Guide to Santa Cruz BOLIVIA

An Independent Travelers Guide

Look beyond the main square to get the most out of Santa Cruz...

About Santa Cruz

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Santa Cruz de La Sierra, more commonly known as Santa Cruz, is both a city and state in eastern Bolivia. The population of the city was 1, 528, 683 inhabitants in 2006 and has grown exceptionally since then. Santa Cruz is a huge city, the 2^nd largest city in Bolivia after La Paz, and I urge travellers to look beyond the “old city” that makes up around 6 by 6 blocks in the centre. Santa Cruz is well organised in a ring system of streets (7 complete rings—make sure you see more than the first!) and has an excellent public transport system (made up of micros, trufis and taxis) to help you get around.

The city lies at an altitude of 416 meters above sea level, so the weather is semi-tropical and usually sunny. Periodically, chilly winds, called "surazos", can blow in from the Argentine pampas however the average annual temperature is around 21C (70F) and very comfortable compared to the rest of the country. The months of greater rainfall (wet season) are January and February and you must be careful travelling in these months.

Santa Cruz de La Sierra was first founded on February 26, 1560 by Ñuflo de Chávez who gave the new settlement its name, which means "Holy Cross of the Hills, " in honour of his beloved native city in Extremadura, Spain. The original settlement was actually 220 km east of its current location, only a few kilometers south of today's San José de Chiquitos but after conflicts with indigenous people the town was moved to its present position on the banks of the Piraí River in 1592. Some remains of the original settlement can be visited in the Santa Cruz la Vieja ("Old Santa Cruz") archaeological site south of San José de Chiquitos (which was founded as a Jesuit mission in 1792).

Santa Cruz is connected by railway to Argentina and Brazil, and connected by a road built in the 1950s to Trinidad, Cochabamba and also has newly constructed paved roads to Camiri-Yacuiba-Argentina and another to Cochabamba. It is the home of Viru Viru International Airport, the largest airport in Bolivia, as well as the El Trompillo Airport, a local airport used for internal flights.

As the city was fairly isolated until the early 20th century, Santa Cruz has much colonial architecture, including a 16th century cathedral and numerous Jesuit missions.

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Trivia

- Santa Cruz is made up of 10 sets of “Rings”

- There are many Japanese-made taxi cabs modified for left hand driving.

- The city was home to the first fase food in Bolivia.  It was located inside  "Hipermaxi" supermarket and served burgers, fries, and other typical fast-food.

- A dialect called Camba Spanish is spoken in this part of the country.