I knew in advance that this trip was going to be an adventure. The east of Bolivia is still little visited by tourists, mainly because the west holds a density of attractions that are also within close reach of those in Peru (Macchu Picchu and Lake Titicaca) and in Chile (San Pedro de Atacama), whilst the east of Bolivia neighbours onto the immense Brasilian Pantanal and the generally less touristy Paraguay and Formosa region of Argentina. Another significant factor is that the tourist infrastructure in this region of Bolivia is infamously poor, meaning for example that the gem of a national park, Noel Kempff, which I had hoped to visit, is struggle-and-a-half to access and so regretfully had to strike it off my itinerary.
So, prepared as far as possible for the intense heat, mosquitos and with the best available information on bus schedules and allowing extra time in case of delays I headed off from the luxury of the ventilated and mosquito-meshed home of Rodrigo and Paola into the sweltering heat of the culturally rich lowlands of Chiquitos. My first stop was Concepcion, a village of beautiful houses with tiled roofs extending down to provide columned arcades at street level, where the intense red soil of the roads and green vegetation dominate the streetscape and not to mention the Mission-immitation murals on the building frontages. To be honest, once you´ve seen one of these mission villages you´ve pretty much seen them all, but I wanted to check the majority just to make sure, since they are all close by, so I visited 5 of these villages. However, getting between these immediately proved very difficult with each village receiving a small quota of seats on the one daily bus from Santa Cruz that serves the whole mission circuit. It was a real fight to get on them!
So, about the Missions: these Missions of Bolivia are actually the true location where the story depicted in “The Mission” with Jeremy Irons and Robert De Niro occurred. I suppose the filmmakers thought that Iguazu Falls would make for a more dramatic setting, and in fact it is close to the Jesuit Missions in Argentina, which also faced a similar fate. The churches are simply breathtaking. They were originally very provisional structures of white coated adobe walls painted with simple murals of local flora and fauna with beautifully crafted timber columns bearing the straw roofing. The interior was lavishly adorned with decorative carpentry and elaborate golden alterpieces. The restored churchs all have tiled timber roofing including a number of structural alterations in suiting with their now permanent status. I´ll save you further details, apart from the following: the majority of the churches were designed between 1721 and 1767 by a Swiss architect, musician and Jesuit by the name of Martin Schmidt. Very recently the churches have been restored by the ex-Jesuit architect Hans Roth. They are now run by Franciscans.
Apart from the beauty of the churches and the struggle to get from A to B, probably the most memorable part of this trip will the be the friendship I struck with a San Rafael couple, Marie and Eduardo, Ibi, Willman and Fernando. I arrived in San Rafael just in time to join the celebrations for this Mission town´s anniversary. I attended mass along with the entirety of the village, I followed the religious-cultural procession around the square and then at lunch met my new friends, with whom I shared a few beers and then a whole lot of dances (cumbia, salsa, folkdancing, etc) at great live music event. What a wonderful surprise that was to a gringa that loves to dance, especially to Latin music! And I think I surprised the locals too with my ability to pick up their dances so quickly! I even danced with the rather inebriated mayor, which caused a great deal of laughs all round! And in the end, Marie, Eduardo and Ibi were begging me to stay on a few more days, which unfortunately my itinerary couldn´t allow for.
On leaving Chiquitos the only regret I had was that I was not able to witness a live concert by one of the Mission orchestras, famed for their musical and vocal talent. However, on my return to Santa Cruz I discovered that one of the Missions were to give a free concert in Santa Cruz, so of course I attended. A video will shortly be uploaded - so watch this space for a new link.
Click
here for the photographs.
DISTANCE TRAVELED SINCE USHUAIA: 23,120KM
