Bolivia: Conservation in a Changing Land Tentative Itinerary 2017

Date Day Location We Stay Activity 2 Jan Monday Minneapolis en route Overnight flight to Santa Cruz (arrive ~ 8:30am 3 Jan) 3 Tuesday Santa Cruz Intro to program, safety, health, culture; overview of Bolivian politics, history; city tour. 4 Wednesday Amboró Nat’l Park La Chonta community-run rainforest ecolodge 5 Thursday Amboró Nat’l Park Rainforest explorations: hiking, swimming, fishing, 6 Friday Amboró Nat’l Park night hikes, bird and mammal watching, 7 Saturday Amboró Nat’l Park photography, etc. 8 Sunday Santa Cruz Visit El Carbon, the indigenous community that runs La Chonta; return to Santa Cruz 9 Monday Travel to the chapare (mountain forest) area. Cloud forest exploration; talk with the General Director of Tourism for Dept of Cochabamba; visit Machia Park, a wildlife rescue center. 10 Tuesday Villa Tunari Carrasco National Park by boat to look for river dolphins and other wildlife; visit caves to observe bats and the noctural oil bird (Guacharo). 11 Wednesday Villa Tunari Visit coca farms, Chapare river (Amazon tributary) 12 Thursday Cochabamba Travel to Cocha, with tour of large hydroelectric facility on the way; talk with head of FOCOMADE, the Cochabamba NGO for environment and development. 13 Friday Cochabamba Talk with leaders of the 2000 “Water War” uprising in Cochabamba. Free time in Cochabamba. 14 Saturday Cochabamba Free day 15 Sunday Torotoro National Park Dinosaur footprints and Humajalanta cave system 16 Monday Torotoro El Vergel canyon hike and swimming, waterfalls 17 Tuesday Cochabamba Visit Itas, Torotoro’s “stone city;” return to Cocha 18 Wednesday Oruro Bus to Oruro; overview of mining legacy and water issues that are destroying Lake Poopó 19 Thursday Coqueza / Tahua Visit villages around Lake Poopó to talk about impact of water scarcity due to climate change; continue to Coqueza. Tour mummy caves on the slopes of Tunupa volcano. Stay in a hotel made of salt. 20 Friday Oruro Visit the slopes of Tunupa volcano. Visit and lunch on the Salar de Uyuni (world’s largest salt flat). Return to Oruro 21 Saturday La Paz Depart for La Paz; tour of one of the highest capitals in the world 22 Sunday La Paz Free day in La Paz. Shopping, witches market, sightseeing, etc. 23 Monday La Paz Talk with head of FOBOMADE (the Bolivian NGO for environment and development). Talk with head of CEDLA (Latin American center for economics and development). 24 Tuesday La Paz Visit Chacaltaya, a glacier that has disappeared due to climate change; visit Andes mountains surrounding Lake Titicaca. 25 Wednesday Santa Cruz Fly to Santa Cruz. Relax, shop. 26 Thursday Minneapolis Return home ~ 10:30 pm.

Accomodation will be in budget hotels, rainforest lodge (Amboró), or salt hotel (Coqueza / Tahua). Most travel will be by chartered bus. All meals will be provided.