Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
Cristo Redentor statue in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
Santa Cruz de la Sierra is a city located in the Eastern Bolivian lowlands. The area is rich with natural resources of oil, gas and mineral deposits. The local population, a combination of Bolivian people and indigenous produce products of agriculture such as soya beans. They also have large productions of beef cattle.
The Department of Justice building in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
Traveling to Santa Cruz de la Sierra is not a popular destination for tourists as the city is not connected well to other tourist destinations but stands by itself. The city has a lot of history and cultures from previous times where the richest people from Bolivia were living there. Today, there are many entrepreneurs pushing to develop the city to bring it to a place as in previous times. The mix of populations of Bolivian indigenous and Bolivians known as “mestizos” reside in that area.
Casa de Gobierno building in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
We were able to tour the city and to enjoy the culture while visiting the judicial building in the city, the Cathedral Basilica of St. Lawrence, church, the Casa de Gobierno, governmental building, and the local artisanal market. In the artisanal local market, we enjoyed purchasing hand-crafts of indigenous people at a very low price.
Artisanal indigenous store in the center of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
From the local artisanal market, we went to the Cristo Redentor statue. The Cristo Redentor is located in the middle of the city.
Cristo Redentor statue in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
I prefer visiting Santa Cruz for its history and culture. We did not meet tourists in that area but we were able to co-mingle with the locals indigenous. The indigenous in this area are coming from ancient tribes that become part of the racially mixed population of the modern Santa Cruz, Beni, Pando and Tarija.
Bus terminal mix of local Bolivians and Mennonites in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
A special note in visiting Santa Cruz are the traditional group of Mennonites in Bolivia. The Mennonites that are located in Santa Cruz are mostly Russian Mennonites of Frisian, Flemish and Prussian descent.They are dressed very simply with the traditional clothing, both for men and women. Their presence is very noticeable in that area. When traveling outside of the city by bus, you can witness a group of Mennonites traveling together as they have settlements outside of the city. The Bolivian government granted a privilege to future Mennonite immigrants.
A group of local Bolivians in front of the municipality of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
At the time of our visit, it was very difficult to get to Santa Cruz due to roadblocks of protests around the city and in the city. The roads leading to Santa Cruz from La Paz were closed. Therefore, it is advised to do research and to read about the conditions of the roads before planning to arrive in Santa Cruz by land.
Department of Justice building in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
