Bolivia Feb-March 2024 - General Observations and First Stop in Santa Cruz and Samaipata.

After our extensive visit to Argentina, we flew from Buenos Aires to Santa Cruz de La Sierra, Bolivia in early-February 2024.

First, some of our general observations about Bolivia and the experience during our six week visit.

The Name and Facts. The complete name of the country is Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia. It has a population of over 12 million with an area of over 400,000 sq mi., the fifth largest country in South America. It borders Perú, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile. It is one of only two land-locked countries in South America. Do you know the other one? With some unexpected plan changes we were only able to visit Santa Cruz (and neighboring Samaipata), La Paz, Copacabana on Lake Titicaca and Cochabamba. Our original plans included visits to Sucre, Potosí, Uyuni and the famous Uyuni Salt Flats. Hopefully, we can return to hit all of those spots. The Andes range rolls from north to south through the western half of the country. Though the peaks are not always evident, even the Uyuni Salt Flats are at a very high altitude - around 12,000' (3,600 meters).

Our Expectations. As with Mexico, our preconceived notions about Bolivia could not have been farther off base. We expected to encounter a very poor and perhaps backward country with correspondingly unhappy and shy people. Certainly, there is poverty but cities like Santa Cruz and Cochabamba, overall, looked much like any other city in South America.

The People. We cannot say enough about the people we saw, met and interacted with in the country. Almost universally, we found them to be friendly, engaging, cheerful, helpful and open. People did not appear outwardly stressed, troubled or unhappy, unlike their neighbors in Argentina. Santa Cruz and Cochabamba are very modern with upscale shopping malls skyscrapers and active construction. La Paz did have a significant number of indigenous who dressed in their traditional clothing styles but the residents of other cities dressed in modern fashion. One other interesting point about behavior. Throughout our visit we saw very few people smoking. We were out and about plenty but most days we saw no more than 2-3 smokers. The most we ever saw was a total of six. This was exactly the opposite of Argentina and much less than all of the other countries we visited like Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay. We never found out exactly why this was the case. The best answer we got was that it simply was not a part of the culture.

Infrastructure. At least in the areas we visited, the highways and city streets were in very good condition. Internet was also pervasive throughout our visit. We never ran into any problems with cellular reception between cities unlike Argentina where it was difficult to find a cell signal more than 20 minutes outside of any city.

The Food. In just a few words, the food was outstanding with plenty of flavor and fire. It was right up there with Mexico.

The Coffee. We did not recall that Bolivia is a significant coffee producer, although it appears that much of the best beans remain in the country. We visited some great "cafeterías" and enjoyed the local coffee.

A "cortadito" - an expresso with a splash of foam.

Entry Requirements for U.S. Citizens. This deserves some detailed explanation. Almost every piece of information we read on internet blogs was incorrect in some manner. The fact is that it is very cumbersome for U.S. citizens to enter Bolivia. The requirements are much more strict than those that apply to citizens from other countries. For example, Isabel received a 90 day visa stamp on entry by simply showing her passport and responding that she had an exit ticket. Based on what I had read for U.S. visas, I amassed pages and pages of documents. These included photo copies of my passport, two additional passport-sized photos, a complete itinerary with addresses (including photos of the outside of the first location we were staying), a copy of a departure ticket, three months worth of bank statements, completion of the SIGEMIG form which can be done online and, finally, evidence of vaccination against yellow fever. Mind you, much of this incorrect information comes from the website of the U.S. Embassy in Bolivia. Because I envisioned getting turned back at the airport, we decided to visit the Bolivian embassy in Buenos Aires. From there we were sent to the Bolivian consulate office. After getting more offhanded, incorrect advice, Isabel cornered one employee who directed us into a separate office. There, one of the workers assured us that we only needed to go to immigration at our entry airport and pay the fee. On arrival at the Santa Cruz de La Sierra airport, we did exactly that. The immigration officer asked for my passport, a copy of the departing flight reservation, if I had completed the SIGEMIG form and then told me to fork over the $160 visa fee and, for the moment, that was it. It took maybe 15 minutes before I got my Bolivian visa which takes up a full page in my passport. The officer told us that while the visa was good for ten years, I could only stay for a maximum of 90 days with one more catch. I could only get a valid stamp for 30 days at a time. This meant that we had to find an immigration office in La Paz to get a stamp for a second 30 days and yet another immigration office on our second stay in Santa Cruz to get a stamp for the final 30 days. I suppose in the end it was worth it, but a process unlike that of any other country we have visited in the western hemisphere.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Our first and last stops in the country were in this city that sits roughly in the center of the country to the east of the Andes. It is the largest city in the country with a population of around 1.8 million. It also, by far, has the lowest altitude of any city in Bolivia - 1,300' (400 meters).

We enjoyed our two stays in Santa Cruz. We rented two different airb&b condos in Equipetrol, a section in the northern part of the city. This area is not that large and can be walked in a bit more than 30 minutes from the south end to the north. It has a number of high-rise office buildings, condominiums, great restaurants, coffee shops and a large mall, Ventura Mall, replete with typical stores that you might find in any modern city.

A map of Equipetrol and a view from the southern end toward the north.

The restaurant, "Los Hierros" (the Brands) had an affinity for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Our best outings included a visit to the large botanical garden and a trip to the small nearby village of Samaipata where we happened to be for "Carnaval". Samaipata is about a 2.5 hour bus ride to the northwest of Santa Cruz. It is much touted but overall we were a little disappointed. Our accommodations were cute enough and the breakfast was great, but the village did not have that much to offer.

The Carnaval parade was slow to start although the partying continued until near dawn.

Isabel, llamas on the property where we stayed and a few other shots from around the town.

We were surprised to find capybaras in the botanical garden at Santa Cruz and in Bolivia for that matter. We had not seen them since our visit to Los Llanos in Colombia.

The artsy shot.

After our first two-week plus stay in Santa Cruz, we moved by bus to La Paz, the highest major city in the western hemisphere.