Tag: Dinosaurs

Toro Toro’s Land of the Lost: Walking In the Footsteps of Dinosaurs

The many natural wonders of Toro Toro National Park, Bolivia

Toro Toro Town

I was in great need of a long weekend in Toro Toro which awaited me at the end of a curvaceous and bumpy six-hour ride from Cochabamba. The town, with its laid-back vibe, is the base for an adjacent national park that promised me a rewarding getaway with spectacular sights. It was my first escape from large Bolivian cities in two months and I was ready for a mini-holiday from my consuming Kiva duties.

There’s not much to Toro Toro town and that’s what makes it such a delight. It’s a traditional quechua-speaking village that hasn’t changed much from its Republican days except for a mild increase in tourism once 60-million-year-old dinosaur footprints were found in the area. And given that it sits in a place of striking natural beauty, it’s a small wonder people started coming here.

There are a handful of basic hostales spread about town that serve meals since there aren’t any restaurants. I was incredibly happy to stay with the warmest and welcoming hostess Lily at Hostal Las Hermanas, a lush paradise of blooming roses, bougainvillea, lime and pomegranate trees, hanging coyate squash (which is cooked and sweetened for tasty desserts), a host of potted flowers and a menagerie of kittens and parrots roaming the grounds.

On the hills above Toro Toro town, the water-eroded white limestone seem like huge bones scattered about
Of course, a huge dinosaur sculpture adorns the Toro Toro town plaza... for once it\'s not revered Independence hero Simón Bolívar
Street scenes in Toro Toro town, a traditional cholo region where locals still speak quechua as a first language
The pretty stone church in the center of Toro Toro town
An unexpectedly grand home in Toro Toro, an otherwise town made of stone and adobe
The
Gabriela, the playful child at my welcoming and comfortable Las Hermanas hostel in Toro Toro, taught me some words in quechua
The peculiarly named \"Street of Forget\" in Toro Toro town
Coca leaves for sale at a home in Toro Toro town
Local farmer boy with his donkey and dried cornstalks (for livestock fodder) along a road near Toro Toro town
The last bus of the day (
Waiting with my pals from Cochabamba for the bus to depart Toro Toro town

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