After our stop in San Jose de Chiquitos, we were only halfway on that 830km day trip. There were two more things to do so we had to hurry a bit to get to Chochis - our next stop.
The plan was to arrive at some restaurant and have lunch and then walk to the waterfall close by: Velo de la Novia, to check out some jungle part of the country and explore the fauna and flora there.
The landscape around Chochis was pretty special. It was pretty warm and humid outside and at the same time, we could see some mountains in the back. Our guide told us that the mountains are super close just fifteen kilometers east of the village. It is a rocky plateau almost ten kilometers long and rising to 1200 meters. Also two kilometers north of the town there is another small mountain called "La Muela del Diablo" - The Devil's Tooth. It is a rocky pinnacle of reddish rock that rises 350 meters from the surrounding landscape.
We parked at the restaurant's place and were surprised that the owners were from Austria. For lunch, we had real Schnitzel with fries! - What a pleasant surprise. At that time I hadn´t been to Germany in almost 5 years and a great Schnitzel reminded me of my home. Also, the past days have been very long and exhausting and a dish like that really recharges your batteries! - Britta took the chance and relaxed a little bit in the hammock before we left for the hike.
Meanwhile, Britta was taking a little nap in the hammock, I explored the place. A really nice restaurant like a small finca in the middle of the green. - It was pretty hot and humid here and the owner was super nice.
He told me that Chochís is part of the province of Chiquitos and is the second-largest town in the municipality of Roboré. The town is located at an altitude of only 436 m next to Río Chochís, which flows downstream into the Río Urucu, which flows to the Río Limoncito.
For me, it was very interesting that the name Chochís refers to a plant that is used to obtain textile fibers. I had never heard before that a village or city was named after a plant before!
The town of Chochís grew out of a camp set up for the construction of the railway between Santa Cruz de la Sierra and the Brazilian border around 1940. The train is still going there so no wonder we could see the rails and old stations everywhere on our way.
Because of its historic importance in the country, Chochís has been declared a cultural and natural heritage site of the department and is currently in the process of being declared a national heritage site.
After we had survived the food coma (with some help from coffee), we decided to go on and check out the waterfall not far from the restaurant. So we hopped on the car again and drove to the parking lot. At the entrance, we could read the name: Velo de Novia (bridal veil).
Now it was super hot and humid so not that easy to walk through the jungle. We were sweating and the shirt was stuck on our skin already. - The waterfall sounded promising though so we kept walking and hoped it wasn´t too far.
Already during the walk we passed by the small river and some water holes that looked quite nice. The water flows incessantly, and colors of stones, trees, mosses, and flowers mix forming a picturesque landscape with giant rocks embraced in a whimsical way by tree roots.
We felt just like Indiana Jones crossing the river, climbing up the giant rocks covered in plants and discovering the waterholes named like: Pozo de la Sirena
My favorite trees there are the Ceibas and Bejucos. Ceiba is one of the largest trees of the rainforest, with impressive dimensions (height up to 75 m, diameter often over 2 m). But I love it because the tree has had a deep mystical meaning for the indigenous peoples of Central America and the Caribbean since ancient times. Back in Mexico I already learned that in Mayan mythology, it was considered a world tree that symbolized the connection between heaven (canopy), earth (trunk), and the underworld (roots).
The Bejuco is a climbing plant. It gets stuck on rocks and other trees and like that, it looks like it's eating it up. Slowly the underground disappears by being hugged by a tree.
Luckily the hike wasn´t very long with only 1,5km lengths. It only took us about 20 minutes to reach the final spot. At the end of the path, we found ourselves in front of a large waterfall - La Vela de Novia!, where the falling water really did look a bit like a Bridal Veil.
All the way here and also at the waterfall itself we had been all by ourselves. I couldn´t believe that there was a beautiful place like that and nobody was around! We were so lucky! - The atmosphere was a bit mystical but with very good vibes!
In this place you just breathe nature, you cool off in crystal clear waters, and you enjoy the harmonious sound of the river and the sweet song of the birds.
So of course we jumped into the water! It was the well-deserved cooling off after driving over 400km and walking a long time to get here.
The water was surprisingly cold, so it took Britta a while to get in.. as a bavarian mountain girl I didn´t have any pain with that :D - I jumped in anyways, swam right to the waterfall, and enjoyed the cold and fresh water, the sounds and the air. Diving into nature. Once she entered as well we went together to the waterfall and talked for a bit. - we didn´t want to go out in the heat again 😅 it was just so nice and cool in there.
At the entrance to the waterfall, there was a little cabin to change clothes and a tree trunk to put things down without them getting wet. The tree trunk had various patterns carved into it. It was mostly animals and plants and looked pretty nice.
So totally refreshed we decided to move on to our next stop and walked back all the way to our car through the jungle passing all the big rocks and crossing the river 😎
Of course, again I searched for videos to give you an idea of the vibe there - Enjoy :)
I was a bit disappointed that we hadn't seen any monkeys or exotic animals on our way here.. I mean that was the reason why we drove so far right? - but the place was still super special and a real highlight and we still had one more stop on that day trip ahead of us. I will tell you all about it soon - so stay tuned ;)
Cheers,
Liz