Conservation Tour to Bolivia—Biological Studies

Your 24-hour Tour Director will meet you at the airport and remain with your group until your final airport departure. You will have a private coach and driver while touring for the next eight days. Your base for the next two nights will be La Paz, where daily breakfast will be included.

La Paz, Bolivia is the highest administrative capital in the world, resting on the Andes' Altiplano plateau at more than 3,500 meters above sea level. The city stretches to El Alto in the highlands, with snow-capped, 6,438-meter-high Mt. Illimani as its backdrop. La Paz's dramatic setting can be enjoyed most during a ride on Mi Teleférico, the aerial cable car system.

Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.

"We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey Every evening of the program, we’ll set time aside to update your Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come up during the day.

"Nuestra Señora de La Paz" is a city and municipality in western Bolivia, capital of the department of La Paz and Bolivia's seat of government, legislatures, and executives. The city was founded on October 20th, 1548 by the Spanish captain Alonso de Mendoza.

Today, you’ll tour La Paz. One of the first sights is Plaza Murillo, where the Bolivian government is based. Here, you’ll visit the immense cathedral and presidential palace, known as the Burnt Palace due to its near destruction in 1875 during an uprising. After leaving the square, your group will head to your next stop, San Francisco Church, which dates from the 16th century and features a mestizo-baroque façade with symbols such as masks, dragons, tropical birds, and snakes. A stone tunnel stairway from the neoclassical interior leads to the roof, which offers a view of the unique rooftops.

Visit the Witches' Market, where dozens of vendors line the streets to sell many strange and fascinating products, including raw ingredients used in rituals to call on the Aymara-world spirits.

Visit the famous colonial street Calle Jaén, where a few interesting museums are clustered together: the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Museum of Precious Metals, and the Museum of Customs.

Continue to the yellow-line cable car station (teléferico), which connects La Paz with the neighboring city of El Alto. When riding on the innovative cable car system, you’ll enjoy breathtaking city views.

Visit the unique Moon Valley, a place where erosion has caused stony forms, replicating the landscape of a lunar environment.

Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.

Today, your group will travel to Lake Titicaca's shores. Board the boat to Sun Island (where Inca's empire was born). It will take approximately an hour and a half to cross the lake, and you’ll arrive at the Southern end of the island. Here, your group can visit the archaeological remains of the Pilkokaina Temple of the Inca, a religious center.

Walk to the Yumani, where the "Fountain of Youth" is believed to exist. You’ll also be able to enjoy the beauty of the Incan Garden.

Your base for the night will be Isla del Sol, where breakfast will be included.

Return to Copacabana via boat, which is about a two-hour journey.

Visit the Brown Virgin's Sanctuary, where parishioners go to ask for good fortune and sell their properties.

Today, lunch is included.

Your base for the night will be La Paz, where breakfast will be included.

Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.

Your group will board a private transfer from the hotel to El Alto International Airport.

Fly from La Paz to Rurrenabaque.

Upon arrival in Rurrenabaque, you’ll transfer to the marina for a boat trip up the Rio Beni to Serere Eco Reserve. Your group will travel from the last foothills of the Andes into the Varzea (floodplain) Forest, in the headwaters of the Amazon. You may be able to see the camps of Bolivia's last nomads as well as evidence of the mining activities and extraction of fine woods from these incredibly biodiverse forests. Be on the lookout for capybaras, caiman, turtles, sloths, and a variety of birds!

Today, lunch is included onboard the boat.

From the port, you’ll walk for 2 kilometers to the cabins and main lodge. Check into your cabin and get settled, freshen up, and begin adjusting to the forest as you observe your surroundings from the screened cabins. You may even become an object of curiosity for the animals!

Walk 400 meters to Casa Grande (main lodge), where you’ll meet your guide. There will be an introductory tour around the main lodge to see the facilities. You’ll also be able to see some of the rescued animals in the process of re-insertion in nature (macaws, tapir, capybara, monkeys, and others). Continue to the information center where you can learn about the reserve and its work in the Madidi Mosaic. Walk on the trails looking for animals and learning about the forest. Afterward, enjoy the sunset at the Port of San Fernando Lake.

After dinner at the lodge, meet with your guide to discuss your interests. When you share your preferences, your guide can better focus on what you wish to see and learn during your time in the jungle.

Enjoy a short night walk looking for insects, amphibians, and other nocturnal wildlife.

Today will begin with a boat trip to San Fernando and Pinky Lake. Navigate across Lake San Fernando viewing the birdlife (approximately 300 varieties of birds exist in Serere) and other animals on the lake. Port at the other end of the lake and walk to Pinky Lake. On this walk, you’ll pass near a mud lick as well as through the low-flooded and high forest. You may see a variety of monkeys, turtles, wild boars, coati, and other animals.

Arrive at Pinky Lake, enjoy lunch, and relax a bit until the afternoon cool-off. Your group will then get on a canoe to explore the lake and fish for piranha.

Afterward, trek back to San Fernando Lake (approximately two hours) and navigate back to Casa Grande.

Enjoy dinner at the lodge.

Depending on the season, the day can be started with a bird walk or a search for howler monkeys.

After breakfast, learn how to make rings, necklaces, and other small items with the seeds you gathered during your walks.

Take the boat to return to Rurrenabaque.

Today, lunch is included onboard the boat.

Fly from Rurrenabaque to La Paz.

Your base for the next three nights will be La Paz, where daily breakfast will be included.

Today is free to explore La Paz as you’d like. You can wander through downtown, visit the famous colonial street Calle Jaén, explore the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Museum of Precious Metals, and the Museum of Customs, or peruse the Witches Market.

Enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.

Today, your group will participate in a service-learning project. Details will be confirmed closer to the time of travel.

Enjoy a special meal together for your last evening of the trip.

This evening, you’ll make the final entries in your Reflection Journal and share some of the most significant observations and perspectives that have taken shape throughout your Conservation in Bolivia Tour. We’ll also discuss how these experiences may be most relevant for us all as we return home.

Your rewarding and enjoyable Conservation and Biological Studies in Bolivia program comes to an end as your Tour Director accompanies your group to the airport on your final day.