Santa Cruz is the low, hot, fast-growing half of Bolivia that most visitors skip, and the base for two things worth the detour: the Jesuit mission towns of Chiquitos, six of them UNESCO-listed, and the wildlife of the Amboró and Kaa-Iya parks.
The operators here are fewer and more specialised than in La Paz.
Jaguars are the thing people now come for. San Miguelito, a working cattle ranch several hours east in the Chiquitania, is the best-known and the most reliable: it gave up shooting the cats that took its calves and takes paying visitors instead. Jaguarland, another private reserve a few hours out of the city, is sold the same way and is the other name you will hear. Neither is a turn-up-and-see-it proposition — both are arranged through operators in Santa Cruz, and both are stays rather than day trips.
Closer in, the AFASI Nature Reserve is about forty-five minutes out and open to visitors, and the sloths around Cotoca can be seen on an afternoon.