SANTA CRUZ, BOLIVIA
Santa Cruz is the largest city in Bolivia, with about 1.6 million people, and also a fast-growing city, so there are a lot of newer neighborhoods (not much old). This is a tropical city at 1500 feet elevation (though it occasionally gets brief very cool periods due to cold fronts that go from south to north through most of South America--in July 2010, they had 2 days in a row with highs in the 40s, and they very infrequently can have lows in the 30s, despite being at 18 deg South Latitude!).

The older center of the city is rather small...here are a few views from that area...









The Basilica Menor de San Lorenzo



Nearby plumeria in bloom...



There was a plane ("Avión Pirata") that in 1961 did an emergency landing near the middle of town. This is now a small park.





Nearby, a place selling both alcohol and coca...



In contrast, there are a lot of newer neighborhoods that look like this...



An upper class neighborhood (with lots of new construction in the area--houses and tall buildings intermingle)...





Neat looking species of Cecropia in Santa Cruz...



Just outside of Santa Cruz is a park called Biocentro Güembé, which has outdoor games, swimming pools and nature trails. There is a small tower above an aviary where you can see Santa Cruz in the distance (to the east)...



To the west, you can see the Andes in the distance...



Wider view...



View to north (most areas around here aren't this forested though)...



There were numerous parrots in the aviary, including this blue one...



Here's a butterfly in the park (in a butterfly enclosure)...probably of the Riodinidea family (possibly the Eurybia genus)



A hiking trail through some forest in the park (though since this area has a substantial dry season, the forest is not as rich as closer to the Andes)...



What appears to be a Mandevilla vine in the park...



And the interestingly-designed swimming pools at Biocentro Güembé







And back in Santa Cruz, some fruit that I'd never eaten before...achachairu (the 2 on the left), ocoro (upper right) and acerola (lower right)...





All of the above pictures on this page were taken in December 2012 by Brandt Maxwell.

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