Bolivia: the amazing Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Hello travellers! I hope that you are all well. Today I will continue telling you about my incredible trip to Bolivia. As I have mentioned before, in my first posts, I was passing through the cities Copacabana, La Paz, Uyuni, Potosí and Sucre and now my net destination is the city Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

The time on the bus and my report:

After being in Sucre, I took a bus to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and the journey would last around 9 hours on the motorway. I had always been curious to get to know Santa Cruz de la Sierra not only because it had been suggested to me but also because it is considered the economic centre of Bolivia. On the other hand, after being among mountains and high plateau landscapes in the previous Bolivian cities I had explored, Santa Cruz de la Sierra presented me with a plain and flat view, which is very similar to my hometown while also being unique, with its original touch.

The climate in Santa Cruz de la Sierra is not a high altitude climate!

Something that got my attention in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, is that the name makes it seem like there is a high altitude climate. However, it is completely the opposite, there is a tropical climate. I went there in January which is when when the sun is strongest in the year, reaching 30 degrees centigrade, but I will tell you that the rain surprised me but I loved it.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra is located in the oriental area of Bolivia and it is currently the most populated city. I will mention later about how I had to take the bus here, for the first time in any other place in Bolivia since I did almost everything on foot.

When I arrived in Santa Cruz, it was morning and I had the same strategy as always, where I go to the main square and start to look for accommodation from there. This time I found something to stay easily, unlike in Sucre. However, they told me that I had to wait for 2 hours until I could check in since they had to clean the room so I decided to go to the city centre.

Another little detail:

Something that caught my attention in Santa Cruz de la Sierra is that I met a lot of people who spoke with a different accent from the Spanish and the rest of the Bolivians that I had met in previous cities. For example, here for the word "you" they use the word “vos” instead “tú” or “usted” which are more commonly used. It was not only that but there were also a lot of people with lighter skin and hair as well. Also, you will find Guarani influences in this part of Bolivia.

Since I had to wait for 2 hours and pass through the main square, I found some men who were painting part of the city white. This really reminded me of Sucre because the city is mainly white. Anyway, the architecture here, its climate and the people give it the special touch in making it unique. You can also appreciate the cities flags there:

My intention to get to known the local people by Couchsurfing!

Up until now in my journey, I had been in contact with people in the markets and on the tours and I wanted the opportunity to get to know some other local people so that they could give me their view of the city and I could learn from them. This is the best thing you can do when you are travelling alone as it allows you to see the city through the eyes of its inhabitants and have a better perspective.

So I decided to go into an internet cafe and write to the Santa Cruz Couchsurfing community. I thought that with this being one of the biggest cities in Bolivia, this group would be very popular. Which is why I posted an advertisement into the Santa Cruz Couchsurfing community to see if someone was available to meet up when I arrived and take a walk around the city in the beautiful sunshine.

For those of you who don't know what Couchsurfing is: it is a community that takes place all over the world in different cities, where you can host or be hosted by locals of the city, for free. Also, if you don't have the space in your house, then you can show visitors around the city or meet up for the activities that each community does in their city.

In my experience of Couchsurfing, I have had a number of good experiences hosting in my city, Lima. I have hosted around 100 travellers as well as giving them tours of the city in my free time. Being a tour guide is my passion and showing people my city is something that gives me a great deal of satisfaction since i have learned so much about the history of Lima. I was once hosted on a trip to Santiago de Chile but on this trip to Bolivia I didn't send any applications to find somewhere to stay. However, I wanted to know what someone from Santa Cruz thought and a lady called Judith saw my post and that I had 40 positive reviews from my lodgers (she told me this later). She told me that if I wanted to, I could go across the city with her after she finished work which was in the centre and gave me her mobile number which I wrote down in my planner to call her later.

I called Judith's mobile phone from the internet cafe on one of the many public phones that they have in the city and then we met in the evening at the square, plaza de la ciudad.

The search for accommodation!

After I called Judith, I decided to go back to the place that told me I had to wait for two hours before check in. I had already walked around the city for a little longer than I had rented the booth in the internet cafe and before I knew it two and a half hours had passed. When I went back they told me that unfortunately the room they were going to give me had been taken by someone else. At that moment I had no choice but to start looking for another place to stay and keep walking around the city. Fortunately, I was only carrying my travel bag and the weather was warm with the sun shining. Also, it was as easy to walk around here as it is in my city since Santa Cruz de la Sierra is less that 500 meters above sea level and I was walking around mostly flat streets. Anyway, my lungs in almost a week and a half in Bolivia had become almost resistant!

The little grandma accommodation:

After walking around the square again for about six blocks, I found accommodation which was quite basic. It was like an old courtyard with rooms around it and a little fruit tree at the side. The bathrooms were outside the bedrooms and the people who run it were a very welcoming, old couple. I saw a kid who told me that they closed the door to the place at 23:00 at the latest so if I went to a party and got back late, they wouldn't open the door if it knocked. How strict! Haha But it doesn't matter, the room was quite cheap and I didn't have any problems there and I didn't plan to go to a party or anything like that, I just wanted to go out and tour the city and I told the little grandma that. "You've got yourself a deal!"

Then since I had arranged to meet Judith from Couchsurfing in the afternoon, I decided to rest for at least half an hour in the living room which had no TV, but now that I think about it, I never saw any TV or Bolivian program in my trip. In my trip I almost always stopped on the street, to try to get to know the city I was visiting, and what I did a lot was read the newspapers or at least the first page. I didn't buy them, I just read them there and that is when I realised that Bolivia had made considerable economic progress in the last few years. This was proven by looking at the modernity of Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

After resting for a while in my room, the grandma who owns the place told me that if I wanted, I could take some of the fruits that had fallen from the tree. The truth is that I would really like to recommend, this accommodation but I do not have photos or remember the name of it but I do remember it being six of seven blocks to the right, from the church in the square "plaza de la ciudad". There I took the time to wash my clothes and use the clothesline and to take a quick bath since the heat was making me need to cool down.

I decided to prepare myself to go and meet up with Judith and as I mentioned, we agreed to meet at the main square in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. She took about 20 minutes to get there but that was no problem for me as I had all the time in the world! As well as wanting to meet more people since I hadn't met anyone from Couchsurfing on this trip, I felt like this was an opportunity to have a good experience.

When Judith arrived, she apologised for being late but I told her not to worry because in Peru it's normal and I'm on holiday and I also understood that she was working and there can always be some setbacks. After telling her about my adventures in Bolivia she told me that the countryside very close by car and that's where we went.

"Las cabañas del rio Pirai":

That day we went very close to What is known as "Las cabañas del rio Pirai" (Pirai river huts). When we arrived there we met a boy who offered to ride his horse and since I don't normally get to ride horses, I dared myself to do it. So I started my ride on the white horse but honestly I didn't know how to control it so well so the boy got on with me so that I could get comfortable with the horse.

From there we went to the centre of the Pirai River. The river was accessible and there was a boy playing in the water just as Judith told me so I could take a picture to remember it, here it is:

The taste of Gods: The Bolivian sonso

Being in these huts and seeing the river was an enriching experience for me, and not only because of the horse and the river. After that we sat down at one of the tables and I told Judith that I was quite curious to know more about the food here so when the lady came to take our order, Judith asked for the most delicious dish or rather dessert that I have ever had in my life. It is called “El sonso” and it is baked with cheese and yucca. I really recommend that you try it because it is so good. I ate another dish with Judith that was like a yucca pie. Recently my friend from Bolivia who lives here in Italy invited me over to have sonso, which she had made herself and again, I melted at this typical Bolivian snack. I assure you that you have to try it on your trip to Santa Cruz de la Sierra. You won't regret it!

In the same place where we were, there were also some men who were a little bit drunk and who were drinking their bottle of beer and some others drink soft drinks at the same table. Honestly, I was a little embarrassed to take a picture in case they were bothered by it but one of the men started to sing and Judith took my camera and took a picture of them and then went to show it to the men. It is a little blurry because it is only a semi-professional camera so you are not supposed to move while taking a picture but apparently Judith did hehehe.

After talking a lot with Judith, finally before leaving this wonderful place and having eaten things like sonso, I took the last picture with a monument of a man near there. There was also one of a woman but that picture has been deleted from my computer, here it is:

Eating lizard tail!

In fact, dear readers, I liked Judith a lot, and I was very grateful to her for taking me to this wonderful place in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Judith told me that we could go to visit her parents' house which was nearby so we took the bus to go there. The house only had one floor as it was also a small shop from which they sold things to their neighbours. Judith's mum had cooked a dish that I will never forget in my life, guess what I ate!? Would you eat a lizards tail? Well, I will tell you that Judith's mum offered me none other than fried lizards tail! I really didn't believe it myself because I never would have imagined tasting that dish. Do you want to see a proof? Here is a photo:

As you can see in the picture I was served it on a plate as if it was pork crackling. I think that it tasted like chicken with lemon, suddenly it was because of the seasoning they put on the meat when cooking it. I think that when you go on a trip you should always experience new things and food is also part of it so I couldn't say no to eating homemade lizard tail.

A tropical fruit:

After having eaten the lizard tail, I thought that I had tried everything but this was not the case since Judith's mum gave me a fruit that you can only get here. They lovingly call it, "fruta de mano" (hand fruit). Here is a picture of it

I was amazed to have eaten this fruit, if you know why it is called that! Because I have only tried it once and it was delicious, sweet and it is called the hand because the fruit looks like it has fingers. Without a doubt, trying this kind of fruit left me quite surprised and it is one of the things I remember most from my trip to Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Dear readers, there, with Judith and her family I talked a lot about my trip to Bolivia and they were very happy to have a visitor in their home and to come to their city on a trip. There is nothing like getting to know the locals and experiencing things that are enriching.

After some there, Judith's daughter arrived. She was almost nine years old and Judith told me that she was attracted to my country and that she would like to visit Lima one day. I am only telling you this because you may have noticed that I am a fan of my countries popular brand. I brought a new polo shirt with me with the Peruvian brand printed on it so that I could give it to someone as a souvenir from my country if I met someone that I really liked and wanted to give it to.

Finishing full of joy!

Just after this experience, it was night time and after saying goodbye to Judith's family we went to her house with her daughter by bus. On the way, it started to rain heavily and at that time I didn't know the jungle side of Peru yet, for me it was as if I was in the jungle, a perfect rain, something that any person from Lima would appreciate in the middle of the heat. As I have told you more than once before, it never rains in my city and especially not as strong as I felt it here in Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

I don't mind getting wet at all, walking with Judith and her daughter to their house and sharing bread and coffee after that was part of my best experience in this beautiful city.

After being with her, Judith recommended that the next day, I should visit a town called Buena Vista and that is where I decided to go, but later my planes changes. After staying at Judith's house until about 22:00 and I remembered that the grandma from my accommodation didn't want me to be out late so I had no choice but to go back there and so I ran for 15minutes in the rain without an umbrella before I reached the place.

When I got back, the grandma was just about to close the doors and luckily I could go in. I went into my room and I could still hear the rain so, I went out into the courtyard again at midnight and I stayed there in my boxers getting soaked like a child where I felt that no one crazier than me would ever think of doing this. I love the rain! In my beloved Lima, it doesn't rain so much :)

And so dear friends, my first day in Santa Cruz de la Sierra ended. I arranged to see Judith the next day to have breakfast at her house with her and her daughter. I have never met such good people on my travels as Judith's family and all thanks to getting in contact on Couchsurfing. I strongly advise you to try Couchsurfing soon, on any of your trips, because you will realise that it is an enriching experience and you don't necessarily need to be put up, like in my case, meeting Judith and going for food at her home.

I hope that you have enjoyed this first part of my adventure to Bolivia. Tomorrow I will continue to share my experience in this part of Bolivia because there is much more to say. Thanks for reading! See you soon, travellers.

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