Samaipata & Santa Cruz (1-3/May/06)

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Got the bus towards Santa Cruz the day before the strike started, and got off a few hours before in a village called Samaipata. It is one of the gateways to a national park, has some pre-hispanic ruins, and is a weekend destination for rich people from Santa Cruz. We arrived at 4am and had to bang on a few doors before we got a room. Next day we went to the ruins, a big sculptured rock which belonged to the lowland tribes and the Incas (depending on who had won the latest battle) – this was the place where the two cultures met (Incas on their way down, Amazonian tribes on there way up).

The next day we went with a guide to the Amboro national park. The area we trekked through was mostly cloud forest (we were incredibly lucky here – it was one of the few days without cloud & mist) and was full of ferns and other greenery, though wasn’t as green as we expected. Climbed up a hill to get a good view of the surrounding area, and had lunch. Not much for me as I was just finishing a 2-day diarrhoea special.

Next morning we got the bus to Santa Cruz. It is the biggest city in Bolivia (bigger than La Paz) and also the richest (which isn’t saying much). We spent much of the day walking around and looking for a rucksack for Esther (finally found one which didn’t look like it would disintegrate after 1 week). The main attraction here is a series of Jesuit missions in various villages nearby, each with a beautiful colonial church, recently restored to former glory in the 80s. The tours were laughably expensive so we decided to go at it ourselves.