Chiquitania

In the 18th century Jesuit missionaries founded a belt of settlements in the jungle between the Spanish and Portugese spheres of influence. Defended by their own armies they lived here with the indigenous population and installed a form of shared government. The indigenous population learned to worship, build and play violin and wear dresses and tunics. Whether they liked this or not we do not know but they were protected from slave traders. Together they built some stunningly beautiful churches in which local woodworking skills are amply displayed. After 200 years of decay the Jesuit churches were restored to their former glory and are now the venue of a fantastic Early Music Festival. Local dignitaries are prominently present during these performance in their seats of honour and in the traditional dresses and tunics as invented by the Jesuits. The performances are open for all to attend and walk out off and complemented by some heavily modernised ´traditional´ dances with electronic backup and hip swinging performed by the local youth.

Spot the visitors

In March two of Henry´s brothers, John and William, came to visit. William had a terrible time getting here. He spent three days changing tickets and planes, or waiting around airports without much sleep. When he finally got here he was given two hours to have a shower and unpack his bag and off we went for and Easter adventure. We headed in the direction of Macha for a taste of Bolivia beyond Sucre, which in many ways is like a southern European town. In one of the villages close to Macha a big festival was supposed to take place, if it hadn´t been postponed. Instead we explored the area surrounding the mining town of Pocoata. Up the steep hill slopes are several deserted mining settlements from colonial times or possibly before. In the modern village the inhabitants lost no time offering goods for sale such as the hats or ponchos they were wearing and I believe John and William went back with enough goods to last for many Christmases to come.