Operation Wallacea - Peru

I spent 2 weeks in the Peruvian amazon volunteering with Opwall and enjoyed every minute of it. The help given and advice before hand was very helpful and the people were always understanding and kind. Each day was exciting and the time flew so fast. My only regret was that I didn't go for longer. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience where we were completely cut off from the outside world. I would recommend to anyone looking for adventure.

I would recommend my placement with Operation Wallacea to other students. The location was beautiful and the wildlife was unforgettable. We had busy schedules and completed different surveys every day, enabling us to develop our skillsets quickly. I Above all, I thoroughly enjoyed working outside with such an excellent team!

Overall a fantastic experience for anyone who loves nature. We were often on 3 surveys per day, morning, afternoon and night and each one lasted a few hours. The sun rose and set at around six o'clock each day so some days you would have to get up at 05:30 to be on the dawn/sunrise surveys. We did transects for all kinds of animals. Terrestrial and arboreal mammals (monkeys), fish, parakeets and macaws, frogs, caiman and butterflies. Documented both pink and grey river dolphin behaviour and pod size. Used mist netting to catch small understory birds. It was very humid, I would always drink a litre of water on every survey. We were all provided with good information prior to and during the expedition. Arrangement of travel to the meeting point and accommodation can be organised through their partner company Travel Nation. The living situation was interesting. Most rooms contained five people and had cold showers. No tap water was drinkable. I was in a small boat moored of the side of the main boat with the rest of the boys, all five of us. We had a friendly bat in the ceilling who would talk to us in the night, which then turned into two by the end of the trip. Toilets were mainly bucket flush except for the lucky few living in the lap of luxury. Air conditioning was on when the generators were on which was for a few hours each day. Everyone got the opportunity to vist and stay at a local village for three nights. Mosquitos nets were very much essential here (provided for you of course) not just for the mosquitos but to stop the huntsman spiders getting in too. We were lucky enough to vist around the day of Peruvian indepenance and got to witness and take part in the festivities, lots of dancing and singing. Some of us got to visit the children in their schools as well. We received lectures by professors on the local wildlife, area and history of the involvement of the government and different companies in the region, all very interesting. Health and safety was taken very seriously and procedures were well enforced and practised. My group even discovered a new life threatening risk which has now been taken into account on butterfly surveys. There were only a few occasions where there was nothing to do and a good nap could fill that time. You could also visit the library on the boat containing books on the area and local people, or any random book that people have donated. WELLIES ARE ESSENTIAL. Overall, I would rate the expedition 9-10/10.