How much would it cost to do an expedition to South America

[TropicalPioneers]

How much would an expedition to Costa Rica or the Brazilian amazon?

[SouthBayHapaJoe]

Depends on what kind of expedition. You could go very cheap for the cost of a plane ticket and Hostal plus rental car. Visit roadside stands markets for commons fruits.

If you are wanting and willing to go into the less explored places than the comfort to cost ratio and travel costs increases exponentially and you have to pay for knowledge and experience to guide you through these areas. Finding the right guides with the right knowledge and experience is critical. Time is precious and even then we aren’t always successful in finding new species.
The more you are willing to research and sacrifice comfort the less it would cost.
Hope you try, we need more people trying to save these species.

[TropicalPioneers]

Thank you and I want to explore regions that haven’t been explored as much.

[Muni]

I suggest thorough research on the subject and detailed planning of your route including surprises and redundancies.
If you don't speak the languages, you will need a guide and translator/fixer. If you do speak the languages, you will still benefit from one. You will need a satellite phone. Clothes and equipment for the rain-forest ware down fast. I would take snake proof boots and trousers or some gaiters - this will help with leaches also. You will need to fix your vehicle/s so basic skills for that are required either from you or some one in your group. You will need food and water, water filters, power supplies, knives, cooking supplies, mosquito repellent (i suggest the least poisonous ones and add to that mosquito proof clothing), mosquito nets, hats, sunglasses and safety glasses (for under the canopy), a hammock would probably be useful as well as mule tape and other cordage and redundancies for all of that.

You may also benefit from watching this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgGsW7DR34c

When you have pondered all of this you might clearer about your budget needs. Afterwards, it would not be unwise to double it.

[Brian laufer]

I'm planning a trip to ecuador next month. Plane tickets are high right now I payed 850$. 4x4 car rental at least 800 plus gas. Hotels are cheap around 20-30$ per night. Food maybe 30$ a day. I will stay for a month and likely dip into peru and colombia. I want to see the yasuni national forest. It's considered the most biodiverse place on the planet. There's a lot to see.

[Muni]

Research border crossings with vehicles Brian, thoroughly. Enjoy you trip and share some of with with us, if you wish.

[SouthBayHapaJoe]

Yup. All those things plus you will need Yellow fever vacinnation at a
Minimum with many more recommended.  If you are visiting an unknown area for the first time it’s almost a guarentee you gonna have intestinal issues your first couple visits to the jungle, especially if you are trying wild jungle fruits. So I would take some small adventures before a long expedition..  Transportation and figuring out how to get places is the most challenging parts.  I have plenty of GPS locations but how to get there is the challenge. If you want a homework assignment see if you can figure out how to get to caserio Soledad south of Iquitos where I just was.  I took public boats and buses to save money plus no way I am driving in Peru. It’s insano.
Costa Rica flights are the cheapest but extremely expensive to travel in. If you speak Spanish then I would explore Ecuador, or the Colombian or Peruvian Amazon. I can hook you up with guides in Leticia or Iquitos.  If you speak Portuguese then Brazil.  I love them all but Brazil is my favorite place but I have many friends there now and have a team to explore with so I am partial.

[K-Rimes]

Yup. All those things plus you will need Yellow fever vacinnation at a
Minimum with many more recommended.  If you are visiting an unknown area for the first time it’s almost a guarentee you gonna have intestinal issues your first couple visits to the jungle, especially if you are trying wild jungle fruits. So I would take some small adventures before a long expedition..  Transportation and figuring out how to get places is the most challenging parts.  I have plenty of GPS locations but how to get there is the challenge. If you want a homework assignment see if you can figure out how to get to caserio Soledad south of Iquitos where I just was.  I took public boats and buses to save money plus no way I am driving in Peru. It’s insano.
Costa Rica flights are the cheapest but extremely expensive to travel in. If you speak Spanish then I would explore Ecuador, or the Colombian or Peruvian Amazon. I can hook you up with guides in Leticia or Iquitos.  If you speak Portuguese then Brazil.  I love them all but Brazil is my favorite place but I have many friends there now and have a team to explore with so I am partial.

I am looking forward to hitting Brazil one day to explore. I'm fluent in Portuguese so that takes care of a lot of effort and cost of translation. I wanted to hit it this year around November but just couldn't pull it together.

[TropicalPioneers]

Yup. All those things plus you will need Yellow fever vacinnation at a
Minimum with many more recommended.  If you are visiting an unknown area for the first time it’s almost a guarentee you gonna have intestinal issues your first couple visits to the jungle, especially if you are trying wild jungle fruits. So I would take some small adventures before a long expedition..  Transportation and figuring out how to get places is the most challenging parts.  I have plenty of GPS locations but how to get there is the challenge. If you want a homework assignment see if you can figure out how to get to caserio Soledad south of Iquitos where I just was.  I took public boats and buses to save money plus no way I am driving in Peru. It’s insano.
Costa Rica flights are the cheapest but extremely expensive to travel in. If you speak Spanish then I would explore Ecuador, or the Colombian or Peruvian Amazon. I can hook you up with guides in Leticia or Iquitos.  If you speak Portuguese then Brazil.  I love them all but Brazil is my favorite place but I have many friends there now and have a team to explore with so I am partial.

I am learning to speak portuguese and plan to do a couple small trip to places like puerto rico as a trail run, then next year I would like to join you in an expedition to brazil.

[nattyfroootz]

I've got on a couple trips. 2 weeks in Guatemala and I joined Joe on a trip to Colombia for a week.

I spent under 1k  in Guatemala(flight included) and was joined by a friend who had lived there and spoke spanish fluently.  He ultimately is a very adventerous person and was well capable of leading the trip and figuring things out as we go. 
I spent about 1.5k (flight included) on Joes trip although it was a much different experience. Joe had hired a tour guide and translator (he doesn't speak spanish, I speak a bit) which certainly comes at a high price.  I think that if you are capable of speaking spanish that will get you really far. I think that some of the connections we made In colombia could have been made with a good understanding of the spanish language and interacting with locals to ask questions and find out information/people that would be great to connect with. 
Ultimately it does come down to have an understanding of what you are looking for or hoping to get out of the trip that will take you the farthest.

[1rainman]

You could check out local grapes and bananas maybe find something interesting. Vitis tillifolia of middle and south America usually has tiny nasty grapes but you might find a decent wild one. The disease resistance is the highest tied with shuttleworthii.

Wild bananas would be worth sampling too. Watch out for seeds.

Grapes grow like weeds everywhere so one can usually sample wild ones when traveling just make sure it's actually a grape plant as some similar looking berries can make you sick. Just look up what the leaves etc look like. Grapes have different leaves but you can look up v. Tillifolia and get a good idea.

[SouthBayHapaJoe]

Yes. I thought 1500.00 for a week in the Amazon with all room, food, and board and transportation including airfare and a couple side excursions along with the company of two South American fruit experts and a novice(me) along with 4 local guided jungle hikes and an interpreter and all the Amazon fruit you can eat would be enough. Guess not.
Will not be offering fruit tour expeditions.

[socalbalcony2]

Yes. I thought 1500.00 for a week in the Amazon with all room, food, and board and transportation including airfare and a couple side excursions along with the company of two South American fruit experts and a novice(me) along with 4 local guided jungle hikes and an interpreter and all the Amazon fruit you can eat would be enough. Guess not.
Will not be offering fruit tour expeditions.

that sounds around what I would expect, and the extra $$ is definitely worth it to make the most of the trip..

[TropicalPioneers]

The pricing I’m was thinking it’s going to be is about 2500-3000 for the whole trip. To make sure there’s enough money for everything.

[TropicalPioneers]

What legal import permits would I need for legally bringing in seeds?

[dalghariMike]

Planning an expedition to South America, whether it's Costa Rica or the Brazilian Amazon, can be an exciting adventure! The cost of your expedition will depend on various factors like the duration of your stay, the activities you plan to engage in, and your accommodation preferences.

[K-Rimes]

What legal import permits would I need for legally bringing in seeds?

There is no permit that I know of that allows you to carry seeds on your person, they must be shipped to USDA in your area, you pay USDA for post-inspection postage, and they send them to your door.

[FloridaManDan]

From the USDA APHIS website (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/traveler/intl-travel/plants-seeds/plants-seeds):

Travelers may bring seeds of admissible herbaceous plants for planting if they meet the following conditions:

- The seeds are not otherwise prohibited, protected under the Endangered Species Act or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or subject to any special restrictions, such as post-entry quarantine or treatment*

- You have a phytosanitary certificate issued by the National Plant Protection Organization of the country you are leaving indicating the seeds are free of pests and diseases

- U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspects the seeds at the first port of entry and determines they are free of pests and diseases and meet all entry requirements

*Please call APHIS’ Plant Import Information Line at 877-770-5990 (toll-free) or by email at plantproducts.permits@aphis.usda.gov.


Some information on USDA websites indicates that tree and shrub seeds can be brought back to the US per requirements listed above, yet some sources say none can be brought back with passenger luggage. Best course of action would be to shoot an email inquiry to that listed email.

[BloomAndSprout]

This forum needs to organize a group expedition. I'd totally go.

[K-Rimes]

This forum needs to organize a group expedition. I'd totally go.

My experience has been over many, many travels that large groups really slow down any type of expedition like this. The sweet spot is everyone fitting into one 5 person car, translators, guides, and all. Even adding just one more car makes it harder to organize. A bus, forget about it.

I am hoping to do a trip next year, this said. I am fluent in Portuguese so that takes out one layer of translation at least.

[Reedo]

I'm planning a trip to ecuador next month. Plane tickets are high right now I payed 850$. 4x4 car rental at least 800 plus gas. Hotels are cheap around 20-30$ per night. Food maybe 30$ a day. I will stay for a month and likely dip into peru and colombia. I want to see the yasuni national forest. It's considered the most biodiverse place on the planet. There's a lot to see.

Sounds epic! We'll look forward to hearing about your journey!

[Bush2Beach]

Thats for when you make it back to tsa. I believe some countries check you before you leave and don’t want people taking their genetics, a point of pride in some places. 
Not sure you can even get that home country phyto from certain countries.

From the USDA APHIS website (https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/resources/traveler/intl-travel/plants-seeds/plants-seeds):

Travelers may bring seeds of admissible herbaceous plants for planting if they meet the following conditions:

- The seeds are not otherwise prohibited, protected under the Endangered Species Act or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or subject to any special restrictions, such as post-entry quarantine or treatment*

- You have a phytosanitary certificate issued by the National Plant Protection Organization of the country you are leaving indicating the seeds are free of pests and diseases

- U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspects the seeds at the first port of entry and determines they are free of pests and diseases and meet all entry requirements

*Please call APHIS’ Plant Import Information Line at 877-770-5990 (toll-free) or by email at plantproducts.permits@aphis.usda.gov.


Some information on USDA websites indicates that tree and shrub seeds can be brought back to the US per requirements listed above, yet some sources say none can be brought back with passenger luggage. Best course of action would be to shoot an email inquiry to that listed email.

[Bush2Beach]

This is kinda the number one rule when rolling through so many places.
wherever you travel where the locals know your not from there, your going to get taxed in some way, often depends on how much desperation and poverty people are facing , your a walking meal ticket. Paying for guides has it's ups and downs and depends on a lot of things, the safety factor and if they can get you into places and have info that is priceless. It can be real nice having a local driver familiar with the rules of the road.
The tourist or traveler tax is often baked in , So the question becomes do you want to be MARKED ( Yes I looove your 'ol specialty plate Kev) every where you go or not. After being kidnapped held at gunpoint and robbed as a youth , I say choose your words & travel partners wisely. 

This forum needs to organize a group expedition. I'd totally go.

My experience has been over many, many travels that large groups really slow down any type of expedition like this. The sweet spot is everyone fitting into one 5 person car, translators, guides, and all. Even adding just one more car makes it harder to organize. A bus, forget about it.

I am hoping to do a trip next year, this said. I am fluent in Portuguese so that takes out one layer of translation at least.

[TropicalPioneers]

I am aware about the inherent safety issues since I do have family from South America and I have been to Colombia before. So with that being said I would probably go with a small group of people with the most being 6 in total and the guide is the main issue