Although Tarija is a very small town, I have so far found several things to do around the town. The first stop on my list was Lake San Jacinto, which I spent the day at with my host family. The lake is no more than 30 minutes from the center of Tarija. When we reached the lake, I was greeted by its beauty and scenery. While at the lake, I had a chance to eat some of the local food. For all those that know me very well, then you know that I absolutely love seafood. At the lake, I ate some freshly caught fish (known as Pejerrey or Doraditos) from the lake. The fish was fried and tasted so good. I also ate corn pancakes, which is a local food. Overall, I really enjoyed the lake community because I was able to relax and it was nice to have a little get-away. If I was to go back to the lake another time, I would rent a canoe and go canoeing on the lake.
Furthermore, being in Tarija without going on several wine tours is like a cardinal sin because Tarija is known world wide for their production of wine. My friends and I spent last weekend going on several wine tours. To add a twist to the adventure, we decided to rent bikes from a local bike company called Sur Bike. Well, in my opinion, it was a HUGE mistake to rent bikes and then bike it all the way to the vineyards. We literally biked for 25 km through the countryside until we reached the Valle de la Concepcion, which houses many vineyards and where most of the wine tasting takes place. For someone who is not in optimal shape, the bike ride was horrible and I was in a lot of pain so I couldn’t enjoy the beautiful scenery around me. During the bike ride, we stopped at a vineyard (also known as a bodega here) called Pampos de Solana. At Pampos de Solana, one of the employees gave us a tour of the vicinity. The employee went over the process of wine making, the storage of wine, and which wine to have with different types of food. At this bodega, we didn’t sample any wine because we were in a rush to get to some of the other vineyards before they closed.
Eventually, we reached the Valle de la Concepcion. In the valley, we ate at a restaurant and sampled wine at a couple different places. Since I don’t drink alcohol, this wine tasting adventure was quite interesting. I had no idea what made a wine good and whether or not I would like wine. Nevertheless, through test tasting, I’ve discovered that I’m a gal that prefers the sweeter wines. My friends thought that I was crazy because I preferred the sweeter wines.
After we were done wine tasting, my friends and I headed to the local hostel where they were going to be staying for the night. I didn’t stay in the hostel but instead I headed back to Tarija. And NO I didn’t ride my bike back to Tarija! Instead, the owner of the bike company came to pick me up from the valley and drove me back to Tarija. On the way back to Tarija, one of the cars had flipped over in a bad car crash. A drunk driver who had too much wine to drink caused the accident. This just goes to show the dangers of drinking and driving. Overall, I really enjoyed my first time ever wine tasting. I would recommend that if anyone every comes to Tarija to also go on some wine tasting tours.
Finally, my last adventure consisted of me going with my host family to a small pueblo called San Lorenzo. San Lorenzo is located about an hour outside of Tarija in the countryside. Each year San Lorenzo has a huge festival rightly named Festividad del San Lorenzo. I found the festivities to be fun, and I enjoyed the dancing of the participants through the streets in their traditional wear. Also in San Lorenzo, I had a chance to meet and have lunch with members of my host family’s family. Overall, San Lorenzo was fun.
So far, I’m really enjoying Tarija and my new host family and I’m looking forward to other adventures that await me.
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