Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Residencial Nadia
Just off the north corner of the plaza 03 9322049.
A reasonable budget
choic
e, the family-run Residencial Nadia offers plain, if slightly overpriced digs with fans.
Bs160
EATING AND DRINKING
There are several restaurants and cafés on the
plaza
, though the cheapest place to eat is the
market
, a block back from the plaza; this is also the place to buy food and supplies if you're
heading into the Parque Nacional Amboró. Most restaurants open daily for lunch and dinner,
though some close early on Sundays.
Paraba Azul
Inside the plaza.
This pleasant café has a huge thatched roof and a cheerful par-
rot motif. It's a good spot for a coffee or beer (Bs15) and a light meal or snack.
La Plaza
Overlooking the plaza.
Accomplished restaurant with a surprisingly diverse range
of meat, fish and seafood dishes, pastas and pizzas, including a tasty surf and turf. Prices,
however, are a little steep. Mains Bs50-105.
Daily except Mon.
DIRECTORY
Internet
Try Punto Viva, on the corner of the plaza (Bs4/hr).
Money
There are no banks so bring cash with you.
Parque Nacional Amboró
Forty kilometres west of Santa Cruz,
PARQUE NACIONAL AMBORÓ
spans 4300 square
kilometres of a great forest-covered spur of the Andes. Situated at the confluence of the
Andes, the Amazon rainforest and the Northern Chaco, and ranging in altitude from 3300m
to just 300m above sea level, Amboró's steep, densely forested slopes support an astonishing
biodiversity. Over 830 different types of
bird
have been recorded here - the highest con-
firmed bird count for any protected area in the world - including rarities such as the cock-
of-the-rock, red-fronted and military macaws and the blue-horned curassow or unicorn bird,
which was once thought to have been extinct. There are also jaguars, giant anteaters, tapirs
and several species of
monkey
. Its enormous array of plant and insect species, meanwhile, is
still largely unexplored. This biological wealth is all the more amazing given that Amboró is
so close to Santa Cruz. You must be accompanied by a
guide
(roughly Bs150-200 per day)
- best organized before setting out through a travel agency or hotel in Buena Vista or Sa-
maipata - to enter the park.
Brief history
The national park, established in 1984, was expanded in 1990 to encompass some 6300
square kilometres. However, by this time the park's fringes were already under huge pressure
from poor
peasant farmers
, who began clearing the forest for agriculture, as well as hunting
