Explore The Amazon
About 100km west of Trinidad lies the singular town of SAN IGNACIO DE MOXOS, the so-called “Spiritual Capital of the Jesuit Missions”, originally founded by the Jesuits in 1689. It’s a poor yet incredibly welcoming place with a unique and unforgettable atmosphere, where horse- or ox-drawn carts are as common as motor vehicles, and where the largely indigenous population retain more of the traditions of the Jesuit era than any other town in the Beni. While there’s not much to do outside fiesta times, it’s enough to simply marinate in San Ignacio’s lost-in-time aura; don’t be surprised if complete strangers stop you in the plaza simply to say “hello”, ask where you’re from and how long you’ll be staying.
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When San Ignacio ignites: The Fiesta Patronal
When San Ignacio ignites: The Fiesta Patronal
For most of the year San Ignacio is a sleepy backwater, except in late July, when the Fiesta Patronal or Ichapekenepiesta rouses the town from its tropical torpor in celebration of its titular patron saint. Considered the greatest folkloric festival in the Bolivian Amazon, it reaches its zenith on the 31st in a riot of noise, colour, dancing and wonderful music, performed on flute, drums, violin and metre-long palm-leaf bajones – a kind of giant tropical equivalent to the highland quena (a type of traditional flute). The most iconic dance, the Machetero, is both a salutation to the sun and a thinly veiled portrayal of the struggles against Spanish rule, hypnotically performed by indigenous Moxeños dressed in brilliant feather headdresses and long cotton robes. The austere-looking achus, by contrast, represent the spirits of the ancestors, their dark suits topped off with carved wooden masks and raw-leather hats. Needless to say it’s all accompanied by copious quantities of alcohol and the familiar whiff of cordite; just don’t expect much sleep.
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School of Baroque
School of Baroque
In a kind of magic-realist reversal of the Manaus opera house bringing highbrow European culture to the Brazilian Amazon, the San Ignacio de Moxos music school on Ayacucho (t03 4822347) is now taking their singular brand of indigenous Baroque from the Bolivian Amazon to Europe. Founded by a Navarrese nun and counting between two and three hundred students, the school has been teaching violin, cello and flute to the town’s youth since the mid-1990s, creating a unique ensemble whose performances have brought acclaim from Buenos Aires to Barcelona. The school also has a concert hall; if you’re in town it’s worth checking to see if there are any upcoming recitals.
