Have a few days to catch up on. Well....last Thursday was a rest day, the morning it rained, this relieved the temperature some. We went to a very large market to purchase some vegetables etc. You can get anything there, they even had a whole section dedicated to tailors (you can get a suit hand made). Mariela exchanged some US $ to Bolivinos (about $7.00 Bobs to a US$). While at the market we were shown the old family home (over the road from the market), the family still own the building but now rent it to a Bank (they pay rental in US$). The reason the family moved out to the outskirts was noise and crime. They now live in the 9th circle. Santa Cruz is laid out in circles, with the first being a ring road around the old part of the city. As the city expanded the town planners appear to have laid the city out in circles, with ring roads around the suburbs, The current 9th has a whole lot of new subdivisions. Marilea and her family own one of these.
The traffic is something you have to see and experience to appreciate the chaos that reigns. I would be reduced to a nervous wreck in a matter of minutes. Approx 90% of the people drive second hand imported cars (mainly from Japan, which they convert to left hand drive locally, and the USA). The predominant brand is Toyota. They also use CNG and petrol as fuel).
Thursday was a rest day, which is just what we needed.
Friday.. we left Santa Cruz and headed up country to the towns that have the Jesuit missions (they are about 250km's away. The road was paved, two lane, but full of potholes, some so big you would break and axle if you hit it at speed. The first village we stopped at was San Ramon, the church was small but had the characteristics of Jesuits (these missions were established in the early 1700's, later on the Jesuits were expelled by the Spanish. The second village was San Javier, this was a church and convent. Currently it is being repaired. Got to look inside, the wood beams etc was amazing, the church was very big (and cool inside). We then travelled on (by now we were in hill country- with large farms (Hacienda's) grazing Brahma cattle and water buffalo. We stopped and bought buffalo cheese then continued onto the town of Concepcion. Mariela had booked us into a lovely traditional hotel called Oasis Chiquitano (cost $180 Bob's per night). We got an en suite with hot water and air conditioner. In the evening we visited the church. This was amazing. The church was established by Father Martin Schmidt between 1753 and 1756. This Jesuit introduced Barroc music. This still played today. They also make violins, harps etc all based on what was introduced by Schmidt (he also wrote music, which is still performed on special occasions).
On Saturday after breakfast we toured the museums which included where they build /repair the wooden statutes etc. We also visited the house where Hugo Banzer (a popular army dictator) was born. It also had a museum dedicated to Hans Roth (Swiss) who spent 40 years designing and building Church's for the indigenous Indians around the district which is called Chiquitanos.
After lunch we visited a lake (created by a dam). We then returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the day swimming in the Hotel pool. The woman who owns the hotel is a life long friend of Mariela's parents. So in the evening we shared a meal.
Sunday, had saltenas for breakfast, then returned to Santa Cruz (5 hours drive).
Getting to the mission district we had to drive across a very large plain. It seemed very productive. Saw large fields of sunflowers, soy and maize. The sunflowers and maize is converted into oil to be sold overseas. Saw some sheep, and lots of cattle. Santa Cruz and the surrounding hinterland appears to be the economic heart of Bolivia.
Every little village we passed through was holding market day, they were very busy, and you could buy any type of fruit (tropical) and vegetables you want. The only group missing were the Mennonites. Being Sunday they were at church.
There are a number of Mennonite communities around Santa Cruz (they stand out by the European look and by driving horse and carts, plus the way they dress. Apparently they came from Germany. Talking about Germany, one of three villages we visited was the home to Hitlers personal photographer (he is now dead, but thought highly of still).
We arrived back around 2.30 pm. Angela (Mariela's sister) had organised lunch (another big one) which included Duck, green banana (which is cooked in its skin), fried manioc and roast potatoes.
With that big lunch we retreated to have a little siesta.
I has been a great weekend, got to see some amazing sights including Tors (called Las Petra's - the stones). The soil was very red and apparently gets redder as you get closer to the Amazon.
Now we have only tomorrow before we fly to Iquique in Chile.
The traffic is something you have to see and experience to appreciate the chaos that reigns. I would be reduced to a nervous wreck in a matter of minutes. Approx 90% of the people drive second hand imported cars (mainly from Japan, which they convert to left hand drive locally, and the USA). The predominant brand is Toyota. They also use CNG and petrol as fuel).
Thursday was a rest day, which is just what we needed.
Friday.. we left Santa Cruz and headed up country to the towns that have the Jesuit missions (they are about 250km's away. The road was paved, two lane, but full of potholes, some so big you would break and axle if you hit it at speed. The first village we stopped at was San Ramon, the church was small but had the characteristics of Jesuits (these missions were established in the early 1700's, later on the Jesuits were expelled by the Spanish. The second village was San Javier, this was a church and convent. Currently it is being repaired. Got to look inside, the wood beams etc was amazing, the church was very big (and cool inside). We then travelled on (by now we were in hill country- with large farms (Hacienda's) grazing Brahma cattle and water buffalo. We stopped and bought buffalo cheese then continued onto the town of Concepcion. Mariela had booked us into a lovely traditional hotel called Oasis Chiquitano (cost $180 Bob's per night). We got an en suite with hot water and air conditioner. In the evening we visited the church. This was amazing. The church was established by Father Martin Schmidt between 1753 and 1756. This Jesuit introduced Barroc music. This still played today. They also make violins, harps etc all based on what was introduced by Schmidt (he also wrote music, which is still performed on special occasions).
On Saturday after breakfast we toured the museums which included where they build /repair the wooden statutes etc. We also visited the house where Hugo Banzer (a popular army dictator) was born. It also had a museum dedicated to Hans Roth (Swiss) who spent 40 years designing and building Church's for the indigenous Indians around the district which is called Chiquitanos.
After lunch we visited a lake (created by a dam). We then returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the day swimming in the Hotel pool. The woman who owns the hotel is a life long friend of Mariela's parents. So in the evening we shared a meal.
Sunday, had saltenas for breakfast, then returned to Santa Cruz (5 hours drive).
Getting to the mission district we had to drive across a very large plain. It seemed very productive. Saw large fields of sunflowers, soy and maize. The sunflowers and maize is converted into oil to be sold overseas. Saw some sheep, and lots of cattle. Santa Cruz and the surrounding hinterland appears to be the economic heart of Bolivia.
Every little village we passed through was holding market day, they were very busy, and you could buy any type of fruit (tropical) and vegetables you want. The only group missing were the Mennonites. Being Sunday they were at church.
There are a number of Mennonite communities around Santa Cruz (they stand out by the European look and by driving horse and carts, plus the way they dress. Apparently they came from Germany. Talking about Germany, one of three villages we visited was the home to Hitlers personal photographer (he is now dead, but thought highly of still).
We arrived back around 2.30 pm. Angela (Mariela's sister) had organised lunch (another big one) which included Duck, green banana (which is cooked in its skin), fried manioc and roast potatoes.
With that big lunch we retreated to have a little siesta.
I has been a great weekend, got to see some amazing sights including Tors (called Las Petra's - the stones). The soil was very red and apparently gets redder as you get closer to the Amazon.
Now we have only tomorrow before we fly to Iquique in Chile.
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