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On La Víspera:
Samaipata (Incan for "Rest in the Highlands"), where the eastern lowlands rise toward the western Andes, probably has more expatriate residents per capita than anywhere else in Bolivia, 100 or so in a town of 3,000.
One of them is Pieter de Raad, the blue-eyed founder of a hotel called La Vispera ("The Eve"). He and his wife, Marga, are both psychologists in their 60s who traded in promising careers in Holland three decades ago for .. . . Bolivia?
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Lonely Planet Review
This relaxing organic farm and retreat run by a Dutch couple is a lovely place on the 'outskirts' of Samaipata. The owners rent horses by the hour or day and organize adventurous trips throughout the region. The attractive rooms with communal kitchens and four self-contained guesthouses (for two to 12 people) are warm and clean and enjoy commanding views across the valley. Camping includes hot showers and kitchen facilities.
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English-Language Bolivian News
Bolivia Weekly is
a news agency dedicated to providing news on
Bolivia. They strive to be an un-biased news source
and
to bring rarely-heard news from Bolivia to the rest of the
world.
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An Impressive Photo-Coverage of La Víspera +
Samaipata & Surroundings:
I stayed at La Vispera in June and it was a joyous, wondrous
experience! It was one the best times that I had during my
trip to Bolivia!! Thank you so much, what a beautiful
place............ I hope to return to Bolivia, Samaipata and
La Vispera in the future, it really is an inspiring place!!
Sincerely, Your extremely satisfied customer,
Lotus Johnson.
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“3 days turned into 3 weeks
This was the best place we stayed on our 2 month trip through
Bolivia. We were looking for a quiet place to relax after hectic
weeks of moving and we definitely found this at La Vispera. The
grounds are lovely with gardens, horses and lots of open areas and
the rooms are quiet and clean. The food was the best we had tasted
in months, not to mention it is mostly organic, included ingredients
from the garden there and is made to order. We had planned on
staying 3 nights and ended up there 3 weeks. We enjoyed our days
laying in the hammocks, walking the beautiful grounds (make sure to
visit the "throne"), visiting with the interesting owner (hi Pieter)
and walking to the town. La Vispera is a peaceful place and everyone
passing through Santa Cruz should visit. Our only regret was not
being able to meet Marga, the other owner, who was away during our
visit. But we did see her hand everyday in the beauty of La Vispera.
This place is a paradise that should not be missed.
Make sure to check out their very useful and beautiful website. It
is very helpful and has great information about La Vispera and
Samaipata.
A Wonderful Place to Relax
Starting our vacation in Bolivia here, La Vispera was the best possible place to shake off all our stress and come to rest. After the long yourney from Holland, we got a very warm welcome from the friendly owners Pieter and Marga. We stayed at La Vispera for 5 nights in La Casita, an enchanting little holiday home, where we...
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Best Place in Samaipata
We just stayed for a couple of days at Finca La Vispera and we wished we had more time there. The place is just super relaxed and lovely with its views, lush garden and beautiful plants and flowers everywhere. They have different places to stay but all really nice, clean and with your own garden with hammocks. And last but...
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National
Newspaper

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Ornithologist/Birdwatcher:
Dr Joseph Tobias
Edward Grey Institute
Department of Zoology, Oxford University
South Parks Road
Oxford, OX1 3PS
United Kingdom
tel. +44 (0)1865 271244
Emails:
joseph.tobias@zoo.ox.ac.uk
I stayed in
Samaipata for several weeks in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005, mostly for work reasons. Finca La Vispera is a peaceful place to stay for anyone passing through
Samaipata: it encompasses 6 ha of land 1 km from the town centre, and is ideally
situated for anyone wanting to explore the area. Trips can be made independently
one hour downhill to Los Volcanes (where you can find Bolivian Recurvebill with
a bit of luck), and 1–2 hours uphill to Amboro National Park (try the cloud
forest at La Yunga, or the property of Don Gilberto–one of Samaipata’s
guides–who can probably show you Southern Horned Curassow if you have a couple
of days to spare).
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