On my last day in Bolivia I ventured to El Fuerte de Samaipata. El Fuerte is a pre Incan / Incan ruin on a hilltop near the town of Samaipata. The inhabitants carved several stone sculptures into the stone. Thanks to good sign posting and trails you can even spot some of them.

There is probably less to see here than in the other pre Colombian ruin of Bolivia, Tiwanaku. But the setting in the lush mountains as well as the presentation with a well crafted trail and viewing points, made it so that I enjoyed this more.

Getting There

My hotel in Santa Cruz was a bit to the South West of the city center. As such it was located within walking distance of the minibus station for Samaipata. It's near the stadium. The road takes you to the outer edges of the Andes mountains along a river canyon, quite a site to behold. At the time the road was in repairs and huge swaths in pretty terrible state as a consequence, so the ride took longer than anticipated (3h or so).

The simplest option is to get off at Samaipata and get a return cab to the site from there. In my case, I let the driver drop me off at the crossroad to the site in order to walk. It's 6km, 2h steep walk uphill and I do not recommend that. I also had to walk all the way back as I couldn't get a cab at the site itself. At least you can get food and drinks at the site and along the way you get a few nice views.

In order to return to Santa Cruz I had to go back to Samaipata. All minibusses passing at the crossroads will be full and unable to pick you up. Lucky me, a local gave me a ride to town.