The jungles in Bolivia provide the opportunity to view some of the rarest and most beautiful fauna and flora in the world. The following jungle tours from Santa Cruz, Bolivia offer the finest experiences and the greatest value on offer in the area.
These are the 15 best Bolivian jungle tours, that start in Santa Cruz, to enjoy beauty, biodiversity, and a number of rare species that exist nowhere else in the world.
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1. The Jardin de las Delicias Tour – One day
The Jardin de las Delicias waterfalls is located only about 43 miles from Santa Cruz. It is deep in the forests bordering Amboro National Park. These waterfalls have beautiful views, photography, and swimming.
This one-day tour from San Jose includes a hotel pick up at 7:30, and a two-hour drive to the Jardin de las Delicias. After a short 15-minute walk, view the three falls, monkeys, and birds located there.
Enjoy a fresh picnic lunch, and then participate in a guided walk in the forest. Typically you will return to the hotel by about 7:00 pm.
Here's a list of the best hotels in Santa Cruz.
2. Chiquitania Ultimate Landscape and Culture Tour – 4 days
The tour goes to the Valley de la Luna, Chochis and Sanctuary Church, Santiago de Chiquitos, San Jose de Chiquitos Jesuit Mission Church, Santa Cruz Vieja, Laguna Lete, the Valley de Tucavaca, and the Aguas Calientes River.
Day one, go from Santa Cruz to San Jose de Chiquitos. The tour picks up at the hotel and goes to the destination. Check-in at the Villa Chiquitania Hotel and eat lunch. Visit the Jesuit Mission Church, among other destinations.
Day 2, go from San Jose through Chochis to Santiago de Chiquittos.
Eat breakfast, and then go to Chochis. Explore the Sanctuary Church. After that, depart for Santiago de Chiquitos, eat lunch, and then travel to the Mirador of Santiago de Chiquitos. Eat dinner and go to bed.
Day three, eat breakfast and spend a full day exploring the rock formations, forests, and rock paintings of the Valley of Tucavaca.
Day four, have breakfast, and then go to the biggest thermal river in Bolivia. After that, drive back to the hotel, but first, stop in San Jose for lunch.
3. Jaguar Land Private Reserve
Jaguar Land is only five hours from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. It offers travelers some of the best wildlife viewing in South America.
It contains tropical forests, Pampas as well as agricultural land and lakes. Also, 270 bird species sometimes come into view. These include King Vultures, Spoonbills, Macaws, and many others. Other animals you might see are Marsh Deer, Three Toed Sloth, Puma, Ocelot, Pink Dolphin, Neo Tropical Otter, Red Howler Monkeys, Capybara, Coati, Peccaries, Spectacled Caiman, Tapir, Giant Anteater, Brocket Deer, 9 Banded Armadillo, Jaguarundi, Red and Green Macaws, Touca Toucans, and 3 toed Sloths.
The tour includes pick up and drop off at the hotel, English speaking guides, all meals shown in the program, camping equipment, entry fees, satellite phone, chef, water, private 4WD transportation, and free beer and wine during the tour.
4. Codo de Los Andes Trekking Tour – 1-Day
Concealed in the valleys surrounding Samaipata, this tour offers scenic valleys.
The tour picks up at 7:00 am in the Santa Cruz hotel, and the guide will describe the scenery while going on a 2.5-hour drive past rivers, valleys, and forests.
Upon arrival, you might see the “King of the Mountains,” the Andean Condor. The trip also takes people to view Viscachas, which appear to be rabbits with tails.
Dine on a picnic lunch before returning to Santa Cruz in the evening.
5. Sloth Wildlife Tour – One day
The tour includes hotel pick up and drop off, hiking through the botanical gardens, private transportation, and entry into the park.
The tour picks up at the hotel early morning or in the afternoon, and then it leaves for the 3/4 square mile botanical gardens.
The tour guides will lead hikes through the forest. Species that you might see include the Black-Tailed Marmoset, 3 Toed Sloth, White Eared Titi Monkeys, Capuchin Monkeys, Night Monkeys, Howler Monkeys, Trogons, Toucans, Coatis, Snakes, Coatis, and others.
After that, return to the pick-up point.
6. Lomas de Arenas Tour – 4 hours
The tour covers the protected area of Lomas de Arena and is situated about 15 miles from Santa Cruz.
After the driver picks up at your hotel, the tour will stop for a short time at the Palmasola Prison before entering the park. Upon arrival, search the forests for monkeys and sloths.
People have spotted more than 286 different species of birds, including the Tuca Tucan, Pink Flamingo, and Red Legged Sierma.
After the hike, the tour will bring out sand boards for the customers to ride. The tour will then return to the hotel.
7. Amboro National Park Giant Fern Trek Day Tour – 5 to 8 hours
The Amboro National Park is located near Santa Cruz. It contains one of the most bio-diverse fauna and flora of all the world’s National Parks.
The tour will pick up at your hotel. After that, the bus travels 40 minutes to the destination, stopping to take pictures on the road.
After the short trip, enter the Amboro National Park’s cloud forests, where the guide will describe the park’s history, flora, and fauna while the traveler explores one of the world’s oldest forests.
After hiking, a picnic lunch is served, and then hike the Giant Fern Trail. After trekking for five to seven hours, return to the hotel.
8. Santa Cruz to Uyuni Tour – 7 Days
The tour includes flights, transportation, hotels, and trips to tourist attractions.
Day one, arrive in the Refugio Los Volcanes Lodge in the Amboro National Park. Visit some waterfalls before lunch. After that, hike, view orchids, and explore the rainforest.
Day two, enjoy the Refugio Los Volcanes. Have breakfast and lunch, and hike into the park, viewing the fauna, flora, and waterfalls.
Day three, fly to Sucre and eat breakfast there. After that, get lunch, tour Sucre, and discover its history, and see the Dinosaur Park.
Day four, enjoy Sucre, Potosi, and Yuyuni. Have breakfast before departing for Potosi, which, at one time, had been one of the wealthiest cities in the world.
Day five, go to the Uyuni Salt Flats and the Tayka Salt Hotels, travel to the Salar de Uyuni, and learn about salt extraction.
After that, get lunch and then inspect the island. Leave the island and travel across the Salt Flats to Tahua. Finally, return to the Tayka Hotel for dinner.
Day six, go to Uyuni Salt Flats. Eat breakfast in the hotel before touring for two days. First, go to the Cathedral, which is a rock formation shaped like its namesake. Then, travel to the Chiquini cave. After that, see other Islas Campanas attractions and the town of Charagua. Finally, return to the hotel.
Day seven, go to the Eduardo Avaroa National Park and Uyuni.
Enter the Eduardo Avaroa National Park, where the tourists will see vast deserts and view the Laguna Colorada, a pink-water lake, surrounded by volcanoes.
After that, move on to the Geysers, where natural gas goes up more than 200 yards in the air. Drive through the Salvador Dali Desert, eat lunch, and swim in the thermal pools.
9. Samaipata Tour – One Day
Drive 74.5 miles from Santa Cruz to Samaipata. It is located in a valley between the Andes Mountains and Amboro National Park’s Amazon rainforests.
The tour picks up at the hotel and provides breakfast and lunch. The tour’s first stop will be Las Cuevas waterfalls, where travelers may swim and eat lunch in Samaipata.
After the meal, sightseers view the El Fuerte Museum and then tour the Pre Incan El Fuerte Ruins. Sometimes, Andean Condors, bears, and pumas can be seen. When finished, return to the hotel.
10. Puerto Vallarroel Fishing/Eco Tourism tour – Two to three days
The fishing port of Puerto Villarroel is a 4.5 hours’ drive from Santa Cruz, where the tour takes a boat to check out several lagoons and rivers. The goal is to catch piranha, Surubi, Peacock, bass, and Catfish Pacu. The tour offers night fishing in rivers and private lagoons.
Can you fish in Lake Titicaca? Find out here.
Those who do not like fishing can partake in Pink Dolphin, bird, and other wildlife watching. The wildlife includes monkeys, macaws, capybara, anaconda, and jaguar.
It is even possible to shelter overnight in an indigenous community and help them make cocoa and other Amazonian foods.
Tourists can also see a cattle ranch, which has tapirs, jaguars.
11. Kaa Iya National Park Tour – Four days
Wildlife enthusiasts can see and photograph jaguars, puma, tapir, and other big mammals on this tour.
Day one, go from Santa Cruz to Kaa Iya National Park.
At 8:30 am, the driver picks up at the hotel and departs for Santa Cruz. It is 3.5 hours to San Jose, where lunch is served at a local restaurant.
The opportunity is provided to take photographs of the local Jesuit church, located in the central plaza.
After that, drive to the park. Peccaries, pumas, jaguars, and toucans have been sighted. Around 4:30 pm, hike along the pipeline and look for jaguar, tapir, and other big cat scat.
At 8:00 pm, dinner is served, and, after that, participate in a sightseeing drive or night walk.
Day 2, spend time in Kaa Iya NationalPark
At 5:00 am, walk around the Tucavaca, looking to photograph the wildlife in the area.
At 8:00 am, eat breakfast. After that, go to the only water located in the area. Hopefully, there will be tapir tracks and Bolivian Titi monkeys.
At 12:30 pm, lunch is served. Then take a siesta or search for birds and look at foxes. The tour offers a night drive through most of the Tucavaca.
Day 3, remain in the Kaa Iya National Park.
At 5:00 am, drive to Izozog Pumping station, where the jaguar Kaiyana and tapir might be seen.
Lunch is served at 1:00 pm. After that, walk around the Airfield, where it is most likely to see jaguars.
Return to the Tucava at 4:30 pm. and then enjoy an evening drive.
Day 4, go from Kaa Iya National Park to Santa Cruz. View many forms of wildlife as the tour ends.
This tour works for wildlife enthusiasts and adventure seekers but is not suitable for children less than 13 years old.
12. Amboro National Park/Refugio Los Volcanes and Samaipata
This tour lasts three days and includes a mix of nature, scenery, culture, and wildlife. It involves seeing the Refugio Los Volcanes, Giant Fern Forests of Amboro National Park, Pre Incan Ruins of El Fuerte, the Las Cuevas Waterfalls, and the Andean town of Samaipata.
On day 1, go from Santa Cruz to the Refugio Los Volcanes Lodge. The driver will pick up at the hotel and go to the Refugio Los Volcanes Lodge. The giant stone cliffs that go around the lodge will be on display. Also, the tour offers wildlife hikes and the opportunity to learn about the area’s fauna and flora. Travelers can even swim near many waterfalls.
Eat dinner and then go on a night walk and view pumas, Andean condors, and even the endangered spectacled bear might come into view.
Day 2, travel from the Los Volcanes to the El Fuerte Ruins and Samaipata. Eat breakfast and then trek. After lunch, leave the lodge and go to the world heritage site, the ruins of El Fuerte. Take a guided tour and learn about these pre-Incan ruins.
Enjoy an overnight stay in the colonial town of Samaipata.
Day 3, go from Samaipata through the Amboro National Park back to Santa Cruz. Eat breakfast at the hotel before leaving for the Amboro National Park. Visit the ancient Giant Fern Forests. Take in the giant ferns, some of which are taller than 40 feet. Watch for many types of animals and hike through the forest.
Have lunch in Samaipata, and possibly stop at the Las Cuevas Waterfalls before going back to the hotel in Santa Cruz in the evening.
The tour is suitable for nature lovers, families, photographers, the elderly, wildlife watchers, and birders.
13. Bolivian Pantanal Anaconda and Wildlife Tour – Two days
The Bolivian Pantanal and Anaconda sit on the Paraguayan, Bolivian, and Brazilian borders. They are the largest wetland in the world.
Here is the itinerary:
On day one, the tour picks up at the hotel and then travels about 43.5 miles to the park. It will pass the enormous Muntun mine, which threatens the park’s survival. Here, the tour hopes to provide the opportunity to photograph wildlife.
At about 12:30 pm, lunch will be served, and the guide will set up camp.
The driver will travel to where tourists might see giant otters, jaguars, and anacondas and maybe even the endangered maned wolf.
On day two, the tourists will get an early start to see wildlife and drive or walk, looking for anacondas. The bus then returns to camp for breakfast. After that, piranha fishing will be on the menu before returning to the hotel in the evening.
14. The Red Fronted Macaw Lodge Tour – Four days
The Macaw Lodge is located between Santa Cruz and Cochabamba.
It is a sustainable conservation project, which has helped keep the Macaw from going extinct.
On day one, the tour picks up at the hotel, and then the bus leaves for the Macaw Lodge. It stops in Samaipata for lunch before arriving at the Lodge, where bird-watching will occur. Dinner comes next.
Day two will be filled with bird watching, and the travelers will receive breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
On day three, the tourists will wake up early to see the Red Fronted Macaw and try to locate 130 other bird species as well.
On day four, eat breakfast and watch birds for the final time before leaving the Lodge. The tour will lunch in Samaipata before arriving back at the hotel.
15. San Jose Birding Tour – One day
The forests surrounding Santa Cruz offer many birding opportunities. This tour provides one day to take advantage of them.
Here is the itinerary:
The tour picks up at the hotel in the early morning and travels to Lomas de Arena, a protected wildlife preserve. Some 286 different bird species have been seen there.
Austral and Boreal migratory bird species have also been known to migrate through there.
Birders are treated to views of literally hundreds of birds. On average days, people might see 60 to 80 different species.
The tour will view the Chaqueno Forests, Pampas Swamps, Open Savannahs, Chaco Dry Forests, and Lagoons and search for many bird species. These include the Red Legged Sierma, Roseate Spoonbill, Brazilian Duck, Toco Toucan, Burrowing Owels, and Social Fly Catchers.
The tour lunches at Santa Cruz before going to the Jardin Botanico. There, birders sometimes find Blue Crowned Motmot, Greater Rhea, Blue Crowned Trogon, Forked Tailed Flycatcher, and Red Legged Sierma. After that, the bus goes back to the hotels.
I hope this article was helpful and insightful!
