Day 1-2 - The Adventure Begins:
Arrive at Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport, Cusco and transfer to temporary accommodation at a hostel in Cusco. You will spend the day acclimatising to the altitude and can explore the city. In the early evening, there is a briefing where you will meet your fellow volunteers and learn more about the project itself. The next day you will get a brief registration in the morning and then you will be able to explore Cusco and experience Andean culture. This day is also a great opportunity to ensure you have everything you need for the project and, if not, you can pick it up in Cusco. In the evenin,g you will be back at the hotel for a good night's sleep before travelling into the jungle the following morning.
Day 3 - Transfer to the Cloud Forest Lodge:
Today you will begin your trip to the Manu Biosphere over the Andes, through the cloud forest and into lowland Amazon. Upon arrival into the cloud forest you will have the opportunity to learn about the local ecosystems and hopefully meet the national bird of Peru, the Cock of the Rock. You will stay in lodge accommodation for the night.
Day 4 - Transfer to Manu National Park:
This is your final transfer to the project site which is a 3-hour journey through the foothills of the Andes and includes a visit to a cocoa plantation on the way. The final part of this journey is a 45-minute boat ride on the meandering Amazonas river. Upon arrival, you will settle into your accommodation before heading out into the jungle for your first taste of Amazonian living.
Day 5-9 - Training Period:
On these days you will learn about the aims of the project and the conservation tasks that take place, as well as learn how to live in the Amazon jungle safely. Education will also centre on indigenous species and how to recognise them. Training will be mainly field-based, but will also involve regular presentations.
Day 10-31 - Project Days:
Activities during these days will vary according to which of the smaller projects volunteers are assigned to day by day. There are usually morning and afternoon work sessions, interspersed with meals and breaks with Sunday being a rest day. Activities during these days include:
Amphibians & Reptile Monitoring:
Amphibians are excellent indicator species as they are extremely vulnerable to changes in their environment. Studying the way they use regenerating forest is therefore vital for assessing its conservation value. As a volunteer you will carry out transect surveys, walking slowly along a 100m trail through the forest looking for amphibians and reptiles.
Avian Monitoring:
The field site location is one of the best places for bird watching in the world. As bird species composition and diversity can signify many different things about the forest, such as forest type, structure, age, health, and level and type of human impact you will conduct early morning transects along the reserve to listen and look for birds. This is important as not only is the ecology of many of these tropical foothill species poorly known, but the true value of regenerating forest for birds is understudied.
Mammal Monitoring Project:
Here the aim is to understand the importance of regenerating rainforest as habitat for different mammal species. So far more than 40 large mammal species have been recorded at the field location through survey methods such as transects, camera traps and tracking. Camera traps have suggested that 13 individual jaguars have been recorded at the field site since 2010.
Butterflies:
Butterflies are vitally important in pollinating the rainforest, and it is important to ensure that their populations are doing well. Join your group in setting up butterfly nets baited with fermented bananas to carefully capture, retrieve, and identify the specimens.
Biogardens:
The project works specifically with local mothers to combat malnutrition, by providing resources and knowledge to build biogardens that produce nutritious, fresh food for families, and extra income through surplus crops. So far volunteers and local mothers have created over 50 family biogardens, and have helped build six institutional biogardens.
Day 32-33 - Final Days:
Transfer back to Cusco, spend the night in a city hostel and the next day transfer back to the airport for your return flights. Please note that a return airport transfer is not included in the project fee.
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