Santa Cruz de la Sierra

[UpToNoGood]

I just returned from 8 days in SCZ, my 6th visit.

It is no longer a recommended city for our hobby.

Airline and better hotel prices have skyrocketed since I was there 6 months ago.

The Wall Street Journal, Aug 1, 2012, describes a major influx of drug money is changing Bolivia for the worse.

Thugs roam the streets looking for white men who have cash in their pockets.

Asking prices for full service encounters have, in many cases, nearly matched prices asked in Manhattan.

The federal government is now obscenely anti-American and the change is palpable.

[UpToNoGood]

A few buddies and I are thinking about coming to SCZ early next year. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I'll take some notes and pictures.

[Tank Not Mt]

Arriving July 27 and exiting Aug. 3rd. I am available most of the week to form a small hunting party and go monger.

American Airline prices have skyrocketed from Miami to SCZ. Aerosur is out of business.

UotoNoGood

A few buddies and I are thinking about coming to SCZ early next year. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

[UpToNoGood]

Arriving July 27 and exiting Aug. 3rd. I am available most of the week to form a small hunting party and go monger.

American Airline prices have skyrocketed from Miami to SCZ. Aerosur is out of business.

UotoNoGood

[RolandRat]

So I tried to go to Cafe Show yesterday but was way too early. A cabbie then took me to Sol why Luna & I was very impressed. Some of the best value mongering I've ever had!

Tried to find Sol Ardiente after but couldn't. Cabbies didn't know it. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Have you managed to find where Sol Ardiene is? And where is the place you mentioned? Thanks for your help!

[RolandRat]

I've been in Santa Cruz for a short time now and am still learning Spanish but have tried my luck and got varying results. Girls on the street are interested that you're foreign but they're all after the passport! I'm trying to find a club which is a locals joint but not 6 sea donkeys in a corner playing cards! Can anyone recommend a club and it whereabouts. The place mentioned by Micky Dee (very useful thanks) sounds great. Somewhere, where I can drink and take back a couple of eighteen years-old back with me! Is this asking too much!

[Magn4701]

Can anyone recommend a hotel with a helpful concierge who will find girls? What about Hotel LP Santa Cruz?

You can get a penthouse sweet here for like 50 USD per night and hit the front desk after 10:00 pm and they'll call a cute girl for you. This place has a good breakfast in the morning too. Hotel Arenal is a good choice.

[SwordV]

So I tried to goto Cafe Show yesterday but was way too early. A cabbie then took me to Sol why Luna & I was very impressed. Some of the best value mongering I've ever had!

Tried to find Sol Ardiente after but couldn't. Cabbies didn't know it. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

[UpToNoGood]

Can anyone recommend a hotel with a helpful concierge who will find girls? What about Hotel LP Santa Cruz?

In SCZ hotel employees are forbidden to procure chicas for guest. LP does not have a concierge, per se, but front desk personnel who are sometimes women.

Ask radio dispatched taxi drivers, as they are the main resource for that activity. They can send girls directly to you, take you to night clubs like Curry's or various casas des putas.

[SwordV]

Can anyone recommend a hotel with a helpful concierge who will find girls? What about Hotel LP Santa Cruz?

[UpToNoGood]

U2NG,

I will also be in SCZ in Feb. 14-20 only. Perhaps our time will overlap.

Good hunting,

Willy Dee

Too bad we have not made contact. I hope you are staying cool and dry!

[UpToNoGood]

U2NG,

I will also be in SCZ in Feb. 14-20 only. Perhaps our time will overlap.

Good hunting,

Willy Dee

Yes, we will overlap. I will be arriving on Feb 6, staying until the 18th. I should have lots of free time.

[Willy Dee]

I will be back in SCZ in early Febr. For a few weeks of R&R. Yes, I love the warm weather especially when the northern USA is in a deep freeze.

I have never been disappointed in Bolivia except for being there on Sundays or during Easter, when there is pittifully nothing to do.

I also have been around the world and find SCZ at the top of the list. I used to think Dom Rep was great but in SCZ there are more nonprofessionals. That makes it more fun.

Yes, it is important to speak some Spanish in SCZ, like it is to speak some French in Paris, even if you just want to buy a baguette.

I hope to try some of the new venues this time.

U2NG,

I will also be in SCZ in Feb. 14-20 only. Perhaps our time will overlap.

Good hunting,

Willy Dee

[Member #4366]

Willy, thanks for the deep-dive. I guess that I was out of luck when visiting these clubs. The first impression one gets of a place very often depends on one or two good experiences. When these are lacking, the conclusion is often that the whole town sucks. Sol Ardiente is near the Bougainvilleas hotel, right? A taxi driver proposed to take me there but I decided against it as the guy at the reception of my hotel had warned me that it is a dangerous area. Well, perhaps better next time.

Bucanero asked some good questions. I really had to think about all the reasons I like SCZ, and it isn't all mongering. Just mostly. What did you miss? Hum?

1. Attitude. Crucenas love Americans, the rest of the world hates us. On an individual basis, for example, lo-ball a Boliviana and she will likely cry. Lo-ball a Thai girl and she will cut out your heart with a spoon. These are generally tender young girls who are gentle and actually fun to be with. I have visited the families of 3 of them near Santa Cruz. Where else would that happen? I often help them clothing shop. Fitting new bras on a 110 pound 19 year old is one of the best afternoons I have ever had, and it led to an even better evening. No one cares about this in SCZ, as a middle aged man with a 20 year old date, no one at the cine center or the restaurant even notices. Thats my favorite part of the laid back SCZ attitude.

2. Price. Done right, everything CAN be cheap. It often isn't, but it can be.

3. Safety. The places you describe at night. Sol Ardiente and Sol Y Luna being in bad areas, and VIP Valencia being in a very poor area. All true. I visit all of them each time I am down and have had no problems. I must stand out as the only gringo in the place, and the only guy over 45. Still, no problems. Security is pretty good, they don't want to attract the police.

4. Last, and far from least, are the girls. I will admit that the cheap clubs have cheap looking girls. Some nights. But on tues. Try out day at Sol Ardiente, you can hurt your neck just looking at the school girls trying to dance. And I have picked up girls in these two cheap places that were prettier than any girl I have seen in Argentina. And that says a lot. They arent common, and a reputation for tipping big helps. I ALWAYS tip the server and ask for any special girls to be brought to me, and I will give him a fee. On several occasions I have taken girls before their first ever dance in the club.

But to be sure. I have had some slow afternoons, and some early visits to the clubs when there were only a few girls that were 3-5 range, or were a little better but didn't want anything to do with me. But there is always Currys, and a private room is cheap, and a real beauty is only $100 a pop, and that is about the top end of Santa Cruz. And to answer your implicit question, I have only seduced two non-pros in all my trips to Bolivia. It may be fun for some, but for me is a waste of time. I like to know where we're headed. Best wishes. Willy Dee

[Willy Dee]

Bucanero asked some good questions. I really had to think about all the reasons I like SCZ, and it isn't all mongering. Just mostly. What did you miss? Hum?

1. Attitude. Crucenas love Americans, the rest of the world hates us. On an individual basis, for example, lo-ball a Boliviana and she will likely cry. Lo-ball a Thai girl and she will cut out your heart with a spoon. These are generally tender young girls who are gentle and actually fun to be with. I have visited the families of 3 of them near Santa Cruz. Where else would that happen? I often help them clothing shop. Fitting new bras on a 110 pound 19 year old is one of the best afternoons I have ever had, and it led to an even better evening. No one cares about this in SCZ, as a middle aged man with a 20 year old date, no one at the cine center or the restaurant even notices. Thats my favorite part of the laid back SCZ attitude.

2. Price. Done right, everything CAN be cheap. It often isn't, but it can be.

3. Safety. The places you describe at night. Sol Ardiente and Sol Y Luna being in bad areas, and VIP Valencia being in a very poor area. All true. I visit all of them each time I am down and have had no problems. I must stand out as the only gringo in the place, and the only guy over 45. Still, no problems. Security is pretty good, they don't want to attract the police.

4. Last, and far from least, are the girls. I will admit that the cheap clubs have cheap looking girls. Some nights. But on tues. Try out day at Sol Ardiente, you can hurt your neck just looking at the school girls trying to dance. And I have picked up girls in these two cheap places that were prettier than any girl I have seen in Argentina. And that says a lot. They arent common, and a reputation for tipping big helps. I ALWAYS tip the server and ask for any special girls to be brought to me, and I will give him a fee. On several occasions I have taken girls before their first ever dance in the club.

But to be sure. I have had some slow afternoons, and some early visits to the clubs when there were only a few girls that were 3-5 range, or were a little better but didn't want anything to do with me. But there is always Currys, and a private room is cheap, and a real beauty is only $100 a pop, and that is about the top end of Santa Cruz. And to answer your implicit question, I have only seduced two non-pros in all my trips to Bolivia. It may be fun for some, but for me is a waste of time. I like to know where we're headed. Best wishes. Willy Dee