Last Saturday, La Paz on Foot hosted its first tour of local eco-houses in the valley of La Paz. Seventeen professors and students from the Universidad Mayor de San Andres’s Architecture School visited two ecological houses near La Paz, one in Achocalla and another in Chicani, both small rural towns about 30 minute from downtown.

The first house, in Achocalla, built by two German biologists who migrated to La Paz more than ten years ago, featured earthen walls and plasters, passive solar heating, two composting toilets, solar oven (cooking their dogs lunch this time!) and other elements designed to minimize non-renewable resource use, take advantage of local materials and traditional building knowledge. The second house, in the town of Chicani and also built by biologists, featured a roof made from totora reeds from Lake Titicaca, a solar hot water heater, a large garden and greenhouse that supplies about 40% of the family’s vegetables, FSC-certified tajibo wooden floors and a grey-water treatment system for purifying water from showers, laundry and the kitchen. 

La Paz on Foot is hoping to increase activities with local, Bolivian residents in an effort to promote appreciation of traditional technologies and natural and cultural landscapes that surround La Paz. For more information or to set up a tour of Andean eco-houses, please send us an email, info@lapazonfoot.com.

This past January, La Paz on Foot completed its second course, Food Systems of the Central Andes, for the Prescott, Arizona (USA) liberal arts and environmental sciences college Prescott College. Using the city and markets of La Paz as a base for exploring the dynamic food systems of the Central Andes, students and instructors explored six different agro-ecosystems that provide consumers of  La Paz and El Alto with the vast majority of their food products. Starting out in Hampaturi Valley, just outside of La Paz, the course then visited Lake Titicaca, Apolobamba National Park, South Yungas and Rurrenabaque. The agro-ecosystems visited were Cabecera de Valle, Dry and Humid Puna, Interandean Valley, Yungas, and Tropical Rainforest.

Students visited farms and agricultural landscapes in each of the agro-ecosystems and were able to interview farmers, observe agricultural practices, learn about successful and unsuccessful development projects, participate in agriculturally-related rituals and otherwise learn about the complex and ancient food and farming systems that feed millions of people in the Central Andes. Students prepared final presentations and papers on each of the six agroecosystems; final presentations were very creative and included a museum exhibit on the Dry Puna agroecosystem, a Jeopardy-style quiz game on the Humid Puna, and a cooking lesson on common dishes from the Interandean Valleys.

For more information about our courses and longer, theme based tours, please write to us as info@lapazonfoot.com.