Mexico 2016

I did my dissertation with Opwall on the birds of the Calakmul forest, and so was lucky enough to visit all 4 camps during my 6 weeks there.

The accommodation is pretty basic - bring an inflatable roll mat if you can and not a yoga mat, after 5 weeks of sleeping on the ground your back will thank you! It has everything you need though, even the most remote camp 'Dos Naciones' has all the essential stuff and you get to sleep in hammocks there which was pretty awesome. You get to bucket shower at least once every 2 days in all of the camps except for Dos Naciones - but nobody really cares, you sweat so much it doesn't matter! The food is mostly rice and beans type meals, you get chicken probably 3 or 4 times a week if not more - and I managed fine as a vegetarian!

If you volunteer as a research assistant you get to try your hand at all the different research activities going on each day. From fighting your way through the forest in a habitat survey to waking up for the sunrise to go out birding to sitting on a tarpaulin at 2 in the morning looking at the stars during a bat survey. My advice to anyone going to volunteer is to get stuck in! You are in the depths of the Mexican forests! Try every single activity, get up for those early morning bird sessions even if you just want to hit snooze when that alarm goes off - you may get to catch a Toucan in the mist nets like we did!

I would say that you need to be of moderate fitness to really enjoy some of the more intense transects/camps.

Overall a most excellent experience, and it's the staff that really make the experience of Opwall. They are each so interested in their own topic of research so it is an awesome opportunity to gain some in depth knowledge from these experts! They are also super friendly!

I would definitely recommend Operation Wallacea, it is an unforgettable experience!