Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
South Central Bolivia & the Chaco
Includes »
Why Go?
Famed for its dances, wines and an almost Mediterranean character, the isolated department
of Tarija is a Bolivia that not many travelers know.
The culture here gravitates towards neighboring Argentina and dreams of being closer to
faraway Andalucía. The references to the region's resemblance to the south of Spain were
started by Tarija's founder, Luis de Fuentes, who was seemingly anxious to lend a bit of
home to a foreign land. He thus named the river flowing past the city of Tarija the
Guadalquivir (after Andalucía's biggest river), and left the
chapacos
- as
tarijeños
(Tarija
locals) are otherwise known - with a lilting dialect of European Spanish.
Tarija's far eastern regions are full of petroleum-rich scrublands, backed by stark high-
lands and the red earth of the Gran Chaco. This is where you'll find Bolivia's hottest town,
Villamontes, and a series of savage, impenetrable reserves where wildlife abounds and few
people dare to tread.
