Blogs from Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, South America - page 6

Bolivias biggest region and city (when we don't count El Alto to La Paz) in the tropical area near to the amazon rainforest at the foot of the Cordillera Real mountains. The weather is really hot, often above fourty degrees in the summer (December to February) and with 100% humidity. When I visited the town, the weather was cloudy, the temperature a bit above thirty, but I was sweating always I walked more then few meters ;) The city itself is huge, but it is not amazing, the historical center is small with few nice buildings. It is divided into ten districts (rings) around the center. The more interesting is the possibility to visit nearby jungle (which I had no time for) and some of the Inca ruins which have been added to the Unesco cultural ... read more

Day 27-30-2nd-5th October We’d been told that there is not much to do in Santa Cruz and to be honest, this is true, however we had such an amazing time there. We were a little gutted when we woke up on the first morning, the grey clouds seemed to have followed us from Buenos Aires and we hoped it wouldn’t last. A quick check of the weather on the old internet reassured us that it was due to get better the next day so we spent the first day in Santa Cruz recovering from the bus journey. The Jodanga hostel does BBQ’s every other day and we decided to sign up for it that night. A Bargainous 55Bs (about 5 pounds) for all you can eat meat (I know!), salads, potatoes, yucca and the most important ... read more

Buenos Tardes! Daar zitten we dan, in een internetcafe in Santa Cruz in Bolivia! Na een busreis van 22 uur met 3 magere stopjes voor stempels (inclusief liefdesverklaring aan Danielle door de Paraguayaans douanier) en controle bij enge Boliviaanse militaire mensjes met machine geweren en enge nationalistische teksten kwamen we gisteren enorm gaaaaaar aan in het aangenamere temperatuurtje van Bolivia. Zo'n 20 graden, zon en een warm briesje maken van deze stadje onderaan de Andes een aangename rustplaats voor ons! Gisteravond aan de straat gegeten voor een 1 euro per persoon, vanochtend vers geperste jus voor 30 cent pp. Foto's volgen, want we zijn de kabeltjes vergeten. Wij gaan chillen op het mooie plein in het centrum en de kathedraal bekijken met palmbomen ervoor. We zijn ook een Nederlandse familie tegengekomen, dat zegt wel genoeg over ... read more

On arrival in Santa Cruz the contrast with Sucre was immediately apparent: multi-lane traffic (always more than the road intended), an extremely busy nature and a VERY hot muggy atmosphere! We jumped in the first taxi.. no wing mirrors and a smashed front windscreen... and held on for the white knuckle ride to the hostel. Ambar backpackers hostel was one of the true bargains of our trip, 4 quid for a double room! Soph and I decided to have a quick lie down, and woke up 3 hours later! Despite being adjacent to the Primer Anillo, with horns beeping at least every second. Not a lot to see in Santa Cruz, and with the weather too hot to move, we spent the afternoon chilling in the plaza between pizza for lunch and a trip to the ... read more

So for an hour and a half we have finally negotiated the dodgy USB, holding the wire at a particular angle seems to do the trick. Here are some pictures for u to view from New Zealand to Rio. We made it across the border from Brazil to Bolivia yesterday and spent the night on the death train as it is known. For 15 hrs we shook and bounced north to Santa Cruz. All i can think to describe it was like riding a wooden rollarcoaster. Luckily Carina was sitting next to a very fat, jabba the hut sized man, so instead of being bounced in to the arm rest like Russ, she had a nice soft cusion! But we are alive, the train didnt detrail, get hijacked etc and it was only 30mins late! What ... read more