2013 | Tuesday 13 August 2013 |
| 10 | Wednesday 14 August 2013 | Tuesday 20 August 2013 |
South Africa
The expeditions for South Africa start on a Saturday at 08.00hrs at the relevant camp – Balule Nature Reserve, or Banghoek Lodge for Thanda .
The expeditions for South Africa finish on a Friday at 08.00hrs at the relevant camp – Sodwana Bay or Balule Nature Reserve. Please note that transfers may leave earlier than this to get back to Johannesburg for departing international flights.
Balule/Sodwana
| 2013 Expedition Number | Start date for expedition at Balule | Finish date for expedition at Sodwana Bay |
| 1 (4 week) | Saturday 15 June 2013 | Friday 12 July 2013 |
| 2 (4 week) | Saturday 27 July 2013 | Friday 23 August 2013 |
| 3 (2 week) | Saturday 29 June 2013 | Friday 12 July 2013 |
Balule Only (2 week)
| 2013 Expedition Number | Start date for expedition at Balule | Finish date for expedition at Balule |
| 4 | Saturday 10 August 2013 | Friday 23 August 2013 |
Thanda/Sodwana (4 week)
| 2013 Expedition Number | Start date for expedition at Thanda | Finish date for expedition at Sodwana Bay |
| 5 | Saturday 15 June 2013 | Friday 12 July 2013 |
| 6 | Saturday 06 July 2013 | Friday 02 August 2013 |
| 7 | Saturday 27 July 2013 | Friday 23 August 2013 |
Peru
All expeditions start and finish in Iquitos.
The start point for expeditions to Pacaya Samiria begin at the Casa Moray on a Sunday at 12:00 and finish at the Casa Moray on a Friday at 20:00.
| 2013 expedition week number | Start date in Iquitos | Finish date in Iquitos |
| 1 | Sunday 16 June 2013 | Friday 21 June 2013 |
| 2 | Sunday 23 June 2013 | Friday 28 June 2013 |
| 3 | Sunday 30 June 2013 | Friday 05 July 2013 |
| 4 | Sunday 07 July 2013 | Friday 12 July 2013 |
| 5 | Sunday 14 July 2013 | Friday 19 July 2013 |
| 6 | Sunday 21 July 2013 | Friday 26 July 2013 |
| 7 | Sunday 28 July 2013 | Friday 02 August 2013 |
| 8 | Sunday 04 August 2013 | Friday 09 August 2013 |
Madagascar South
Expeditions start on the Sunday at 0800hrs in Ifotaka village, and finish in Ifotaka village on the afternoon of the final Friday.
| 2013 expedition number | Start date in Ifotaka | Finish date in Ifotaka |
| 1 | Sunday 07 July 2013 | Friday 02 August 2013 |
Egypt
The expeditions start from the Fox camp in St Katherine on Sunday at 1400hrs and finish on a Saturday at 0800hrs at Dahab.
| 2013 expedition number | Start date in St Katherine | Finish date in Dahab |
| 1 | Sunday 23 June 2013 | Saturday 06 July 2013 |
| 2 | Sunday 07 July 2013 | Saturday 20 July 2013 |
| 3 | Sunday 14 July 2013 | Saturday 27 July 2013 |
| 4 | Sunday 21 July 2013 | Saturday 03 August 2013 |
Guyana
The expedition starts on the Tuesday at 08:00 at the Iwokrama Research Centre and ends on the Monday at 08:00 at Surama Village.
| 2013 expedition number | Start date at Iwokrama | Finish date at Iwokrama |
| 1 | Tuesday 16 July 2013 | Monday 12 August 2013 |
Cuba
The expeditions start on a Friday at 12:00 at the Colony Hotel, Isle of Youth, and finish on a Thursday at 1400hrs at the same location.
| 2013 Expedition number | Start date on Isle of Youth | Finish date on Isle of Youth |
| 1 | Friday 21 June 2013 | Thursday 04 July 2013 |
| 2 | Friday 28 June 2013 | Thursday 11 July 2013 |
| 3 | Friday 05 July 2013 | Thursday 18 July 2013 |
| 4 | Friday 12 July 2013 | Thursday 25 July 2013 |
| 5 | Friday 26 July 2013 | Thursday 08 August 2013 |
Mexico
If your expedition starts in the forest, the official start point is Calakmul Biosphere Reserve on a Monday at 13.00hrs. If your expedition finishes in the forest, the end point is Calakmul Biosphere Reserve on a Sunday at 12.00hrs.
If your expedition commences at the marine site, the official start point of your expedition is Akumal on Monday at 07.30hrs. If you are leaving the expedition from the marine site your expedition will end at Akumal on a Sunday at 12.00hrs .
| 2013 Expedition number | Start date in Calakmul | Finish date in Akumal |
| 1 | Monday 17 June 2013 | Sunday 14 July 2013 |
| 2 | Monday 17 June 2013 | Sunday 14 July 2013 |
| 3 | Monday 01 July 2013 | Sunday 11 August 2013 |
| 4 | Monday 22 July 2013 | Sunday 18 August 2013 |