With Nicole flying out of Peru on May 29, yet both wanting to explore Bolivia in reasonable depth together, we took a quick flight from Buenos Aires into Santa Cruz de la Sierra with a plan to move south east from the centre.
Aware of Bolivia's reputation as the least developed country in South America, I was surprised at Santa Cruz's paved streets filled with horn-honking traffic, yet also at first glance the ethnic and cultural diversity here was much greater. Indeed it felt closer to the stereotypical South America we had come so far to experience.
It seemed apparent that despite over 3 centuries of Spanish colonial rule most Bolivians are of more indigenous descent, and have consciously inherited their long cultural traditions, fashion tastes (or lack-there-of) and religious beliefs tied closely to the land, with much discipline. Further to this my initial research suggested Bolivia would provide plenty of new surprises, from strange high-altitude desert landscapes in the south, dense tropical Amazon only reachable by boat in the north and who knows what in between.
My trusty 10 year old Lonely Planet, although being obviously out of date for pricing, came through in a big way in recommending a backpacker favourite known as 'Residential Bolivar' with 2 pet toucans having full run of the place. Luckily the birds were still there and whilst very photogenic, we soon realised they were far from domesticated; they spent much of their time waddling around territorially snapping their brightly coloured beaks at passers by, including the staff!
Aware of Bolivia's reputation as the least developed country in South America, I was surprised at Santa Cruz's paved streets filled with horn-honking traffic, yet also at first glance the ethnic and cultural diversity here was much greater. Indeed it felt closer to the stereotypical South America we had come so far to experience.
It seemed apparent that despite over 3 centuries of Spanish colonial rule most Bolivians are of more indigenous descent, and have consciously inherited their long cultural traditions, fashion tastes (or lack-there-of) and religious beliefs tied closely to the land, with much discipline. Further to this my initial research suggested Bolivia would provide plenty of new surprises, from strange high-altitude desert landscapes in the south, dense tropical Amazon only reachable by boat in the north and who knows what in between.
My trusty 10 year old Lonely Planet, although being obviously out of date for pricing, came through in a big way in recommending a backpacker favourite known as 'Residential Bolivar' with 2 pet toucans having full run of the place. Luckily the birds were still there and whilst very photogenic, we soon realised they were far from domesticated; they spent much of their time waddling around territorially snapping their brightly coloured beaks at passers by, including the staff!
