The Beiler Farm, a real farm, close to Ixiamas, is run by a family of Mennonite background. It is well worth the travel time to get there. If you have no disabilities and you are planning a trip to Bolivia, this is one of the must-see places. Directions are easiest to give from Rurrenabaque, so that is what I will tell you.
While in Rurrenabaque, go to the Beni River, and cross on one of the barges to San Buena. It costs one Boliviano, or one Bs (Bs rhymes with niece) per person. Sometimes children ride free, sometimes they do not, as it depends on the barge. The barge trip is very short, about five minutes. The barges have row benches along the sides of the barge, and not across the barge’s body like on a bus.
The blue and orange tarped barge we used the most on our crossings of the Beni River. You can see the island and the Beni River in the background.
Seating is first come first served, and is very informal. Your luggage can remain on the stern of the barge. You should know though, that although you are going to a place far removed from any modern conveniences, traveling as lightly as possible is still a good idea. When you get across the Beni River, and to San Buena, you might need some help getting your luggage up the steep hill.
This is the hill we climbed in San Buena.
One half of the hill is a ramp, and the other half is stairs, all concrete. It helps with safer footing, but you certainly don't want to fall on it. When you reach the top of the hill, you'll be rewarded with the terminal on your left.
San Buena.
The terminal is a small building, so don't miss it and go farther than you need to as there is a military post about a block away, with nothing in between the two buildings.
This is the military post in San Buena.
At the terminal, ask for billetes para Ixiamas (bee yay tays pa da Icks see ah mas), or tickets for Ixiamas. It is best to do this in the morning, and not the evening, unless you want to spend the night in Ixiamas in a hotel. It's almost impossible, at the time of this writing, to travel by motorcycle taxi after dark to the Beiler Farm and that is literally the only way to get there.
There are no street lights in the area between Ixiamas and the Beiler Farm, and the roads can be hazardous, even in daylight hours. We have made the trip in the dark, however, but that was
after having been on the road several times. I would not recommend doing the same to those who have not been on the road before, or are inexperienced on motorcycles.
Back to the discussion about the terminal in San Buena, though. These are vans, with a lot of seating, but quarters are still cramped. There are many people who make this trip on a regular basis, which costs about $4.25 USD (30 Bs), and it does have small children, chickens, and about anything else a Bolivian might need to transport.
Inside the van on our way to Ixiamas.
Different people are also picked up and dropped off along the way. It is about a four hour journey. The first time we made this trip, it seemed like we would never get to Ixiamas.
When you do finally get to Ixiamas, it's time to begin your journey to the Beiler Farm. Across the street from the van terminal, and a bit to your left, you will find several motorcycle taxi drivers. Ask a driver if he knows granja de Beiler (gran ha day Bay ler). Depending on how much luggage you have, you might have to take more than one motorcycle taxi to the Beiler Farm. We had to take four the first time. It will cost you about $7 USD for each motorcycle taxi, or 50 Bs, but do not pay until you've reached your destination. As a special gift to the Beiler Farm, and possibly a special treat for yourself, buy some ice, called hielo (yell o, just like the color yellow) from Eduardo Bustillos' store, or tienda. He and his wife, Natali, sell it in their store on the corner on your right, just as you are leaving town, for a very small cost.
Eduardo Bustillos with my son, MrBaby, in front of his and Natali's store in Ixiamas.
The Beilers use this ice to make ice cream, and it is excellent!
The trip to the Beiler Farm lasts about half an hour. The road is extremely dusty, unless it has recently rained. Then it can be slippery in spots. The road is dirt with large rocks here and there. When you are traveling, you are going to get thirsty. All of the littler towns you'll go through have water supplies, but even so, you want to make sure it's not going to give you a pathogen. These are what we took, but our Adventurer has a solar charger with it. The water at the Beiler Farm never made us sick, they've been drinking it for years, but it is out of the creek, and it isn't filtered for pathogens, just for debris from the creek bed.
There are small streams criss-crossing the road in spots. These small streams usually have stone beds, and your driver will be quite accustomed to traveling through these. You'll go through areas of pasture, areas of jungle, a gate where you might need to get off the motorcycle and open the gate for your driver, allow him to go through, and then re-latch the gate behind you, and then remount the motorcycle. Shortly after this, you'll come to a small gulch. For the gulch, you most likely will need to get off the motorcycle, and walk across the stream in the bottom. There is a jumble of large rocks and small boulders to the left where you can possibly walk across using the boards that have been added, but I preferred to just get my feet wet in the cool water. (Just before the gulch, if you look to your left and up, you'll see where one of the Beiler's daughters live with her husband and young son.) My son, at age three and a half, had no difficulty walking over the boards, but he had practiced a lot before we had left the USA for Bolivia.
When you've gone past the gulch, you'll go left, then right again, and you'll soon be at the Beiler Farm. This is when you pay your motorcycle taxi drivers, and give Sarah, the mother, or Judith, the next oldest daughter, the ice. They will put it away and hopefully you'll be treated to ice cream that night after supper.
Meals are included in the rates, which are higher than what you'd have found in Ixiamas, but the scenery and the quietness of the place make it well worth the extra cost. When we were there, it was about $25 USD a day, per person. Meals are quite elaborate, but informal, with several people at the table, and you are quite welcome to eat until you are full. There are several 'courses', with all served at the same time, and the food is excellent. For snacking in between, there are always bananas available, as well as baked goods on the counter, and fresh milk. Please do not forget to try the queso. It is the best I have ever had. Meals are generally announced to all on the Beiler Farm with a series of horn blows. There's no rush, as people generally get there in about five or ten minutes. They're busy putting tools away, finishing up the last details on whatever work they were doing, or cleaning up for dinner. It is all a very relaxed environment.
You can help around the farm if you choose to do so, go hiking, or just spend the day in your cabin. The Beiler Farm is a Christian environment, and although they do have a Mennonite
background, they are very accepting of all Christian denominations. As with most of South America, the Beilers observe Saturday as being the Sabbath. Sunday is not the Sabbath. Saturday is the Sabbath. The Beilers would accept guests on this day, like any other, but it would not be as easily worked into their routine as if you had arrived on another day.
The Beiler Farm has two shower areas, and two bathrooms, all are very close to each other, with one of the bathrooms being an outhouse. They are in the center of the Beiler Farm.
The showers and bathrooms at the Beiler Farm.
There is no hot water for showering, as they put in a gravity pump, and now the solar bag does not hold water pumped in to it from the gas generator pump. This was changed while we were
there. It may have changed again since we left, but if not, your best bet when taking a shower the first time in Bolivia, knowing it will be cold, is to just relax, and think of it as your own
personal waterfall. Relaxing is key, though.
This is the beautiful stream going through the Beiler Farm.
I quickly adapted, my son never did, but I soon learned that cold water in a bathtub basin left in the sunshine quickly warmed up.
There are cabins here and there on the Beiler Farm, and one cabin, beyond the creek, has more privacy than the other cabins.
This is inside the cabin.
It also boasts two beds, a hammock, and it's own outhouse.
The upper cabin's outhouse.
Showers still have to taken either in one of the showers centrally located on the farm, as there's no shower near that cabin.
This is a beautiful place, serene, with wholesome people and wholesome food, and while it is far away from the hustle and bustle of the cities, the people are bilingual, and you should have no problem with communication. Sarah generally goes into Ixiamas on Sundays, to sell baked goods, fresh milk, cheese, and other items. If you ask, and get up early enough, you can spend
the day in Ixiamas. While it's a free ride with Sarah on the way to and from Ixiamas, there is very little room to sit. It is about a three hour trip, one way. there is more seating on the way back, though, as much of the items that had loaded the wagon down have been sold. In Ixiamas, there are internet cafes there, a karaoke bar (be prepared for a lot of hip hop and rap, however - all we heard was Eminem coming from the karaoke bar while in Ixiamas), chicken dinners with noodles and rice, Eduardo's store, a swimming hole at the far end of Ixiamas (that we unfortunately never got to visit), and many opportunities to take beautiful pictures from the outskirts of town.
I highly recommend the Beiler Farm as a vacation spot, and it's perfect for an author to go to and get the quiet some desire to work in when writing a novel. If you are a writer, be prepared for no electricity, though, and plan your daytime schedule for writing accordingly.
This is our room's view looking outside at the pasture area.I do want to let you know that if anyone has any kind of disability, this would most likely not be a compatible vacation for them. It does require the ability to get on a motorcycle, walk up and down hills, and there is no electricity. For everyone, this place is largely inaccessible during the rainy season in Bolivia, so the months of December, January, and most of, if not all of, February, are ruled out. The creek swells up in the gulch and is largely impassable by motorcycle. The road on the way out is dirt, and would turn into mud, making that alone nearly impossible to traverse. The vans traveling from San Buena to Ixiamas also may find great difficulty in getting around the streams after the heavier rains start. That still leaves you with nine good months, from late February to early November to enjoy this small wonder.
And yes, it is extremely child-friendly. The Bolivian people love children, and take great care in being friendly towards them.
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