Upcoming Nature and Culture Tour - November 2009
Sample Itinerary
Cultural Connections through Nature and Culture
Experience the heart and soul of Paraguay. You will be delighted by the warm and friendly people, the spectacular landscapes, and the rich culture. Our goal is that you will return from your vacation feeling relaxed, renewed and personally enriched by the experience.
On this tour you will meet new people, experience different cultural traditions, taste foods from Paraguay and Brazil, discover how historical events have influenced the society, listen to the sounds of harp music, waterfalls, and tropical birds, practice your Spanish, and learn at least a few words in Guarani, Paraguay’s other official language.
We will visit:
- Iguazu Falls, a great natural wonder with 275 falls that pour over precipices 200 feet deep that offer spectacular vistas and take an adventurous boat ride beneath the falls
- Itaipu Dam, one of the seven wonders of the modern world
- The Jesuit reducciones to learn about some of the world’s most astonishing experiments in colonization
- Asuncion, the capital city, with charming colonial buildings now converted into museums, plazas along the river front, and modern shopping centers
- The home workshops of popular traditional ceramic, wood, and lace artisans in surrounding villages
- Rural communities where ox carts are still a common mode of transportation, women can be seen washing clothes in the stream and baking in their outdoor ovens, and families drink terere (tea) beneath mango trees to escape the afternoon heat - a much simpler life
- Abuela Roga (grandmother's house) a living history museum where you will visit a small adobe home, learn how food is prepared and stored in the outdoor kitchen, get to see the inside of a typical home, hear stories told by the grandmother in Guarani, and be invited for mate cocido and chipa, freshly baked in the tatakua (outdoor dome-shaped oven).
Visit a country whose customs and practices are different from your own. Come to appreciate their culture, as well as discover a new appreciation of your own.
