Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
with shared bathrooms and camping facilities; breakfast included. There's a restaurant, and
staff can
orga
nize hikes,
mount
ain biking and r
apelli
ng. Advance bookings are essential.
Doubles
Bs160
; bungalows
Bs480
; camping/person
Bs40
EATING
Torotoro
doesn't have any real restaurants other than the one at Villa Etelvina, but some
villagers prepare simple, inexpensive meals if you order a few hours in advance - just ask
around to find out who's cooking. Otherwise, there are a few basic shops where you can buy
simple provisions, though it's worth bringing some supplies with you from Cochabamba to
supplement this rather meagre fare, particularly if you're planning a longer stay.
The Chapare
Northeast of Cochabamba, the main road to Santa Cruz crosses the last ridge of the Andes
and drops down into the
CHAPARE
, a broad, rainforest-covered plain in the Upper Amazon
Basin that has been heavily settled by peasant migrants from the highlands, who over the last
few decades have turned the region into the main source in Bolivia of coca grown to manu-
facture
cocaine
.Forthetraveller,theongoingconflictbetweencocaineproducersandBolivi-
an government troops means that despite its great natural beauty the Chapare is not the place
forexpeditionsfaroffthebeatentrack.Foralltheregion'stroubles,however,thetownsalong
themainCochabambatoSantaCruzroadarepeacefulandsafetovisit,thoughmostarefairly
unattractive. The exception is
Villa Tunari
, a one-time narco-traffickers' playground that is
now at the centre of efforts to promote the Chapare as a tourist destination. The rainforests of
the
Parque Nacional Carrasco
are within easy reach, and the town enjoys a beautiful setting
and is a good place to relax. Otherwise, the main point of stopping in the Chapare is to make
the exciting river trip from
Puerto Villarroel
, the region's main port, north to Trinidad in the
Beni.
Villa Tunari
About 160km from Cochabamba,
VILLA TUNARI
is the biggest settlement in the Chapare
and the centre of efforts to develop the region as a tourist destination. Set beside a broad
sweep of the Río San Mateo, with the last forested foothills of the Andes rising behind,
Villa Tunari is picturesque, and at an altitude of just 300m enjoys a warm, tropical climate.
Its chances of becoming a successful resort or an ecotourism destination like Rurrenabaque,
however, are limited so long as the current instability continues, and independent travel off
the beaten track in the surrounding area remains inadvisable. This is a shame, as from
Puerto
San Francisco
, an hour's drive north of Villa Tunari, you could rent a motorized canoe and
boatmantotakeyoudowntheríosChipiririandIsiborointotherainforestsofthe
Parque Na-
cional Isiboro-Sécure
;
though the Cochabamba-based tour agency Fremen runs trips along
this route, doing so independently is not advisable at present.
