Go4BioDiv highlights 2

Continued from Go4BioDiv highlights...

Day 6: We started our dance rehearsals with Mohan and Maria Lucia of TanzMoto. We were all dead tired, and that's just after the warm up! In the afternoon, we hiked up Lusen, a slice of the Bavarian forest near the border of the Czech Republic. Despite the freezing weather, we kept ourselves warm thru dancing with the live band. A sculpture of a giant wooden hand (from the Czech side) holding a glass ark (from the German side) serves as a memento of the unity of the two regions. After the tiring hike farther up, we earned our sumptuous dinner on a restaurant on top of the mountain!

Day 7: Our bodies ached from dancing and the hike the previous day. This was no excuse to continue our dance rehearsals. As the day's weather wasn't the best we could get, most of us worked on our respective assignments even for the time alloted for another hike! Our team tasked to craft the Declaration convened at 1 in the morning. I should have asked less questions!

Leandro and Alan rehearsing their Capoeira sequence.

Day 8: More dancing and more working! Our tasks are taking shape. Dr. Toni Hofreiter from the Green Party introduced us to the world of politics. We started preparing for the "Evening of Biodiversity." We spent our supposed free time working. There wasn't much time 'free' to speak of.

Day 9: Still, more dancing and more working! That night, the Bavarian Minister for Environment, Public Health, and Consumer Protection, Dr. Otmar Bernhard, together with other guests from Frauenau and nearby towns, watched our Evening of Biodiversity. We partied like crazy.

Day 10: Yes, despite the late night (early morning is more like it), there was still a dance rehearsal! We cleaned our huts, packed our bags, and made some final tweaking on our respective tasks, which by the way, are looking good.

Day 11: We embarked on our journey to Bonn for the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity, Conference of Parties 9!
To be continued...

Photos courtesy of Martin Stary