Bolivia Guide
Santa Cruz and the Eastern Lowlands
Stretching from the last foothills of the Andes east to Brazil and south to Paraguay and Argentina, Bolivia's Eastern Lowlands – the Llanos Orientales – were until fairly recently amongst the least-known and least-developed regions in the country. Spread across a vast and sparsely populated plain, the lowlands' varied ecosystems range from Amazonian rainforest in the north, through broad savannahs and tropical dry forest in the centre, to the immense wetlands of the Pantanal in the far east and the arid scrub and thorn brush of the Chaco to the south. Rich in natural resources, in recent decades the region has undergone astonishingly rapid development, while its economy has grown to become the most important in the country, fuelled by oil and gas, cattle-ranching and massive agricultural development.
At the centre of this unprecedented economic boom is the city of Santa Cruz, 297, the regional capital, which in the space of a few decades has been transformed from an isolated provincial backwater into a booming modern metropolis with a brash commercial attitude and lively tropical outlook utterly distinct from the reserved cities of the Bolivian highlands. Though Santa Cruz has little to offer in terms of conventional tourist attractions, it is a crucial transport hub and the ideal base for exploring the many attractions of the surrounding area, where much of the region's beautiful natural environment survives, despite the ravages of deforestation and development.
Highlights
1 Parque Nacional Amboró The country's most easily accessible rainforest, boasting a spectacular abundance of birdlife, with more species than any other protected area in the world.
2 Samaipata Charming town set in an idyllic valley with excellent hiking nearby, as well as the mysterious pre-Hispanic ceremonial site of El Fuerte.
3 Che Guevara sites Admirers of the iconic Argentine revolutionary can visit the site of his grave in Vallegrande. More Che history exists in neary La Higuera.
4 The Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos Scattered across the sparsely populated forest region east of Santa Cruz, the immaculately restored mission churches of Chiquitos are a reminder of one of the more unusual episodes in Bolivia's colonial history.
5 Parque Nacional Noel Kempff Mercado Bolivia's most remote and spectacular national park, with abundant wildlife, pristine Amazonian rainforest and magnificent waterfalls tumbling down from the plateau that inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.