This is an incredible chance for students to experience and study the Amazon Rainforest in a leading rainforest research, conservation and education centre. Students at our centre develop an understanding of and love for the Rainforest based on first hand experience. The experience will deepen their understanding of real science, help them academically and strengthen their UCAS application and CV.

• Structured training and study provided by highly experienced rainforest guides and scientists

• Comfortable, high quality, environmentally sound accommodation in a beautiful clearing in the rainforest

• Private minibus transfers from Cusco through the high Andes and down into the Amazon basin

• Programmes designed by rainforest research scientists with UK qualified and experienced Biology and Geography teachers

• Programmes designed around your requirements

About the Field Trips

We work with you to provide a field trip that suits your group’s requirements. Our guides and scientists will provide focused learning time which is a mix of time on the trails with guides and time at the centre in a more structured learning environment. During this time period you will be immersed in all things rainforest and will learn a huge amount.

You may choose to have a structured focus on techniques or particular projects depending on syllabus requirements, individual interests or personal study. We provide real rainforest teaching where the students are on foot amongst the trees learning through experience with some of the most knowledgeable guides and scientists.

We will also be able to provide the necessary resources and training to enable your students to carry out meaningful mini-research projects. These projects will generally interlock with the ongoing research at the centre. Students will have access to realtime data at the centre and their projects may even contribute to the ongoing research work.

The timetable

The field trip starts in the ancient Inca capital city of Cusco with a day of orientation and preparation. During the day you’ll also do a tour of this fascinating city. The next morning is a journey through the high Andes from Cusco to the cloud forest on the edge of the Amazon. You stop in the town of Paucartambo on route to visit a mountain community and then in Acjanco Park Guard Station to learn about the high cloud forest. You’ll then stop at a ‘Cock of the Rock’ lek (a display ground in the forest) and hopefully spot the national bird of Peru. That evening will be spent at a lodge in the Cloud Forest learning about the change in ecology from the high Andes down to the Amazon Basin. The next day completes the journey to the jungle centre, with the final part of the journey to the centre being by motorised canoe down the Madre de Dios River.

Once at the centre you will begin your chosen programme of study or research.

Optional jungle expedition

We also offer an optional 4 day jungle expedition. This takes you out into the rainforest away from the centre on small rarely travelled trails. You will visit a native community and will sleep out in the jungle. The 4 day expeditions have proved to be one of the most popular elements of the placement in recent years. This is real rainforest immersion, its an amazing experience that your students (and you) are unlikely to ever forget.

About the research centre

Our centre is a key site for research and education. Its mission is to:

• Educate local rainforest communities and visitors
• Promote sustainable natural resource development
• Integrate pure and applied research of the rainforest environment and its natural systems
• Conserve and preserve tropical ecosystems

The centre is located in a 600 hectare private reserve of diverse humid tropical rainforest. The site has been developed using traditional thatched techniques and modern design integrated with the latest in natural resource management to maintain the site. There is accommodation for 24 people in spacious dormitory areas with fully equipped bathrooms. There is also a large dining area, bar and kitchen as well as a relaxation area with hammocks.

The setting is a rainforest clearing dominated by a clear-water stream and cascading waterfall and with majestic views over the canopy, Madre de Dios River and surrounding areas. The whole area is intersected with rivers and mountain streams, and is full of natural bathing pools and waterfalls.

At the site there are first aid qualified staff, a field medical kit, communications radio and electricity generator. The nearby town has additional medical facilities and there is access to helicopter evacuation to Cusco in case of emergency.

Current ongoing projects at the centre include:

• Fauna - wildlife monitoring and capacity building programme
• Mapping - using GPS to map the area and record areas of special interest
• Water purification - using local plants and biomass to filter and cleanse water
• Carbon initiative - offsetting greenhouse emissions through forest regeneration
• Reforestation - planting new forest to provide renewable commercial timber
• Education - educating local children in rainforest and sustainable development practices
• Field guide - producing an illustrated educational tool
• Night monkeys - studying the habits of the night monkey
• Jungle exploration - maintaining and expanding the trail system and exploring the area

For more information about the centre you can visit their website

http://www.crees-manu.org/

About the Manu Biosphere Reserve

Our jungle centre is boarded on one side by the Madre de Dios River and on the other by the Manu Biosphere Reserve.

The Manu Biosphere Reserve (MBR) is an integral component of the Vilcabamba Amboro Conservation Corridor, a thousand-kilometre-long network of protected areas that run from Machu Picchu in Peru to Amboro in central Bolivia. The importance of this area was recognised in 1987 it was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The MBR is world renowned location for biodiversity and has an abundance of wildlife. Biologists have documented close to 1,300 species of butterflies (15% of the World total), 800 species of birds (9%) and 160 species of mammals (4%). 140 species of amphibians and reptiles and 250 species of freshwater fish have also been identified over the last few years. Of an estimated 25,000 species of flowering plant in Manu, only 18% have yet been properly described.

The MBR is also home to no less than eight Amerindian tribes as well as native highland Quechua-speaking communities and immigrant colonists (mestizos), all of whom add-up to a cultural mix of 18,000 people. A further 6,000 people (mainly foreigners) visit the MBR every year as tourists.

What's included in the field trips:

• A detailed information pack and support prior to departure
• Pick up from Cusco airport
• Orientation in Cusco
• A tour of Cusco city
• Overnight accommodation in Cusco
• Guided educational transfers to the rainforest centre from Cusco
  
• Overnight stop in the cloud forest on route to the centre
• Orientation and tour on arrival at the centre
• 2 to 8 weeks in the jungle at the research centre
• All meals while at the centre
• An optional 4 day jungle expediton
• Support staff throughout your placement in Peru
• Return transport to Cusco
• One night in Cusco at the end of the placement
• Optional two day tour to Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley of the Incas from Cusco
• Optional itinerary support and bookings service for further travel around Peru

What's not included
Flights (£550-£850 to Lima and £120 return domestic flight Lima to Cusco), travel insurance, visas (free), airport taxes (£30), pocket money for internet usage and the bar (£5-£40 per week), food while not at the centre (£10 to £20 per day).

Next steps and Booking

Please use the 'Contact Us' link at the top of this page to get in touch, to book a fieldtrip or to discuss the options.