Santa Cruz - Our first glimpse of Bolivia

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Part 1 - The Bus Journey

Our bus from Ascuncion to Santa Cruz cost 400Bs for a 22 hour trek through the Chaco (huge wasteland once fought over by Bolivia and Paraguay) It was a bumpy ride!!! This country is in need of some tarmac, large sections of the road were completely un-surfaced and just consisted of dirt tracks, not ideal for a huge coach. At one point the driver had to stop to make some running repairs, he fixed something under the front with a bit of rope. Bus didn´t feel too shabby when we got on, but it was dark. On closer inspection in the morning it was in serious need of a good clean (It was filthy - KP)!! Several stops throughout the night for various army checks. It was a LONG journey but it was well worth it, the Chaco was like a giant nature reserve and it was a real tweeters paradise. (¿Where´s Bill?)

Part 2 - Santa Cruz - A Gem

How small are the people here??? Value for money wise, things have improved considerably, found a clean, lovely(ish) hotel for 120Bs a night right next to the bus station. We ended up staying for 4 nights and managed to squeeze lots in including;

The Claptons Bar - ace little dark and dingy music venue where we watched a Colombian band until the wee hours, just us two.

The Lagoon & Market - the place to take a stroll on Sundays and get a hair cut for 150Bs

El Catedral - we were in Santa Cruz for Palm Sunday and they really go for it here. Felt privileged to be part of it and were lucky enough to catch a choir and orchestra recital in El Catedral on Sunday night.

Zoological gardens - 10Bs entrance and we got to see a Toucan (huge - that was a surprise), a sloth (lazy beyond and with a cool old mans face), flamingoes, parrots, mackaws, condors (huge, shame to see them in a confined space), lots of big cats, anteaters, armadillos, monkeys, llamas, turtles, caimen, etc etc.. Beautiful surroundings and los animales seemed happy and well kept.

Over to Mr P now for part 3 of our South American Football tour!

After failing to get tickets to watch Ronaldinho get kicked all over the park in Ascuncion, our next game was in Santa Cruz.

Oriente Petrolero 1 The Strongest 1

Okay, all in all not too much different from the footy experience over in Argentina but a couple of notable differences.

1 - The fireworks! Set off by the fans not any organised ones. Proper fireworks though, the type you´d get at Athey Colls on bonfire night, and loads of flares as well. Couldn´t see anything when the teams came out, mad as a kipper!

2 - They do like to chuck things on the pitch here, bottles, all sorts of stuff. Especially if the fans aren´t best pleased.

3 - Quality of football, much worse, but at 20Bs a ticket what can you expect?

All said and done, Santa Cruz has been ace, definitely somewhere we could spend more time, but alas we move onto Cochabamba.

Hasta Luego Santa Cruz

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Comments

[Ian Jackson]

Love the little music club
The leeds - Reading T Shirt on eh Nick ,you sure seeing the sights guys