Bolivia Guide
Santa Cruz and the Eastern Lowlands
Buena Vista
Some 100km northwest of Santa Cruz along the main road to Cochabamba lies the picturesque and peaceful little town of BUENA VISTA, the northern gateway to Parque Nacional Amboró. Raised slightly above the plains, and with a somewhat fresher climate, the town is aptly named, enjoying good views to the densely forested mountain slopes of Amboró. Buena Vista is now an emerging ecotourism centre and a popular retreat for weekenders from Santa Cruz, though during the week it remains a sleepy place with a population of just a few thousand.
The town was originally founded in 1694 as a Jesuit mission from which it was hoped to convert the Chiriguanos, the region's Guaraní-speaking indigenous inhabitants who proved the staunchest opponents to Spanish (and later Bolivian) rule in the Eastern Lowlands. Sadly, the eighteenth-century Jesuit church, the Iglesia de los Santos Desposorios – similar in style to those of Chiquitos, but with a central stone bell tower – was demolished in the 1960s and replaced by the unattractive modern brick structure that stands today.