In Santa Cruz de la Sierra, a tour of towns and villages in the Chiquitanía, cultural center created by the Jesuits in the seventeenth century. Typical dishes and traditions.

Over 200 km northeast of this city and the progress of colonization was crossed with thirteen original nations and developed a strategy that emphasizes creativity, rather than the model that encouraged the submission of blood and fire. The stunning architecture of the temples constructed between 1691 and 1760 was accompanied by music workshops and schools of carved wood, gold and silver.

In San Javier, first stop on the Route of the Jesuits, the steep cobbled streets are moving between houses and fences of reed, to converge on the Stone of the Apostles, a hill piled rocks in the sun too hot. In the center of this natural setting, ten breasts (the older ladies of the indigenous communities) welcome to the Big Party of the Chiquitanía, an event held annually in late August to all the people and it was announced some time before by the beating of tamborita, hanging from the bodies of four elderly scrubby.

The town of San Javier is a modest village of gabled roofs, in the shadow of the monumental work of art crafted by the religious, musician and Swiss architect Martin Schmid in the seventeenth century: the design of the church refers to a chalet Central, full of Baroque ornamentation carved cedar, straps cuchi tile roof (quebracho colorado), mud walls, bronze baptismal font and bell tree trunks supported by momoqui. A colorful jewel, just with different details replicated, 60 km from San Javier.

Forest Chiquitano:

The gable of the Cathedral of Conception draws a giant inverted «V» in front of the Plaza de Concepción. Only four palm slender figures, which indicate the cardinal points and the central cross-seem to defy the opulence of the masterpiece. Suddenly, the quiet atmosphere of the Chiquitanía succumbs to the crazy step of the taxis.

However, there seems to be capable of interrupting motor deep sleep in the hotel Chiquitos. In the best of that sublime moment around 4 am, «two swallows nest decide untimely under the roof. Reed scrape the ceiling without any regard, they earn a series of curses and the rest is shredded until the crowing of a cock up pious orders.

A few minutes later, the Chiquitanía and its people back to lavish hospitality experience. Osvaldo Parada Achával, the owner of the hotel, laughing laughs clean display of birds and invites a delightful walk in the park, the fuchsia dyed some of the 627 varieties of orchid that grows.

On the outskirts of town, the sixty families in the community Guava strive to offer the authentic chiquitano breakfast. Shaken by the pace of Banda Guayabera, women used their bodies in a huge banana leaf. Parade rice cakes, masaco (banana with dried meat), cassava and maize threads, while working cotton cloth weavers in sight and master carver Supayabe Sebastian takes out an angel polish wood.

Sunset on the River Parapeti:

The most representative dishes of the cuisine of Santa Cruz and surroundings are simple in their preparation, but lavish in calories. This soup, like cambas (people of eastern Bolivia) call chicken soup is a specialty widespread in the region. The indigenous flavors also include peanut soup, baked pig, keperí (skin of the stomach of the cow) in the oven, Maja (rice with duck meat and dried beef, egg and fried bananas), cassava (a tuber) and fried potatoes and locoto spicy pepper and tomato. To drink, pineapple, tamarind and achachairú (tropical fruit), SOMO (corn drink) and mocochinchi (dry dehydrated peach soda, sugar molasses, cinnamon and clove).

As for the desserts is a treat one kind of known as Tres leches flan, dulce de leche tablets solid fruit and homemade ice cream. In Santa Cruz, the best places to taste the typical food restaurants are La Casa del Camba and loin and markets The popular Los Pozos and La Ramada. At the sites of a higher grade, the price per person for dinner or lunch between 3 and $ 4.

So we finished our tours Chiquitanía …