Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Santa Cruz & Gran Chiquitania
Includes »
Why Go?
The Bolivian Oriente is not what you generally see in Bolivian tourist brochures. This trop-
ical region, the country's most prosperous, has a palpable desire to differentiate itself from
Bolivia's traditional highland image. The region's agriculture boom in recent years brought
about a rise in income and a standard of living unequalled by any other Bolivian province.
Though Santa Cruz is Bolivia's most populous city, it retains a small-town atmosphere
despite its cosmopolitan population. From here visit the charming Jesuit mission towns
with the country's loveliest examples of Jesuit architecture. Pre-Inca ruins hide near the
small town of Samaipata; revolutionaries make a pilgrimage to where Che Guevara met his
maker on the Che Trail around Vallegrande; and there are miles of trekking and tons of
wildlife at the little-disturbed Parque Nacional Amboró. If you want a look into a part of
Bolivia that defies the stereotype, this is the place to be.
