Deep in the Bolivian lowlands, the Chiquitania is a land of dry tropical forest, red earth and granite outcrops, a long way from the Andes. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Jesuit missionaries gathered the Chiquitano people into settlements here that blended European Baroque with local craft, and six of those mission towns survive. San Rafael and San Miguel, a short distance apart in the east, are among them, and UNESCO listed the group in 1990.
What you see is odd and wonderful. The churches look like they belong to a different continent, with wooden columns, painted facades and interiors covered in floral designs, but they were built by Indigenous craftsmen working with European designers. The architect and musician Martin Schmid, a Jesuit from Switzerland, designed several of the churches and composed music for the choirs. A manuscript tradition of Baroque music survives here, and a music festival in the missions draws players from many countries. San Rafael has especially fine painted decoration, much of it restored.
The ride is red-dust and heat. Roads across the Chiquitania run through open woodland, ranches and small villages, with stretches of fresh asphalt and stretches of gravel that become slick after rain. The rainy season runs roughly from November to March, and during it, dirt sections can become impassable. The dry season, from May to September, is the better time, but dust and heat are constant companions. Cattle and dogs wander onto the road, and trucks raise clouds.
Fuel is the thing to plan around. San Ignacio de Velasco, about thirty-seven kilometres away, is the largest town in the area and has fuel and hotels, while Concepcion, to the south, is another good stop. Smaller villages may have only informal fuel sold from drums, so top up when you can. Ordering a cold drink in the plaza, with the old church at your back and the dust settling, is one of the pleasures of this part of Bolivia. Allow a slow day, and leave time to walk inside.