Germán Busch Province

Named for a two-time president and military hero, this province, the second-newest in Santa Cruz department (created in 1984), is the one furthest removed from the heartland of the Chiquitania. Yet it perhaps holds the most interest for the traveller for three reasons: the famous Pantanal ecosystem (known as the Pantanal Boliviano here to distinguish it from the Pantanal Norte in neighbouring Ángel Sandóval Province) with its two national parks (Otuquis here and San Matías in Ángel Sandóval Province); the amazing Valle de Tucavaca provincial reserve; and its status as a gateway to onward travel to Brazil. As that same border also is the eastern terminus of the notorious tren de muerte, Germán Busch Province receives more tourists than any other province except Velasco.

It also receives an inordinate number of visitors with more esoteric agendas: Hunting rare game; promoting the perennially moribund free trade zone with Brazil; capitalising on the thriving contraband trade in...well...everything; and, as of 2009 (for India's Jindal employees, anyway) extracting manganese from Cerro Mutún, the world's largest iron ore deposit. (This project will radically transform Bolivia's economy over the next few years if Bolivia's President Morales just for once would keep his word.)

Unlike the rest of the Chiquitania, most of Germán Busch Province is swampy and ultra-humid, and never more so than during the wet season (December through mid-March). This is also the time of year when the Pantanal resurrects itself in an awesome, mind-boggling display of flora and fauna that seems to spring up overnight (for several plant species, it does exactly that). The remaining months are stiflingly hot and barren. Germán Busch still has a sizeable native populace: there are several small indigenous communities of Potorera, Cariguero, and Otuquis throughout the territory.

Sunset: Parque Nacional y Área Natural de Manejo Integrado Otuquis

The small and intrepid (the words "hapless" and "helpless" also spring to mind) Bolivian tourism community, in league with its perennially cash-strapped government, continues to paint a picture of this land as a year-round paradise. Is it? If you are on your way to Brazil (as most visitors are), you'll have the opportunity to judge the truth for yourself...and subsequently reject it immediately. If you are merely thinking of a visit, the beginning or end of the wet season - in spite of daily downpours and uncomfortably close and relentless encounters with the insect kingdom - is really the time to come. You may return battered, bruised, and bitten beyond recognition, but you'll see more flora and fauna in a week than most people will in an entire lifetime!

A most lucrative piece of India in Bolivia: Cerro Mutún

Its two main towns of Puerto Suárez and Puerto Quijarro are gradually becoming one, along with the more recent settlement of Arroyo Concepción (technically part of Puerto Quijarro). This conglomeration is already the largest city in the Oriente, and contains one of its only two [self-proclaimed] five-star hotels, the El Pantanal Hotel. Not surprisingly, some of the best roads in Bolivia are also found here, built by the Brazilians as part of a scheme to promote cross-border business.

This is also home to an outpost of the much-maligned Bolivian Navy, which maintains a presence to make sure that the country's access to the Río Paraguay remains open. The region's auto, gem, and drug smugglers also call Puerto Suárez home, so be careful of touts trying to sell you any of these at attractive prices: You absolutely do not want to see a Bolivian gaol from the inside.

Incredibly, Germán Busch Province actually boasts a Web site...and not a bad one at that. (The English version will never see the light of day, but give them credit for even thinking of it.)