Everything you need for the jungle!

Seven kilometers outside of Santa Cruz, the Biocenter Güembé combines aspects of a resort, a natural recreation park, a swimming pool, and a zoo. We visited for half a day and could happily have stayed for much longer, relaxing by the pool or exploring the grounds more thoroughly.

Upon entering the park, which costs 90 Bs ($13) a head, we immediately found ourselves face-to-face with a couple ostriches and a capybara sharing a grazing field. Güembé has a wealth of wildlife to discover, including an island full of monkeys, a turtle sanctuary, toucans and more parrots than you could ever care to see.

After taking a walk through the jungle paths, where Capuchin and Titi monkeys were fighting and frolicking overhead, we found the Butterfly Dome. If you have a crippling fear of butterflies, this might not be the place for you. Don’t snicker; lepidopterophobes actually exist in enough numbers to have an active forum. And as we walked around the dome, with thousands of butterflies flapping about our heads, I began to see the logic of fear. Butterflies are unpredictable in their movements and, if their ugly cricket-like faces are any indication, probably evil. Soon enough, I found myself wanting to scream whenever one brushed the back of my neck. “Butterfly Dome”. It could make a great horror film.

I was starting to panic, so we left the butterflies and entered an incredible aviary close by, filled with lush vegetation and home to innumerable exotic birds, such as toucans, parrots and peacocks, none of whom were shy of humans. There was also a squirrel standing on the railing, eating paint flecks. He was twitching weirdly and approached us in far too confident a manner. As Jürgen started to walk, then run away, the squirrel chased after him. Considering my freakout in the Butterfly Dome, the evidence is mounting that perhaps we’re not the world’s toughest guys after all.

We rewarded our chilling encounters with nature by hopping into some of the many swimming pools in Biocenter Güembé. The water felt great and we were all alone. The park is more than 24 hectares in size, but there were very few guests. Perhaps it fills up on the weekends, but we appreciated the relative solitude.

Güembé is ideal for families with kids, even if lovers of “authentic” nature might be disappointed. We ordered a nice lunch at one of the shaded picnic areas, and discovered that there was even a Wifi signal! Had we known that, we might have booked a night in one of the cabins. If you’ve got an extra day in Santa Cruz and are looking for a relaxing place to spend some time, Güembé is worth a look.

Location on our Bolivia Map
- Hostels and Hotels in Santa Cruz

Great Hostels and Hotels in Santa Cruz

With our three months in Bolivia almost over, we arrived in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the country’s most populous city. The Department of Santa Cruz is Bolivia’s biggest state, occupying almost the entire eastern half of the country. Consider: even though Bolivia is one of South America’s “small” countries, the department of Santa Cruz is bigger than Germany! The idea that three months would be enough time to comprehensively explore Bolivia was probably a little naive.

- Santa Cruz Travel Guide

Santa Cruz lies in Bolivia’s eastern lowlands, with a humid equatorial climate more reminiscent of Brazil than La Paz, and the culture is clearly distinct to the rest of Bolivia. The faces are less indigenous, the people bigger (both in height and width), and the stores more upscale. And the heat. We visited during the middle of winter, and I was sweating in shorts and T-shirts.

Bolivia is a strange conglomeration of diverse ethnicities living in three distinct climate zones, and suffers from the usual problems caused by the sharing of power and land. For most of history, government was controlled by richer Bolivians of European descent, but it was just a matter of time before the indigenous majority took over. And now that they have the power, it’s unlikely they’ll ever relent it. Aside from a coup or some other undemocratic maneuvering, it’s hard to imagine a return to a non-indigenous president.

The more affluent, whiter people of Santa Cruz don’t like it. When Evo Morales was elected, Santa Cruz was forced to acknowledge the future reality of their country, and found themselves presented with a choice. Should their gas-rich state be ruled by “Indians” from the highlands of La Paz? Or should they fight? Perhaps unsurprisingly, they chose to fight. In September of 2008, Santa Cruz tried to secede, almost certainly with the logistical support of the USA, whose distaste of leftist South American presidents apparently trumps their love of democracy. Surprising most observers, the military supported Morales and the coup failed.

But the distrust between Santa Cruz and the rest of the country remains strong. We heard a few things from people in La Paz along the lines of “I’d rather die than marry someone from Santa Cruz”. Ouch! I’ve said the same thing about people from Texas, but it was a joke. Here, I don’t think they’re fooling around!

Although Santa Cruz is a boom town, which has grown massively in the past couple decades, and doesn’t have a lot of historical or touristy sights, we’re excited to get exploring. We’ve already been to the gorgeous cathedral in the main plaza, 24 de Septiembre. And around the city, there’s plenty more to see, including a butterfly resort and a geologically inexplicable field of sand dunes.

Enjoy our first set of pictures, most of which were taken on the flight from La Paz to Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz on our Bolivia Map