Global Short Program in the Amazon rainforest

I spent the first month and a half of 2025 in Cusco, Peru and the Manu Learning Centre which is situated in a buffer zone of the Amazon rainforest, and I cannot stop talking about it. If you had told me 6 months ago that I would find myself swimming in rivers, holding wild snakes, and seeing monkeys every day I would not have believed you. When I decided to do a global short program I originally decided I would spend a month in Tokyo attending classes and doing classic tourist sightseeing, I am so glad I changed my mind because the experiences that I had in Peru were truly once in a lifetime.

When I arrived to the rainforest with 25 other Australian students we got ourselves situated in our lodges and got ready to start our four weeks of conservation activities. We got to go on daily walks looking for monkeys, birds, snakes, butterflies, and so many other animals! We participated in activities such as butterfly traps, where we would identify what species of butterflies are present at certain heights of the forest, colpa which involved identifying bird species which arrive at the clay lick early in the morning, and various different types of visual encounter surveys where we listen and watch for mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and game birds.

We crossed rivers, climbed over trees, went fishing and swimming (sometimes unintentional swimming) and got to go on excursions to nearby towns. Our first day trip was to Salvación where we met some locals and went on little wooden rafts to a lookout tower for some bird watching.

Our second excursion to Shintuya included jumping off a waterfall and swimming all morning then moving to the natural hot springs for some relaxing clay face masks and floating in the warm water.

The Manu Learning Centre is located in a secondary forest, however there was a chance to take a trip to a section of primary rainforest which was an incredible opportunity, and I am so glad I went along. We saw the difference between the size of the trees which are estimated to be 200-300 years old, different kinds of animals like giant river otters and red howler monkeys.

Every week we had Saturday night fun and a dance party in the Amazon, I made some incredible friends and made so many amazing memories that will last me a lifetime. I couldn’t be more thankful that I got to switch off from the outside world, almost entirely off the grid for a month, and just be present with the people around me and get fully in tune with myself.

Going on this program is the best thing I’ve ever done, and I feel like I am a new person upon returning home.

Emma Campbell
Bachelor of Forensic Science Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation
CISAustralia – Peru
Global Short Programs Travel Scholarship

For more information about the UTS Global Short Program visit: www.uts.edu.au/thinkglobal