I’m thinking of doing an expedition with them this summer. The Galapagos thing fell through, for those you who caught that post, so I need something else to do. I’d like some feedback from some “real” people to kinda confirm the alumni feedback on the website. Thanks!
I did the marine mammal survey in the Bahamas in 1997. E-mail me privately at christopherlaughlin@hotmail.com for more info.
Best,
Chris
No. But I’ve been to Big Cabin.
Have you ever heard of Outward Bound?
http://www.outwardbound.com/ Main site
http://www.outward-bound.org/ INternational
http://www.outwardbound.co.nz/ New Zealand
http://www.ncobs.org/ North Carolina
http://www.vobs.com/ Voyageur
http://www.outwardbound.com.au/ Australia
http://www.outwardboundwest.org/index.html?cobs.org West US (Used 2B Colorado)
http://www.outwardbound.ca/ Canada
http://www.crrobs.org/ Costa Rica
There’s also UK, (That’s where it started) Thailand, Singapore, all kinds of others.
Thanks everyone! Paul, I actually did an OB course two summers ago. I did the sea kayaking expedition along the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I was thinking of doing another OB, but I kind of want to do one with a more academic influence this summer. 
Hmm…
Am I correct in assuming you’re a student or soon will be? Earthwatch is a good organisation (I’ve not been on any of their expeditions personally) but they’re a wee bit expensive. From what I’ve read on their website it looks like their expeditions tend to last around a week and will cost you a hefty sum, the idea being that these will appeal to people who are well into their careers and so have plenty of money but not much time to spare. There are much better groups to go out and do work with if you want to spend a long time doing it and not spend much money.
When I was 19 I did six weeks volunteer work with the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, which is very cheap to do (although I imagine getting the flight over from the US will make it more expensive, I live in the UK so it was easy for me). I’m thinking of going back there because I miss all the turtles I met at the rescue centre. But then I’m also thinking of going back to Palestine to volunteer there for a few months, maybe with the Ecumenical Accompaniers or the Palestinian Wildlife Society. But then I also want to go to New Guinea to do both work with pig-nosed turtles and do try to help out with the situation in West Papua (or Irian Jaya as the Indonesian government likes to call it).
Basically there’s just loads of groups out there to do stuff with and Earthwatch are just a bit swanky and upmarket for my tastes and bank account.
TTFN.
I’ve never been on an expedition with the Lindblad folks, but I get their catalogs regularly and they sound fantastic. Here’s the link to their site:
Susan (who wishes she was shopping for a trip like this!)