THE CHE GUEVARA ROUTE – 3 DAYS

The capitalist entrepreneurial spirit is flourishing in the footsteps of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, the Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary who died in his failed attempt to implant communism in Bolivia.

Unlike our full-day tour, this 3-day, 2-night package has much more to offer our travelers eager to go further on their journey. In addition to exploring Samaipata, its beautiful surroundings, and the pre-Inca site of El Fuerte, you will also visit Vallegrande and La Higuera. Packed with majestic landscapes and a great historical focus; if you are a lover of the sublime nature and the stories of Che Guevara, this trip is perfect for you!

OVERVIEW

DAY 1:

We start the day picking you up from your hotel at 8:00am to begin the journey from Santa Cruz to Vallegrande. Our lunch will be in Samaipata, then later we will visit the laundry place, where his body was exhibited. We will also visit the place where Che was found out together with his companions, we return to Vallegrande for dinner and accommodation.

DAY 2:

After breakfast, we will visit La Higuera, we will visit El Churo, the place where Che’s last fight was, where he faced critical conditions: malnourished, without clothes, and with a weapon in an unsuitable state; later we will visit the museum of Che, the place where he was killed, then we will be back for our dinner and accommodation.

DAY 3:

After breakfast, we will visit the museum, where we can appreciate fragments of Bolivian culture. The museum also has different images that explain the passage of the different cultures that left their signs on the famous carved rock known as “El Fuerte”, which is said to It is the largest carved rock on planet Earth, after lunch in Samaipata we will return to Santa Cruz arriving between approximately 6:00pm and 7:00pm, depending on traffic.

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Itinerary
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Recommendations

Itinerary

DAY 1:

At 8:00am, we pick you up from your hotel to go to the city of Vallegrande, located at (2030 masl, 6,630 ft), Vallegrande is located about 300 km from the city of Santa Cruz. The trip to this town takes approximately 6 hours, including the time necessary for lunch which will be in Samaipata, after which we still need around 1 1/2 hours to get to Vallegrande. In Vallegrande, we will meet our local guide who will take us to visit relevant places of the guerrilla, Ernesto Che Guevara. Like the old laundry where his body was exhibited to the press in 1967 after being killed and brought a helicopter from La Higuera. In Vallegrande, we will also visit the place where “El Che” was buried along with some of his companions in the battle. We’ll have dinner and spend the night in Vallegrande.

DAY 2:

After breakfast, we start the journey from Vallegrande to the town of La Higuera a 100 km trip that takes approximately 2 to 3 hours. The road from Vallegrande to La Higuera is narrow and uphill in the foothills of the mountains.

The maximum altitude we reached is (3200 m.a.s.l., 10499ft). The vehicle can stop whenever the visitor wants to take some photos or appreciate the Andean Condor that flies over the area. Before arriving at La Higuera, we will visit The Churo Creek, where “El Che” fought his last battle at a total disadvantage, malnourished, without adequate clothing or boots (he made his own boots with a little disused leather) and with his rifle which was not in good working order. To get to this place, you have to walk up a hill for about 1 1/2 hours.

In this place, the accompanying guide will tell us in detail how this unequal battle took place and how the military captured “Che” and took him to the school in the small village of La Higuera, which at that time had more inhabitants than it does today. Later the group continues to La Higuera. We will visit the “El Che” museum, which is the place where Che was killed. Our guide will provide further explanations on the photos and objects on display. Later, if time permits, we will visit other places in the surroundings of where “El Che” was present.

After approximately 1 hour in La Higuera, the group returns to Vallegrande by the same path. Our guide stays in Vallegrande and the vehicle continues to Samaipata, which is approximately 1 1/2 hours on the way to Santa Cruz. Dinner and accommodation in Samaipata.

DAY 3:

After breakfast, we will visit the museum, where we can appreciate different objects and ceramics that remain as testimony to the different cultures that settled in the surroundings or from sites in Bolivia. The museum also has different images that explain the passage of the different cultures that left their signs on the famous carved rock known as “El Fuerte”, which is said to be the largest carved rock on planet Earth. The museum has a small model of this rock. After the museum, we head to El Fuerte, the entrance to the secondary road leading to the fort is 2.5 miles or 4 kilometers from the city of Samaipata on the paved road to Santa Cruz. From this point, we go up a secondary road in the vehicle to the top of the mountain where El Fuerte is located and from where the trail begins.

Once we are there, a specialized guide will accompany us during the walk (around 2 hours of slow walking) around the large carved rock, giving us explanations of the possible reasons for the carving made there, the strategic location that this place had in those days and the clash of different cultures that happened in this place for this reason. During the walk, it is fascinating to wonder about the experiences lived by the different cultures that passed through this magnificent place. When the tour of El Fuerte ends, we return in the same vehicle to the road that leads to Samaipata. Lunch in Samaipata, and after a short rest, we begin our return to Santa Cruz. On the way back, if there is still time available, it is possible to visit one more place called “Cuevas”, where after a walk of about 15 minutes we find some beautiful waterfalls. We will arrive in the city in the afternoon or evening and drop you off at your hotel or home. End of our services. Thank you.