Santa Cruz and the Oriente: Follow the Ruta del Che: Guevara Trail

Follow the Ruta del Che: Guevara Trail

Lovers of Latin American history and aficionados of Che Guevara alike will be enthralled by this new route through the remote mountains of eastern Bolivia, following in the footsteps of the Argentinian rebel leader and his little band of fellow revolutionaries as they sought to persuade the Bolivian peasantry to rise up in revolt against their oppressors.   

The endeavour was to be in vain: captured and killed by the Bolivian army with the aid of the CIA, the group met its sticky end in the otherwise non-descript rural hamlet la Higuera, nowadays still hours of driving along bumpy dirt roads from – well anywhere. Apart from marvelling at the rugged, unpopulated wilderness scenery of purple mountains, canyons and treeless moorland you will appreciate how he is remembered – and revered – here. 

There’s a museums in Vallegrande, the colonial-style upland town where you can also visit the laundry where their bodies were laid out, and the memorial where their graves used to be (they were repatriated to Cuba in the 1990s). La Higuera itself is plastered with memorabilia, street art and statues commemorating Che. It’s a strange, rather touching experience, recalling a unique era in the country’s chaotic history.