Family Project Bolivia

At the end of the project, volunteers can choose to join the optional excursion to La Paz. The excursion fee will cover all housing, food, ground transportation, insurance, and tours. It does not include the domestic airfare from Cochabamba to La Paz. Volunteers will need to book a specific flight number (see flight guidelines later in this packet).

On Sunday, December 30, volunteers will fly to La Paz, the highest seat of government in the world at an altitude of nearly 12,000 feet above sea level. Because of the elevation, we’ll start off a bit slower to give people time to adjust to the altitude.

On Sunday afternoon, we’ll have a light lunch and then a city tour of La Paz to see some of the colonial buildings, the gondola transportation system (teleferico), and the “Valle de la Luna” (Valley of the Moon), an area with topography similar to what you’d see on the moon. Then people can rest and relax or walk to several sightseeing options within a few blocks of the hotel including a souvenir market, cathedral, a large plaza with the capital building and president’s residence.

On Monday, the group will leave their large luggage at the hotel in La Paz and will bus (with a small overnight bag) to Lake Titicaca which will take approximately 3 hours. Lake Titicaca is the world’s highest navigable body of water and is famous for its floating islands. Unfortunately, most of the floating islands are on the Peru side of the lake, but the part where our group will visit has a small floating island constructed for tourists to see. On Monday afternoon the group will tour the lake area including a boat tour and a visit to a nice museum showing rural life around the lake, the history of the area, and how they make reed boats.

On Tuesday, January 1, the group will have a relaxing morning at the lake before heading back to La Paz after lunch. The group will return to the hotel in La Paz where they can continue to explore the town and enjoy a relaxing evening before a final dinner. Volunteers can choose to depart that evening or the following morning.