A Day in the Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Well, we had planned to spend a day in the Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. However, we nearly spent longer getting there than in the Botanical Gardens. Read on to find out why our visit was cut short and what you should do to make sure your visit isn’t as short as ours!

Where are the Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia?

The Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia are located about 20 minutes by car north east-ish of the city centre.

How to get there.

Well, the easiest way, but certainly not the cheapest, would be to get an Uber or taxi. You can also get a bus that goes past the gardens. However, they certainly aren’t frequent, and I wouldn’t fancy standing at the side of the road in the blazing sun waiting on one. We ordered an Uber, which cost about $5 each way. We were a bit concerned about getting back, being a fair bit out of the city centre. Would a driver come for us? However, in the end, that wasn’t an issue.

Why we visited the Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia?

We had been in our AirBnb in the more upmarket area of Santa Cruz. The area was filled with bars, restaurants, and shops, but we wanted to get out and see more of the country. We read some reviews of different places in the area, including how long it would take and the cost of getting to and from them. Taking it all into account, the Botanical Gardens won, and we planned to have a day there. Megan was excited as there was a possible chance to see some wildlife, and I was excited to climb a tower above the treetops.

How was our experience?

Entry

We entered the park, paid our entry fee, were handed a map, and were told the directions to walk in and back out again. It was all very simple, so we took off to enjoy our day in the gardens. Before we started Megan spotted the sign with a monkey symbol on it, her biggest fear, but did we see any?

Raised Path

We walked along a raised wooden path, which allows the grass and plants to grow undamaged as well as allowing tortoises (I learned the difference) to potter around unhindered.

The walk through the mini-forest was lovely. I have no real interest in plants or trees, but I do appreciate the nice atmosphere they give off. Once done in that section of the park, we crossed over a bridge and into another area.

I really appreciated seeing people set up picnics in the large grass area and how well looked after the BBQ area was. In a lot of places in the UK, the BBQ area would have been destroyed.

Lake Area

There was a large lake in the park beside the Cacti area. We went to look at the Cactus which was fun as me and Megan dared each other to touch it. Once done being pricked we headed over to the big lake.

In the distance, I could see a waterfall and something sitting on the banks, which we discovered to be an alligator. Of course we had to walk down to get a closer look—not too close, mind!

The waterfall was pretty cool, but our viewing of it was pretty snappy as Megan didn’t want to hang around.

Forest Walk

Then disaster struck, and we decided to walk through the jungle-style forest, where the trees got thicker and it got darker, with the trails getting muddier. Then the bugs started to bite, and they bit poor Nicola like there was nothing else to bite. Myself and Megan didn’t realise how bad it was as we just thought she was having a gurn, about having to walk through the forest…

Then the walk got worse. The lookout tower which I wanted to see, was closed! I was pretty annoyed about this, but it was then I seen the state of Nicola’s arms and legs, and decided instead of going further we needed to get her out of the tree line.

It was our own fault; we should have brought spray; we had it, but we just hadn’t used it for a very long time, so we didn’t think it was needed. Lesson learned: see, we do this for you all! Once through the tree line we decided to head straight back to the chemist beside our hotel and get Nicola some bite cream and tablets. (The tablets worked a treat and she was back to normal in a couple of days!).

This ended our trip to the Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. After only 2 hours!

Information on Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Opening Hours: Monday-Sunday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m..

Entry Cost: 10 Bolivianos per adult, 5 Bolivianos per child.

What to Bring: Do not forget bug spray; learn from us! Make sure your mobile has a good charge, as there is no place to plug it in. Bring plenty of water and snacks, as there isn’t anywhere to buy them.

If you are ever in Santa Cruz, Bolivia make sure you do spend a day in the Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Just don’t forget the bug spray!

Would we recommend?

Outside of the bug bites we did enjoy ourselves. We did read it as a day out, but I don’t think that is possible, even half a day would probably be too much unless you have a car and bring everything with you. It is a nice place to walk around, but for a traveller going by uber/bus/taxi I would suggest planning to spend no more than 3-4 hours in the gardens.

Thanks for taking the time to read our post about A Day in the Botanical Gardens of Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

The Lewis Family.