| Day 1-2: COCHABAMBA – Quillacollo |
Arrive Cochabamba, transfer to nearby retreat center 30 min from city center. Afternoon course orientation and introduction to the course themes. Focus on cultural fluency, depth of engagement, and hikes in local environs, excursion to Cochabamba for survival skills in Bolivia. These days will be focused on program orientation and tone-setting. We'll start slowly and ease into the experience. |
| Days 3-4: COCHABAMBA – City Center |
We will move into the city and the gardened sanctuary of Las Lilas to meet with the Democracy Center, and other local organizations to have a deeper look at the history of resource issues and scarcity and climate change. Lectures and discussions on water issues, democracy, advocacy and politics will fill our days. We will also make day trips out to surrounding rural communities acutely affected by issues of climate change. These days will be relatively full of activities, visits and guest lectures that will provide exposure to official organizations. |
| Days 5-7: COCHABAMBA – Tiquipaya |
With a solid background on global issues of climate change, we’ll narrow our focus on begin cultivating a more personal connection to the those directly affected by changes. To do so we'll move 20 min outside the city to the heart of Dragons' program base in Bolivia, the small Qechua farming community of Tipquipaya and engage in paired home-stays. Days will be balanced between our home-stay experiences, visits to nearby farms and NGO's, and discussions with local experts, activists and academics. We'll gather at the Granja Polan (Dragons farm and program house) to learn more about subsistence living and the challenges facing agriculturalists. We'll spend a day with our home-stay families working the fields and sharing stories and experience. |
| Day 8-10: LA PAZ |
From Cocha, we'll take a short flight back to La Paz and settle into a comfortable hotel for second round of visits and conversations with government and nongovernment organizations working on issues of climate change and adaptation. Days here will be full, first focusing on the city's ecology, history, markets, relationship with El Alto and other regions of Bolivia, the present-day political situation, and its government and future. In the evenings, participate in multi-media events including geological history and climatology of the Andes and Amazon region. We visit USAID at the embassy and Conservation International. From La Paz we will make a trip to the nearby high peaks, to visit centers of investigation on glacier retreat and water resources as affected by climate change. |
| Day 11-12: LAKE TITICACA – Santiago de Okola |
From La Paz, we depart on a four-hour road trip to Santiago de Okola, taking most of the day to hike up to a receding glacier Tuni Condoriri, to learn about glaciation and the implications of a receding glaciers in the Andes and throughout the globe. Arriving in Santigao de Okola we are welcomed by long-time friends and valued members of the Dragons community. Santiago is an Aymara fishing and farming community on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Residents here have developed a community-based ecotourism project to help spread awareness around subsistence lifestyle, sustainability, and adaptations to climate change. For two nights we'll stay in the homes of local community members and learn through experience about issues of cultural heritage, resource management and nonWestern perspectives on climate change. |
| Day 13-14: LAKE TITICACA – Isla del Sol |
We travel by boat form Santiago de Okola to the majestic Isla del Sol. Overlooking towering snow-capped peaks, we share our finals days together in Bolivia, reflecting on our journey, sharing perspectives, and preparing for the journey home. We refer to this chapter of the journey as a Transference, and the most important phase of any experiential education, the time when we calibrate and refine our experiences to begin drawing connections, clarifying perspectives and opinions and preparing to integrate our experiences into the rest of our lives back home. |
| Day 15: LA PAZ |
Travel from La Paz to Miami, then home! |
