DESTINATIONS IN BOLIVIA

Here you can find a description of the various regions of Bolivia.

LOWLANDS

The Bolivian lowland consists of the provinces of Pando, Beni and Santa Cruz. With its dense forests, wetlands, savannahs, pampas and wild rivers such as the Madre de Dios and Beni, it is a rarely visited spot which offers a truly authentic experience.

Apart from the metropolitan city of Santa Cruz, you will find a range of lovely little towns where traditional cultures and customs have been conserved until today.

The average altitude is 330 ms. With a size of 648.101 km², the lowland occupies about 59 % of the country. The climate is tropical and warm year-round. Only in the higher areas in the west of the province of Santa Cruz does the climate change to mild.

Santa Cruz - Samaipata - Pantanal - Jesuitenmissionen - Tropisches Tiefland von Beni - Trinidad - Rurrenabaque - Cobija

With its tropical climate and the low altitude of 420 m, a stay in Santa Cruz de la Sierra represents true relaxation from the cold highlands. Santa Cruz was founded in 1561 and is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. The city is an important hub for agricultural products such as tropical fruit, rice and sugar, and represents the main economic centre with oil refineries, beverage factories and dairy processing.

In Santa Cruz you will find a mixture of nationalities such as Asians, Germans, English and Arabs, and consequently confers the city a cosmopolitan flair with its international cuisine.
The city is laid out in a circular shape where the streets are concentric. Attractive sights are the Historic Museum, where  gold and silver relicts of the Jesuit missions are displayed, and the Casa de la Cultura Raúl Otero Reich which accommodates changing exhibitions about Indian culture and archaeology. One of the biggest and most beautiful zoological gardens of South America can be found in the city.

Santa Cruz also constitutes an ideal starting point for trips into the rainforest or into the surrounding areas. After an impressive drive you reach the National Park of Amboró where you can observe a diverse flora and fauna. Also worth a visit is the cult site of Samaipata where revolutionist Ernesto "Che" Guevara celebrated one of his greatest successes in his fight for independence. El Fuerte de Samaipata is the most important archaeological site in the country and gives cause for many riddles about its function as place of worship or detainment. Several excursions to the wonderful Jesuit missions, all declared World Cultural Heritage Sites by the UNESCO, are offered from Santa Cruz, San Ignacio de Velasco and Concepción providing good examples.

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About two to three hours from Santa Cruz you will find the idyllic village of Samaipata (Quechua: Rest in the highlands), surrounded by beautiful landscapes and mystic ruins at about 1.700m above sea level. The village emanates an unbelievable calmness, perfect to relax for a couple of days from the big cities and touristy places. The climate is mild all year around which makes the town a popular weekend destination for people from Santa Cruz.

The region’s main attraction is "El Fuerte", a pre-Inca ceremonial site. The ruin site was declared a world heritage site by the UNESCO and consists of a holy stone, a sinister hole and a living complex. The first Spanish pioneers thought that El Fuerte was meant to be used as a fort site. That’s where the name ”El Fuerte” came from. The main site, the holy stone, is the actual ceremonial site. No one knows the exact purpose of El Fuerte. Erich van Daniken even proclaimed that it was a takeoff and landing ramp for ancient spacecraft.

Apart from the archaeological attractions, the village has much more to offer. Not far away from Samaipata you will find various lakes, lagoons, waterfalls and natural pools. If you are looking for something different, you will have the opportunity to visit the valley of the condors, where you can observe various condors. Another worthwhile visit are the nearby volcanoes of the region or the cactus desert of San Isidro.

And if that is not enough, Samaipata serves also as starting point for the Amboro National Park and for forays to the site of Che Guevara's last stand outside Vallegrande, the Che Guevara Route.

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What once was an insurmountable region for colonial rulers on the Brazilian, Bolivian and Paraguayan borders is now a paradise with a unique flora and fauna. It is home to a sheer abundance of various fish and birds, reptiles and insects, e.g. there are more than 1,000 species of butterflies alone. Even the nearly extinct Hyazinth-Aras can be found here; however, Jaguars and Tapiers are rather rare.

The Pantanal is a sparsely populated lowland plain of 10,000 km². It is strongly shaped by the seasons. In the rainy season more water flows into this area than out of it, slowly turning the savannah-like plain into a huge fresh water paradise where most of its fields and land are submerged. From December to March, local farmers and fishermen subsist mainly fishing, which is speared or caught in nets. In the dry season they let their cattle graze their fields.

Only by this perfect adaptation to nature is the local population able to survive in harmony with its unique and fascinating wildlife.

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North of Santa Cruz in the Bolivian lowland plain, an area in which the Chiquitania Indians lived, are the famous Jesuit missions. The missions were founded between 1696 and 1760. Each village was self-sufficient and run by two Jesuits. Most of the inhabitants were farmers though some could earn a living by trading. These settlements are unique in their historical structure motivating  UNESCO to label them world cultural heritage sites. San Javier, Concepcion and San Ignacio de Velasco are among the most interesting missions to visit.

The first mission, which can be best approached via Santa Cruz, is San Javier, which is famous of its yellow and ochre wooden pillars typical of churches built in the 17th century. Almost all the buildings are constructed out of wood and were fully restored between 1987 and 1993. With a jeep you can explore the fascinating and hilly countryside.

The way from San Javier to Concepcion is a primitive track through the jungle and savannah. When you arrive at the mission, you will be fascinated by the church, which was erected in 1756, and the balconies of the houses. From Concepcion you can book guided tours into the jungle and to some villages of the Chiquito-Indians by canoe or horseback.

It is nearly 200 km on a jungle-track from Concepcion to San Ignacio de Velasco. In San Ignacio de Velasco you can visit the biggest and most impressive church of all the missions. Torn down in 1974, the church was replaced by an almost identical building 5 years ago. Visitors to the local museum can see ancient instruments and the remains of the old church house. In San Ignacio de Velasco you can swim in a lake nearby and explore the countryside on horseback. More day trips to interesting places and other missions into the nearby countryside can be booked there as well.

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Bolivia is not only the land of the snowy mountains and the Indians with hats made out of alpaca wool, two thirds of the Andes state are covered by hot, tropical lowlands and by vast rainforests and savannas. Practically, the department of Beni is very flat and at the same time very fertile and suitable for agriculture and stockbreeding. Many rivers, such as Mamoré or Madre de Dios Rivers, converge finally into the Amazon and often cause flooding. Here, in the home of the lowland Indians, Jesuits in the 17th and 18th century founded many missions to Christianise the Indians and save them from slavery by the Spanish.

The extensive ecological system in the indent of the rivers Madre the Dios, Mamoré , Beni and Itenez offers nature lovers the possibility to discover a still untouched rainforest with its inhabitants living in a sustainable way with nature. To the north of the departments of Cochabamba , Santa Cruz , Beni and Pando, the still widely intact rain forest offers the visitor a nature rich in floral and faunal resources and unforgettable physical experiences. Here, countless mammalian, bird, reptiles and amphibian species are found together with a great diversity of insects and botanical species. In the Noel Kempff Mercado National Park live, for example, approximately 130 species of mammals (monkeys, peccaries , mane wolves, gigantic anteaters, gigantic belt animals, jaguars, panthers ...), 74 reptile species, 250 fish species and more than 600 bird species. A gigantic abnormal edge of termination composed of sandstone rises 600 ms from the rainforest and numerous waterfalls drag the visitor in the spell of this impressive panorama.

On impressive fluvial travelling one deeply hacks into the rain forest and observes the shores of the flows, the diversity of the wild life and the overpowering plant world. To protect the unique nature of the region, Ethno Green tourism promotes travel which ensures the protection and preservation of the tropical forests and their inhabitants.

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The capital of the province of Beni is the town of Trinidad, which was founded in 1675 by the Jesuits. Trinidad lies at an altitude of only 237 m above sea level and has a hot, tropical climate with a notable rain season in the summer. The major industry of this area is cattle. The town is surrounded by wetlands, untouched forests and savannahs. Means of transport are mainly boats and motorbikes. The town is a perfect starting point for jungle and river excursions. From here you can also access Los Lagos , a private nature paradise.

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Rurrenabaque has developed itself into one of the more popular tourist places in Bolivia. Its rainforests, rivers, pampas and sustainable tourism projects make this area more and more attractive for tourists around the world. The town serves as starting point for jungle and pampas excursions. From here you will be able to access one of Bolivia’s most impressive National Parks, the unique Madidi National Park.  Here you will find a greater number of conserved species of animals than in any other National Park in the world.

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The capital of the Pando province is located on the borders of Brazil and Peru, in the north of the Pando province, which consists of 90% rainforest. It's the most humid and wettest area in the country and during the rainy season the town of Cobija is inaccessible by road. Cobija has two airports and as more and more flight connections to other Bolivian cities develop, Cobija will be a more visited destination by tourists. Today, however, it remains an undiscovered location by many tourists. The isolated areas and nature are impressive and the most authentic that you will get. The province of Pando was previously best known for rubber production but nowadays the region focuses on the Brazil nut and timber industry.

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