Our "Santa"dote

We took advantage of free time before Andrew's journalism classes begin and took a four-day trip to the quiet mountain town of Samaipata. About three-hours west of Santa Cruz, It's where Cruzenos go to escape the noise and ugliness of Bolivia's most populous city. Think of the Poconos or the Berkshires or Big Bear. It's also a jumping off point for treks into the largely untouched Amboro National Park. The part of the park that we explored with a biologist and a young Austrian couple was pretty dramatic -- 20-foot high tree ferns that looked like dinosaur food, bright orchids, bee-like hummingbirds.

Since the park extends from the foothills of the Andes to the Amazon basin, there is a diverse array of ecosystems within its 1.6 million acres. The area also was a crossroads for the highland Incas and lowland Amazonian peoples. We visited ruins that archaeologists and anthropologists believe are evidence of an unusual coexistence between the two peoples.

Click on the photos of our trip to enlarge: