The Jesuit Missions in Paraguay and Argentina had really smitten me on my previous visit to South America. When I had the chance to see their Bolivian counterparts, it was a must visit for me. Being based in Santa Cruz I decided to venture as a day trip to San Javier and try to get to Concepcion while making my way back to Santa Cruz by nightfall.

My plan didn't quite work out as I was unable to find a ride to Concepcion from San Javier. The heat that day was unbearable and eventually I settled on returning to Santa Cruz.

In comparison to the sites in Argentina and Paraguay I visited in 2016, San Javier is in way better shape. The church is still original as is the city planning including some original houses. Especially the wood art in the church was amazing (see picture). On the other hand the scope of the settlement seemed smaller than those found in Missiones. And the Indiana Jones feeling of the jungle covered ruins of San Loreto never materialized.

Getting There

If you plan to do this on a daytrip from Santa Cruz you have two options:

For both options you can catch a bus at Terminal Bimodal. Please note that there may be multiple operators with different schedules. Seeing there is little information available online, it may pay off to check in advance when which bus runs when. The other thing to keep in mind is the siesta. Most churches seem to be closed from 12:00h to 14:00h.

In my case I went by bus at 7:30h and took a 4h ride to San Javier. We arrived at 11:30h and I was able to visit the museum and church before the siesta at 12:00h.

Initially I had planned to hop on a minibus to Concepcion and also visit this church. There is a return bus leaving Concepcion at 15:30h arriving back in Santa Cruz at 20:30h