We head north towards Trinidad. This is where the Bolivian Amazon rainforest can be found. There is nothing special to see around Santa Cruz apart from the sloth and we cover a large distance. We finally reach tropical territory and really see a lot of jungle to the left and right of the road. We find a nice place to stay on a small off-road road that leads to a mosquito-infested river and a broken bridge.

I doubt we’ll see anyone, but a motorbike occasionally passes us in the evening and at night. Sometimes with one person, sometimes with two or three people on it. What always remains the same, however, is the surprised expression on people’s faces. Where are people from? The bridge further behind us is broken. At least they wish us a good evening and a good trip when they ask where we are from.

We also notice that the jungle is getting more intense from the swarms of vultures. These celebrate a festival with every road kill. Dead capybaras, a sloth, a fox and a horse lie on the side of the road. Nobody cares.

The route from here to La Paz is also called the “Jesuit Route” because Jesuit missions are located here, like on a string of pearls.

In Santa Maria we pass a beautiful mountain of huge pebbles. It looks beautiful even if we don’t know what that is. And right behind it, the air suddenly becomes stuffy. It smells like smoke. We see small fires, but the wall of smoke does not diminish. The small fires were just the beginning.