Events Calendar

With its extraordinary scenery, fascinating geology, and vibrant culture, Iceland offers a remarkable winter escape—and an opportunity to experience one of the world’s most distinctive landscapes during its most atmospheric season.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
- Search for the Northern Lights during one of the best times of year for viewing the aurora.
- Explore Iceland’s Golden Circle, including Þingvellir National Park, Gullfoss waterfall, and the erupting geysers of the Geysir geothermal area.
- Discover Reykjavík through its food culture on a guided culinary walk sampling Icelandic specialties.
- Enjoy a free day to explore at your own pace, whether relaxing in a geothermal spa, visiting museums, or venturing farther afield.
- Visit Gunnuhver Hot Springs on the Reykjanes Peninsula, where steaming vents and bubbling mud pools reveal Iceland’s volcanic power.

Program Highlights

• Explore the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth, where salt flats, flamingo-filled lagoons, and vividly colored valleys create a landscape unlike anywhere else.
• Discover Valparaíso, the UNESCO-listed port city known for its steep hills, historic funiculars, and vibrant street art culture.
• Experience Chile’s scenic Lake District, where volcanic peaks rise above glacial lakes and towns reflect a unique blend of Chilean and German heritage.
• Spend time in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park, a spectacular wilderness of granite towers, glaciers, waterfalls, and abundant wildlife.

Yale Alumni Academy welcomes you on this remarkable program, Cruising New Zealand aboard Heritage Adventurer, featuring an outstanding lineup of expert speakers. The program takes place during one of New Zealand’s finest seasons, late summer to early autumn, when warm weather, clear skies, and a relaxed pace make exploration effortless.

It begins with an overnight stay in Queenstown, where dramatic mountain landscapes and a strong outdoor culture set the tone for the days ahead. From there, board the Kiwi owned and operated Heritage Adventurer for a nine-night voyage from Fiordland National Park to Auckland. The ship’s design and full Zodiac fleet provide access to remote shorelines, wildlife habitats, and sheltered waterways across the North, South, and Stewart Islands.

Along the way, participants can choose from a variety of excursions highlighting New Zealand’s most defining features, including glacial fiords, geothermal activity, Māori heritage, and native forests home to rare bird species. Expert study leaders provide lectures and informal discussions that enrich understanding of the landscapes and communities encountered.

Optional extensions in Queenstown and Auckland, including the Bay of Islands, are available for those wishing to continue exploring.

Yale Alumni Service Corps (YASC) is returning to Panama! Join us and make a difference in the world! 

Mandela is a social enterprise rooted in more than three decades of agroecological development work in Panama’s smallholder farming communities. Mandela’s founder, Florence Reed, first came to these highlands as a Peace Corps volunteer in the early 1990s and went on to found Sustainable Harvest International, which partnered with farming families in Coclé province for over 25 years. Mandela carries that work forward — supporting farmers in adopting agroecological practices that strengthen rural livelihoods, restore ecosystems and build climate resilience.

YASC volunteers are no strangers to this territory: a group worked alongside farming families in Piedras Gordas and Bermejo in July 2024. This March, we’re back — and expanding into a third community, Cerro Corral — for another week of hands-on service in the highlands of Piedras Gordas township.

In March the climate in the highlands of Piedras Gordas is typically hot, humid, and physically demanding, particularly for those unaccustomed to tropical conditions. The daily outdoor service activities planned will involve prolonged exposure to heat and high humidity. Volunteers should carefully consider the hot, humid, and physically demanding climate when deciding whether participation in this outdoor service experience is appropriate for them. Please note, however, there are activities that are in a community building, farm building or school for half OR all of each day: Monday afternoon (business or food prep workshops), Tuesday afternoon (grinding & packaging coffee or painting environmental murals at preschool), Wednesday morning (making reclaimed object planters), Wednesday afternoon (recycling workshop), Thursday afternoon (workshop & production of dried fruits, vegetables & spices), Friday morning (painting, sign making and small repairs at school) and Friday afternoon (farewell social activities, games & cultural presentation).

Service activities may include:

• Nursery Establishment — Volunteers will help set up a medicinal, ornamental and fruit tree nursery on a family farm in Cerro Corral: preparing growing media, filling planting bags and transplanting seedlings. This nursery supports both household food security and Mandela’s agroforestry goals.

• Agroforestry & Tree Planting — Volunteers will help establish a fruit tree agroforestry system on a farm in Piedras Gordas, measuring and staking the terrain, digging planting holes, applying organic fertilizer and planting trees that will provide food, shade and long-term carbon sequestration.

• Solar Dryer Construction — Volunteers will help build a solar food dryer on a farm in Piedras Gordas, giving a local farming family a low-cost tool to preserve and add value to their harvest.

• Kitchen Garden & Drip Irrigation — Volunteers will help establish a kitchen garden, preparing beds, incorporating organic amendments, planting vegetable seedlings and installing a drip irrigation system.

• Value-Added Food Processing — Volunteers will work alongside farming families to process and package artisanal coffee in Bermejo, and participate in workshops on jam-making and food dehydration — skills that help farmers capture more value from their crops.

• Recycling & Environmental Education — Volunteers will help install a community recycling station in Piedras Gordas, lead creative reuse crafts with community members and participate in a community cleanup. An afternoon workshop will bring together farmers and volunteers for a conversation on waste management and environmental sustainability.

• Business & Marketing Training — Volunteers with relevant skills will help lead a workshop for Mandela farmers on business basics, quality control, packaging and marketing — supporting farmers’ ability to connect their products to new markets.

• School Improvements in Cerro Corral — The week wraps up with a morning of community infrastructure work at the local primary school: painting, cleaning and small repairs, alongside students, parents and the Mandela team.

• Farm Impact Documentation — One or two volunteers with a background in ecology, soil science or environmental data collection will have the opportunity to contribute to Mandela’s impact measurement work on a small number of farms near the group’s base. Depending on volunteer skills and interests, activities could include soil testing, soil biodiversity assessment using eDNA analysis, farm biodiversity surveys through ecoacoustics, GPS coordinate collection for farm mapping, or carbon measurement in soils and trees.

• Photography & Storytelling — Throughout the week, one or two volunteers with photography or storytelling skills will have the opportunity to document farm visits, record farmer stories and capture the week’s work in images and written stories — contributing directly to Mandela’s impact communications.

As a thank you for your service, volunteers will be treated to a demonstration by local community members of how they make the traditional Panamanian hats by hand, using native plants. Volunteers will be encouraged to share photos, videos and reflections on the hat-making process for use in Mandela’s Shared Market and promotional materials.

Review program policies and terms and conditions. For questions or further information feel free to contact trip producer Jenny Rendon '20 DNP or João Aleixo at the YAA.

Experience the Eastern Caribbean as few travelers ever do—under sail, at an elegant pace, and aboard the legendary Sea Cloud II. This intimate voyage through the Lesser Antilles reveals a region of extraordinary beauty and layered history, boasting lush volcanic islands, manicured gardens, and vibrant cultures. Late March offers ideal sailing conditions: warm days, cooling trade winds, and calm seas. It is a season made for lingering ashore, savoring panoramic views, and returning each evening to the quiet luxury of life at sea.
The Sea Cloud II is not just transportation between islands; she is a destination unto herself. Watching the crew hand set 23 sails across her three masts and enjoying the understated elegance, attentive service, and the highest standards of modern luxury creates moments that are as memorable as any excursion.

Ashore, visit some of the most visually stunning and culturally rich islands in the Eastern Caribbean. Arrive in Sint Maarten for an overnight before embarking on a seven-night private charter of Sea Cloud II, stopping for full days on Martinique, Antigua, and Anguilla, and morning visits to the lush island of Dominica, known as the “Nature Isle,” and the volcanic island of Nevis, birthplace of Alexander Hamilton.

Excursions balance gentle adventure with cultural discovery and leisure, offering options at nearly every port of call so travelers can engage with the islands in a way that feels personal and at their pace. This is Caribbean travel planned to the perfect rhythm—guided by wind, enriched by history, and elevated by sailing on a vessel built for new and seasoned sailors alike.
 

Experience one of the most fascinating environments on Earth on this guided luxury cruise. You`ll begin in Quito, with its layered history rooted in Inca foundations and influenced by the Spanish colonial era. You`ll continue to the Galápagos Islands, where you`ll observe an astonishing array of wildlife while learning about the forces that shaped Charles Darwin’s thinking. Traveling aboard the small expedition yacht La Pinta, you’ll be accompanied by Yale faculty along with naturalists who interpret the islands’ ecosystems, wildlife, and conservation efforts in real time, illuminating every walk and shoreline visit with exciting insights. An included post-cruise stay at Finch Bay Eco Hotel extends your enjoyment beyond the ship. You`ll have a chance to relish beach vistas, delicious local cuisine, and custom excursions that highlight the islands’ ecological diversity from a different vantage point.

Journey through the charming Cotswolds, the Heart of England and home to some of the country’s most scenic landscapes, filled with picturesque villages, rolling green hills and winding country lanes. From your home base in the first-class Queens Hotel in Cheltenham, embark on daily excursions, exploring grand properties and lovely countryside. At prestigious Oxford University, indulge in an exclusive after-hours tour of the Bodleian Library and Radcliffe Camera. At a local farm, learn about sustainability and foraging, harvest fresh vegetables from the garden and engage in a cooking lesson. Tour majestic Blenheim Palace and Sudeley Castle, stroll through lush gardens, and tread in Shakespeare’s footsteps in Stratford-upon-Avon. Discover the unique heritage of the local folk music scene at a village pub dinner where musicians will talk about music history and perform. Treat yourself to this unforgettable 7-night escape to England’s castles and countryside!

Join us aboard the intimate 18-cabin Queen Eleganza in the Adriatic Sea for a cruise along the spectacular Dalmatian Coast. Throughout history, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, Ottomans, and Austrians have vied for control of this strategic coastline that is dotted with over 1,000 islands. In a region well worth exploring for its natural beauty alone, visit spellbinding archaeological sites, impressive castles, dramatic palaces, and ancient city centers.

Begin in Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, a captivating city with history dating back to Roman times. Visit magical Lake Bled and its breath-taking scenery before continuing to Zadar, Croatia, to begin your seven-night Adriatic cruise calling at Trogir, Split, Hvar, Korčula, Mljet,and finally, at the magnificent walled city of Dubrovnik.
 

For centuries, Türkiye has stood at the crossroads of civilizations, shaped by the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Seljuks, and Ottomans who left behind some of the world’s most extraordinary artistic, religious, and architectural legacies. This immersive Yale Alumni Academy program explores that rich cultural tapestry through visits to legendary ancient cities, sacred sites, and vibrant modern communities. In Istanbul, trace the city’s evolution from Constantinople to the heart of the Ottoman Empire as you explore Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, and the labyrinthine Grand Bazaar. Along the Aegean coast, examine the intellectual and political influence of the classical world at Pergamum, Ephesus, Priene, Miletus, and Didyma — places that once shaped philosophy, medicine, urban planning, and early Christianity.

Complementing these historic explorations is time spent along Türkiye’s stunning Turquoise Coast aboard a privately chartered gulet, offering access to quieter harbors, ancient coastal settlements, and the striking natural beauty of the eastern Mediterranean. Days are balanced between archaeological discovery and opportunities to experience contemporary Turkish culture through local markets, regional cuisine, conversations with expert guides, and visits to seaside towns largely untouched by mass tourism. Throughout the program, travelers will engage deeply with Türkiye’s layered history and enduring cultural traditions while enjoying the camaraderie and intellectual exchange that define Yale Alumni Academy travel.