Walking Through Central
Bolivia
Santa Cruz de la
Sierra and the Samaipata area
By: Giovanni Guidetti
By
simply looking out the window of my plane, I knew I was going to be breathing
clean tropical air a big anticipation for someone used to living in smoggy Los Angeles. On previous flights to other destinations I had grown
accustomed to seeing concrete jungles and skyscrapers as the signs of
intelligent life before I landed. But now, everything I could see around me for
kilometers was green; it didn’t even look like anyone lived amongst all the
trees and mountains and valleys of vegetation.
I
walked out of the airport terminal to find many friendly yet unfamiliar faces
curiously looking in my direction; something that felt odd yet inviting to me
at that time. It wasn’t the kind of look that made me feel probed or
psychoanalyzed, or like I was the foreigner with a selfish agenda. It was more
like the curious look an infant gives while looking back over the shoulder of a
parent who is carrying them.
I
soon learned that, unlike the culture I have grown accustomed to, people here
really seem to want to know more about you as the individual and not so much
the country you come from. There’s no fake “kiss ass” attitude that you would
expect from tourist vendors. Although they may be timid at first, it’s easy get
a local to chat for hours about life’s small and unimportant events in a laid
back, unflattering manner. Work and education would pop up now and again, but
would easily seem too petty and boring for the shorter conversations. If you
tend to be more of the quiet and antisocial type, prepare to be torn out of
your comfort zone here!
Driving
to my lodging I noticed the lack of structure and law the streets possessed. At
first I feared for my safety as my taxi driver weaved his patched-up 1984 Toyota wagon in and out of traffic, crossing paths with
pedestrians and occasional livestock. What was interesting to learn was that Bolivia has fewer traffic accidents per capita than the United States. I understood the feasibility behind this statistic when I
saw how aware and broad-visioned all the drivers where. An obstacle, even from
the corner of the eye, was observed and calculated into the “dance” of this
seemingly chaotic activity. Stop signs or traffic lights were not necessary
with the awareness these drivers possessed. Gracious hand gestures quickly auto
governed intersections where more than one car met. Unlike drivers I’ve seen in
the States, these were definitely not in their own little egocentric world.
Time
to eat, which reminds me of the lack of fast food restaurants I noticed on the
roadway. The food in Santa
Cruz is
organic and natural to the palette. Something that was confirmed when I noticed
my overall sense of intestinal wellbeing elevate and my skin soften and clear
up of some blemishes. Portions were large enough to keep your metabolism
running yet small enough to keep you from feeling like seasoned livestock. It’s
this gastronomical balance that I’m sure contributes to the healthy lives many
people enjoy there. Freshly squeezed milk and juices, homegrown corn, beef,
fruits and vegetables are some of the many foods that are self-prepared and
consumed on a regular basis.
As
the days passed in blissful rest from the meticulous droning of cell phones, keyboard
typing, city traffic, and television, I found myself less tense and more aware
of my surrounding beauty. This inspired me to go on a journey deeper into the
core or the spirit of my newly found source of consciousness and liveliness, of
man’s natural environment—Samaipata.
Samaipata is a beautiful little town about
4 hours SW of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
It is surrounded by lush green
forests and waterfalls that really make it a paradise to anyone who visits. I
strongly recommend traveling through this small yet evolving town that is sure
to turn into a tourist hot spot within the next 5-10 years as much construction
and city planning is under way to help the town’s reputation grown to attract
local cities to come and visit.
My own father has seen the value in
this part of the country enough for him to develop his own resort called “El
Pueblito Hotel and Resort”.
If you ever want a beautiful and
quiet get away that will take you back a thousand years when life was about
nature, simplicity and mankind’s relation to it all, take the time to change
your life by visiting this remote region of Bolivia. I can’t tell you in words how you may interpret this area
but all I can say is that the people, food, environment and experience are guaranteed
to relax and remind you what life is really about.