by Tara Roxendal
(Uppsala, Sweden)
I spent an amazing 3 months in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I did a project on wastewater management for farm. However, it was a challenging project and I could sometimes feel isolated living out on the farm. At one point I even had to unclog the sewage systems from years of accumulated poo and junk. (Of course, this is to be expected while doing a project on wastewater.) My saving grace was coming into contact with a environmentalist and ecotourism group called Naturaleza Extrema, which does adventure trips and extreme sports in the amazing nature of Santa Cruz. I joined them to some really amazing natural places around Santa Cruz, with waterfalls, canyons, mountains and forest. They would have been difficult to access without expert knowledge of the areas and without proper vehicles. So on the weekends I charged my energies during these trips and then I was able to continue on with the challenging farm investigation during the week.
So for travelers going to eastern Bolivia, some advice is to not get stuck in the city of Santa Cruz, rather get out there in surrounding nature and experience the wonders of this world. Maybe even add an adrenaline rush by doing some extreme sports.