Bolivia

Samaipata

This Little town has become one of the most travelled places among tourists and also favored by locals from Santa Cruz for the short distance (2 hours away). The Quechua meaning for the town’s name is “rest in the high land” which sums it up perfectly.

Except chilling, there are many hikes and treks around, you can use the town as your base and rest between treks.

Where to go:

• Parque Amboro’: This national park is much recommended and not much toured because of the structure difficulty. All kinds of animals, butterflies and birds are easy to spot.
  There are two ways to enter this huge park, the first one is from Samaipata village and the second one is from the Buena Vista (good view) village which is also 2 hours away from Santa Cruz. This village is also a great starting point for many treks.
• El Fuerte: Defiantly the main attraction and reason for tourists attending Samaipata.
  This is a pre Inca ruins site estimated to be from 1500BC. There are different opinions whether it was a fort to fight the Spanish conquer or an ancient gold industry center. To get there, either walk the 10kms from Samaipata, or take a taxi and just climb the hill.
• Valle Grande: This village would probably never be known if not for the great revolutionary Che Guevara. This is the place where he was captured, displayed and secretly berried until 1997.
  A few tours, illustrating Che’s last days and battle are offered to anyone interested.

 How to go:

• From Santa Cruz just take a bus or a taxi. Approx 2 hours.
• From Sucre take the bus to Santa Cruz, ask and remind the driver to get off at Samaipata.

Tips:

• On your way to Samaipata you can stop at Bermejo, another small village where you trek, fish and go horse riding.
• If you are a hiking, climbing and trekking person check the trekking and climbing Bolivia guide before going so you can plan the best treks for you.