Following is a sample itinerary for Dragons' Andes & Amazon Semester Program.  Our sample itineraries are based on past courses; in order to meet instructor team goals, as well as the goals and interests of particular student groups, future itineraries are subject to change.  Please keep an eye on the course's Yak board for additional itinerary-related postings and updates.

Week 1-2: Fly to Sucre for course orientation in the mountains outside the city, learning cultural norms, coming together as a group, goal setting, etc. This orientation time will continue to our first four-day trek, taking advantage of Sucre’s more arid mountains since we’re still in the rainy season in the southern tropics.  From here we’ll have five days of home stays and Spanish study before moving back toward the highlands near La Paz. We'll find that our time in Sucre, the country's judicial capital, greatly contrasts our coming experiences in the Bolivian highlands.

Week 3: Carnival in Oruro! Come back from Sucre by bus to Oruro and visit the spectacular carnival celebration here, one of the most important celebrations in all of Bolivia. Costumed traditional dances and water balloons define the occasion and will give a great perspective on celebration and ceremony in the Andes.  Carnival continues for a couple of days, during which time travel is difficult and so we’ll take the time to be in La Paz to continue observing the celebration. We will have time to explore the city, watch more parades and possibly work with local artisans and development workers.

Week 4-6: Sorata time, first extended home stay and more language study. Dive in to ISP's, workshops on politics, agriculture, Andean shamanism and cosmology, etc.  Weekend trip to Lake Titicaca: Agricultural-ecology expedition: to Santiago de Okola for three nights: traditional fishing village on Lake Titicaca, with home stays, in-depth look at agriculture and cultural traditions of afarming and fishing community. Further inquries into historic Andean Agriculure techniques and crops.

Week 7-8: Apolobamba expedition: From Sorata we travel to the Apolobamba. Hiking the Pacha Trail or High Apolobamba trail to the Kallawaya town of Kaata, with focus on ecological tiers, Andean ayllus (community-structures), etc. Finish with 4-day home stay in Kaata, a traditional Quechua village renowned as healers, shaman and artisans, in a dramatic setting facing the stunning southern Apolobamba skyline and the sacred Cerro Akhamani.

Week 9: Andes to Amazon expedition: Returning from the Apolobamba to La Paz, we will begin our next expedition into the Amazon. We start by hiking the Yunga Cruz trek from La Paz to Chulumani, again focusing on ecological tiers from the high Andes to the lowland Amazon and then visiting our last ecological tier, the yungas – focusing on issues around coca, sustainable development and other workshops.

Week 10-11: Amazon Expedition: From Chulumani we will make our way by bus and then boat to Pilon Lajas Biosphere Reserve: heading first to the Amazon town of Rurrenebaque and then into the forests up the Beni and then the Quiquibay Rivers to the Biosphere Reserve, looking at indigenous issues in the Tsimane-Moseten communities along the Quiquibay, Amazon cosmology, environmental conservation, resource issues, etc. At the end of this time we will travel back to La Paz to regroup and plan for our final two weeks.

Week 11-12: Final course expedition, student led to Southern Peru with opportunities to visit Cuzco, Choquequirao, Ausungate, Machu Picchu or other areas.

Week 13: Return to Sorata and do course-end activities and workshops, etc. Bringing the whole experience home!