Open access satellite imagery

This image, brought to you by Google Earth, and the SPOT satellite, shows a typical scene in eastern Bolivia, but from a few thousand feed in the air. Flowing from the bottom right corner off towards the center of the image is the Iruyañez River. IThe dark green areas are the flooded forests that line the Iruyañez and other small rivers. The grid layout of Santa Ana del Yacuma is in the upper right corner of the image, in the background. A white road runs along the river (on the north side) following the high ground and connecting Santa Ana with a series of ranches and small villages. In the foreground are many more lightly colored lines or rectangles. These are large raised fields, which are several hundred yards long, about 20 yards wide, and perhaps 2 or 3 feet tall. The extent of these agricultural fields illustrates the difference between pre-Columbian times and the present day, when this same land is used much less intensively, as cattle pasturage.