Planning A Rainforest Expedition

Mr T

Mr T

Well-Known Member
I have an interest for signing up for a rainforest expedition for a period of about 4 weeks. I have searched the internet and found a few organisations that run and organise such trips but was wondering if anyone on the forum has done something similar or knows of any organisations that run them.

Thanks in advance people.
 
What rainforest do you want to go to? Some places like Costa Rica or parts of the Amazon have entire touring industries and any travel agent or a basic internet search should be able to help you find tour operators that can help you.

if you want to visit an Asian rainforest then check out Chlidonias's recent travels and maybe ask him for advice.

if you want to go to the Congo rainforest, then I am not sure what you would do. I've been trying to figure out how one would best go to see forest elephants and do not yet have an answer.
 
The trips Earthwatch offers have always caught my eye. I like the fact that you are assisting real science and are able to witness it first hand. They also seem very reasonably priced.
 
Thanks for the advice and the Earthwatch trips do look good. I've also found a company called smaller earth which do them for slightly longer. Has anyone got any recommendations based on personal experience?
 
I haven't personally had any experience in rainforest volunteering (would love to though) but I do know two projects recommended by friends.

Either Fauna Forever based in Peru, where you can do research on birds, mammals, herpetofauna or caimans:

Fauna Forever | Volunteering and Internships in the Amazon Rainforest

Or the Orangutan Peatland Project in Borneo, that incorporates monitoring of orang-utans, Bornean gibbons, red leaf monkeys, wild cats and forest biodiversity:

Volunteer - The Orangutan Tropical Peatland ProjectOuTrop

I guess it depends on what you are looking for.
 
I have worked 4 months in a Malagasy rainforest this winter, but those are to small for a four weeks hike :p.

I would advise you to look for trip reports from birders in the regions you are interested in, they give quite some logistic details most of the time (even for countries like Gabon...)
 
what is a "rainforest expedition" anyway? Are you talking about a volunteer Earthwatch type thing? I have never looked into anything like that so I can't help, I'm just wondering about the specifics of what you are thinking about.
 
Some people hike from Carate to the Sirena research station in Corcovado National park, Costa Rica.

We took a boat from Drake bay (just around the corner) and spent 3 days in Sirena. Unbelievably incredible experience, getting close to a wild Tapir and seeing so much wildlife from up close. Brocket deer, four species of monkey, peccari's, hummingbirds are a guarantee, as are an incredible array of birds. The hike (which includes wading through rivers) is bound to be at least (probably even more) as thrilling as the boat ride.

If we encounter anything that will come close to this experience in the future, I will be very happy. Sofar, nothing has, and i haven't sat still...
 
Can you be more specific what is "expedition" and which country you want to go?

I suggest checking trip reports at Cloudbirders website, and choose some local eco-tour company recommended by birders.

Are you sure you are not satisfied with many countries where you can go hiking or camping in rainforest on your own? Taman Negara in Malaysia or Khao Yai in Thailand have quite civilized campsites where you can get out of the crowds and have full set of local rainforest fauna including mega-mammals. In Khao Yai you have wild elephants at night right behind the campsite and you can get trampled if you are not careful. Gibbons calling everywhere in the morning, hornbills flying over the tent etc.

If you think of joining scientists expedition to a really difficult area, perhaps try some big conservation society - but they are unlikely to accept a person with no experience in tropics or volunteering.
 
Two British companies I can recommend are:
Wildwings which organizes good bird and mammal tours.

Many of Birdquest tours go to very wild places. They also now make a series of one-off tours, what about a trip to Congo to see Congo Peacock in the wild? Mind you, this is not likely to be trekking, given the mediocre fitness level of usual Birdquest clients. But you will get to the middle of nowhere with minimum trouble possible for realistic money. And get many sightings of rainforest birds and mammals. And typical rainforest dangers. That is not pouncing leopards, but of total political and social collapse around when you are in the middle of the trip.
BirdQuest | The Ultimate in Birding Tours
 
Thanks for all your replies. I have checked out some of the recommendations and they look fairly positive. I have been to Taman Negara before and did a trek but this only gave a few days away in the forest and it was not too far away from habitation which meant the sightings were relatively poor. In response to the question of what I mean by an expedition, I would consider it to be a trip to somewhere for a longish period of time but not necessarily on the move all of the time. Some kind of trek out to a research base and spending a few days/weeks out there contributing to some form of research. I appreciate that some organisations will only take on qualified researchers but I'm hopeful of finding some that don't. I'm not a massive birder but have a keen interest in mammals, reptiles and amphibians.

If there is any further advice or comments from personal experience they will be more than welcomed.

Thanks
 
Next week my wife and I will be taking our third ecotrip to the Brazil Pantanal. We have booked a seven day six night trip called the Jaguar Extreme Tour. Two nights we will stay at an ecolodge and the other four nights we will stay on a flotel on a headwater of the Paraguay River. The tour company offers observations of habituated jaguars and giant river otters along with other species. The company offers many other packages and I included their computer link.

Ecotourism Packages in Brazil | Brazil Nature Tours
 
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