Chiquitano missions & back in Santa Cruz (4-7/May/06)

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

There are good bus connections to the first (and most important) two Jesuit mission villages, so that’s what we did. First stop was San Javier, the oldest mission. The church was, as promised, beautiful. We were also very lucky as the annual baroque music festival was on, with free concerts in each church. That night in San Javier there was a Spanish group of five men specialising in Mediterranean monastic singing, and for the last few songs a couple of women joined them. It was really good stuff, and the setting was in a beautiful colonial church.

The second day we went to Concepcion, which is slightly more charming and rustic (unpaved red dirt roads). Here we saw a Brazilian group do mostly Brazilian baroque pieces in Latin, with more musical instruments than the day before (the Spaniards had only used an organ, and that on the last piece). Sadly the church doors were left open this time, so occasionally you’d head the odd motorbike or something outside.

Back in Santa Cruz we just missed the laundry where we had left some clothes, and the next day was Sunday, so we decided to chill for a bit until we could retrieve our togs. Our next destination is Rurenabaque, a jungle village north of here. Getting there might be a problem, the transport strike shows no sign of abating. Costs of trips outside the province (when available) have nearly doubled.