The best of both the Andes and the Amazon

16 – 26 August 2027, Sunka Lodge & Reserve

Price: € 3,600 for a spot in a dorm | € 4,100 for a private cabin

Join us where the Amazon and Andes meet and help document the biodiversity with Indigenous people and scientists.

The Expedition is a collaboration with the Sunka Lodge & Reserve, a women-led and Indigenous-led initiative and conservation area, in a part of Ecuador that is very poorly studied.

Our objective: We will set up a mixed team of local naturalists, motivated travellers, and international biodiversity experts to carry out the first comprehensive biodiversity inventory of the forests of the Sunka station. You will work in the forest and in an improvised lab to document a wide variety of organisms, including beetles, snails, slugs, cave organisms, and spiders.

The Cutucú Range is a mountain range partially connected with the Andes, but much older geologically, with some formations at the mountain plateaus, similar to the Tepuis of the Guyanan Shield. It remains largely unexplored and well-preserved due to the rough terrain and the policies of the indigenous Shuar groups for entering their territories. The Sunka Station is the only research station in the whole Cutucú Range.

On this unique trip you will:

• Help Indigenous people and scientists document the unknown biodiversity of the rainforest

• Go on night jungle walks where you will train your eyes to spot fascinating animals that lurk in the dark

• Learn about the secret lives of frogs, spiders, insects, and other lesser-known animals

• Explore caves with National Geographic Explorer Dr. Iva Njunjić to search for species that may occur nowhere else on Earth

• Team up with our entomologists to experiment with automated biodiversity recorders

• Work in our mobile DNA laboratory to extract DNA and do PCR tests to document species also in a genetic way

• Discover and publish new species of wildlife

• Enjoy evening lectures by the expedition experts on the ecology and biodiversity of the Cutucú Range

• Learn the techniques for setting, pinning, and identifying insects AND MORE!

-Expedition follow up: publishing newly discovered species in scientific journals; update on the DNA results. Sharing photographs & video material.

The Expedition fee:

€ 3,600 per person for a spot in a bunk bed in a shared dorm
€ 4,100 per person for a private cabin

Included in the price:

• learning and working alongside a team of scientists and Indigenous people
• accommodation in Sunka Lodge & Reserve
• domestic travel from Quito to Sunka Lodge by chartered bus
• delicious local meals, including welcoming dinner
• hands-on field research & lab work, including equipment and research materials
• lectures and study materials, including a book
• DNA sequencing
• publishing results in a scientific journal

Please keep in mind that hotel nights in Quito and international travel are not included in the expedition fee.