Torotoro, a paleontological wonderland

There is no easy way to get to Torotoro (see my other post). The village of Torotoro is not special in itself and is surely not the reason why we choose to travel to Torotoro. When we arrived at night we felt a bit of despair when we realized that our contact to our hotel El Molino had not been informed of our arrival, and that we were stuck in the middle of the night with no idea where to find a hotel room in the village.

We asked the lady at the transport office to direct us to a good hostel. She signaled her own residence which had rooms to offer.

What a terrible place it turned out to be. After our infamous hostel in Singapore we promised ourselves we wouldn’t ever stay in another s****hole, but “Los Chocos” in Torotoro managed to beat our accommodation in Singapore. Ania will have more details in her monthly summary.

There are four possible trekking circuits around Torotoro. Tourists are not allowed outside the village without a guide (milk ‘em), but the price is reasonable at least and the guides are generally knowledgeable.

The attractions outside of Torotoro are extremely interesting, especially for those interested in paleontology. In fact the village of Torotoro is surrounded by dinosaur footprints and its mountains contain an inordinate amount of prehistoric fossils. Torotoro is surely one of the best places on earth to see dinosaur footprints. Trekkers can also enjoy a beautiful walk down a canyon with crystal-clear groundwater cascading down.

Our first trek brought us high in the mountains surrounding Torotoro where we discovered a mountain of earth filled with fossils. There were so many fossils that we were literally walking on them as we explored the site. We saw countless fossils of prehistoric plants and amphibian creatures. Solid rocks were peppered with unicellular organisms (I'll upload the pictures shortly).

Our second trek brought us closer to the dinosaurs, where we saw dozens of well-defined footprints of carnivorous as well as herbivorous dinosaurs. Our guide showed us footprints of a dinosaur family heading in the same direction. When we saw the massive footprints of the brontosaurus, we were blown away. We were actually at the site where the gigantic animals once tread. That was a truly great moment.

Now it should have been a perfect tour but it wasn’t. My main criticism is exactly the same I had in Tilcara ruins in Northern Argentina: conservation.

Guides in Bolivia tend to know a lot about dinosaur footprints and can easily recognize footprint patterns and give information about the creatures. That’s all fine.

My main concern is that if guides are trained to recognize dinosaur footprints, they are absolutely clueless about conservation. And that, in itself, is a big problem. Take for example our excellent guide during our hike outside of Sucre, Enri. When we arrived at the site of the dinosaur footprints, he showed the tourists what great pictures we could take by putting our feet right where the dinosaurs used to tread. Ohh that picture makes a great souvenir, no doubt, but it is a terrible move that can speed up erosion greatly (all guides talk about the erosion effects of rain on footprints – well, let me tell you that walking on any of these footprints is much worse than rain). Of course most tourists did exactly what our guide advised them to do and stepped right in the footprints.

Our guide Emilio In Torotoro knew many things about his beloved dinosaurs, but he failed the conservation test as well. He showed us a trick guides like to pull with tourists. The trick goes like this: The last guide always covers in sand one amazing fossil (claw of dinosaur) after he is done with his group. Then, the next guide shows up and goes to the fragile dinosaur claw (covered in sand) and washes out the sand with his bare hands, to the “Ohhs!” and “Wows!” of tourists. Well I was amazed no doubt but for a different reason: amazed at how quickly this wonder will disappear if guides keep on doing this.

There is no doubt in my mind that distant generations won’t be able to see many of these footprints unless immediate action is taken. Bolivia no doubt needs help in managing and conserving its prehistoric sites. International organizations would be more than happy to provide Bolivia with much-needed funding and training. But like everything else in Bolivia nowadays, it seems that the ruler, Evo Morales, has a serious disdain for outside help.

That’s too bad because not only Bolivians, but the rest of the world as well, stand to lose if the wonders of Torotoro disappear from the surface of the earth.

Cheaper is not always better

There are only two ways one can get to Torotoro Nacional Parque (I’ll have more on Torotoro in the next post): the expensive way (tours leaving from Cochabamba) or the cheap way (public bus).

Now the price tag for leaving from Cochabamba on a hassle-free organized tour to Torotoro is about 350$ US for two nights, including food and a guide. Now many of you may think that 350$ isn’t that much money. That sum is all fine and well for those traveling for three weeks. Unfortunately budget constraints are real for those of us who are traveling for a year.

Ania and I did the math and realized that we can save a lot of money by organizing each segment separately. The public bus to Torotoro costs 3$ per person. The hotel costs 36$ per night. A guide maybe 15$ per day. It was an easy choice. We opted to organize our trip to Torotoro by ourselves.

Was this a good decision?

Let me break the suspense for you: the ride to Torotoro was the stinkiest, stuffiest, most inefficient, dangerous and crowded ride of my life.

We immediately realized that the ride was going to be long, very long (7 hours for 160 kilometers) when we arrived at the bus station. The locals from Torotoro essentially go to Cochabamba once a week to do their groceries. Dozen of heavy bags full of vegetables and even live animals stuffed in plastic bags (what a sad sight) were put in the cargo area and on the roof of the bus.

We got in the no-frills bus and so did everybody else. The problem is that the bus didn’t stop receiving passengers once the seats were full. At least 20 people crammed the aisle as well. Two guys who arrived late had to walk on seat armrests to reach their seats all the way at the back of the bus! The bus was so full that people standing up in the aisle had to lean on those of us who had aisle seats.

Of course none of this is legal. A short while after we left Cochabamba we arrived at a border crossing to Potosi. The driver yelled “get down!” in Spanish and Quechua and all the locals who were standing up in the aisle ducked down and stayed low until we cleared the border.

Our guide in Torotoro told us that it was a very dangerous affair, too. Accidents involving overweight and overcrowded buses are not uncommon in Bolivia. Also the fact that most of the ride took place near a precipice in a high mountainous area mean that accidents of this type leave passengers no chance. Here’s even more reason to dislike this ride.

Now I suggest that anybody interested in visiting Torotoro does NOT take this bus. Of course the more adventurous of our readers may see an exciting side to this story, coupled with the fact that the public bus is so much cheaper. But think again. You may be saving money by traveling with the locals, but saving your life is probably a better proposition.

Trekking pictures uploaded

I've uploaded the pictures from our trek around Sucre.

Enjoy.

To view the pictures in the correct order, please click on "View My Gallery" under the thumbnails, select the desired album and click on the first picture.

South and Central Bolivia Wrap-up

The Great : Sucre. Sucre is great for many, many reasons. It is a beautiful city filled with charm and with plenty of interesting activities to do. A special mention goes to Laguna Colorada as well. Seeing our first flamingoes on the red lake surrounded with snow-capped mountains was definitely a great moment in our trip.

The Hidden : Sucre is not recognized as a trekking destination but it should be. There are no 6000 meters mountains to climb but there is the Maragua Crater about 20 kilometers East of Sucre which is deep in Indigenous land. Ania and I trekked for four days and all we can say is “WOW”. Not only were we treated with spectacular landscapes, but the cultural aspect our trek was unparallel. We learned so much about indigenous culture during our trek. Don’t overlook Sucre if you intend to trek in Bolivia.

The Overrated : Tarambuco market. The Sunday market did not impress us by any stretch of the imagination. Tourists have made the market a hot spot in the last years, and the result is twofold: 1 – you’ll be harassed a lot by the locals 2 – the prices are Gringo’s prices at 1.5 or 2 times what they are in Sucre or Potosi. There is no reason to visit this market other than to see the locals walk around in some elaborate traditional dresses. As a market, Tarambuco is a failure.

The Ugly : Ania’s recurrent stomach problems. For some reasons Ania’s stomach hasn’t been happy in Bolivia. In fact her stomach has been acting strange since we visited the town of Salta in Northern Argentina. My poor, poor girl is sometimes in pain and we cannot pinpoint what food irritates her stomach. She is starting to look forward to wrapping-up this trip and going back home just so that her stomach finally gets better. And that, believe me, is scary. :)

In Bolivia non for profit - part II

The owner of our hostel in Sucre recommended to us a non-profit company organizing treks around town - Condortrekkers. We didn’t even know one could do trekking around Sucre, and we decided to check it out.

Condortrekkers was founded by an Australian a few years ago with the mission to develop tourism around Sucre, while at the same time ensuring that the communities around Sucre receive some benefits from the business. While the organization heavily relies on volunteers from around the world, the founder makes sure that volunteers are only there to support the guides. All the guides and some administrative staff are Bolivians, and the long term goal is to have the organization entirely run by locals.

Condortrekkers organizes great hikes in the region (more on that in the moment) but as I said it also ensures that the profits trickle down to the villages around town. For example the organization provides school supplies and sport equipment to the communities. Recently they visited the communities to give the children supplies of tooth brushes and tooth paste and conducted "tooth brushing workshops" for them. Apparently it was a lot of fun.

We went on a four-day trek with Condortrrekkers. It was a new experience for me because for the first time I was completely self-sufficient. We were carrying on our backs all the camping equipment, food for four days, water purifiers and even a "wild toilet set" (don't ask for details). Let's be honest - the backpacks were heavy, especially on the first day (Marc and I roughly evaluated that they weighed no less than our own backpacks, at 16 kilos).

The hike was beautiful. On our way we passed through ground with all possible colors, from yellow to purple. We saw some indigenous wall paintings a few thousands of years old. We walked through a crater. We saw real dinosaur footprints (it is a transcendent experience, bringing one back in time). We bathed in a waterfall (believe me, we needed that bath) and we culminated the whole experience in natural hotsprings on the last night of the trip.

All of that above was amazing. But what ensured that this trek was one of the best during our year-long trip, was the cultural experience. Our guide was absolutely fantastic and even managed to beat the great guide we had in Chile. We spent a lot of time talking to him about Bolivia, Canada, Poland, culture, history, politics, food, love and life in general. Actually, we got along with him much better than with our own group (ask Marc the details about our trek companions, if you want to hear him rant. Some highlights of his speech will include youngsters bringing a 1.5 liter whiskey bottle on the trek and then complaining that the backpack is too heavy :-) ).

Our guide was not only a delight to talk to, he was also our portal to the local communities. He seemed to know the inhabitants of all the villages we passed on the way. He stopped to talk to villagers and give them small gifts and he introduced us to many of them. It was a unique experience because indigenous Bolivians are not very willing to talk to strangers. And even if they were, most of them only speak Quechua anyway. Our guide even brought the whole group to visit his friend's house in one of the villages, where we were treated with chicha, a very sour alcoholic drink made from corn. It will not become my drink of choice but I'm definitely glad I tried!

And of course we made obligatory stops in the villages supported by Condortrekkers. It was quite a sight to see all the local children (usually very shy) run towards our guide and volunteers. We visited two schools, tried to learn some words in Quechua and, of course, played some soccer - the most universal way to bond with children around the world!

We walked about 15 to 18 km every day. We climbed over 1600 meters in altitude and descended over 2700 meters. And twice during breaks I chose to chase the ball instead of sitting down and resting. And believe me, I would do it all over again, even if I had to go with the same group (not so sure about Marc, though ;-)

In Bolivia not for profit - part 1

Bolivia is doubtless one of the poorest countries we visited this year (and one of the poorest in the world). But luckily for the country, it attracts a great number of international non-profit initiatives.

One of my favorite ones is ASUR - a project to revive traditional waving techniques. It started in the eighties with a couple of Chilean anthropologists who had a collection of old traditional weavings from around Sucre. When they came to the region, they realized that the weavings were no longer produced in the communities. The couple thought that reviving the art would be beneficial not only from an anthropological point of view but that it could also provide employment in the villages where opportunities for traditionally practiced agriculture were deteriorating. Long story short, the couple created an organization called ASUR, formed relationships with communities around Sucre and helped establishing the art of weaving traditional patterns.

It was hard at first because participants of the project were only able to produce very simple patterns. Young girls in the communities decided to try more elaborate and creative weavings. They sat together with their grandmothers, who still remembered how the weaving used to tell stories of everyday life and represent the system of believes practiced in the community. The combination of grandmothers’ memories and young girls’ skillful fingers led to the revival of an art that was almost completely lost.

Nowadays the weaving have once again become a living tradition. Although similar in style each weaving represents the interpretation of reality from the artist point of view. The traditional patterns are evolving to reflect the life of the community of today.

And interestingly enough, the business of weaving led to a division of labor in the villages. At first, weavers prepared their own wool and dyed it. Now some inhabitants specialize in preparing wool, some others' job is to dye it. The weavers only focus on weaving. In one village there is even a windmill set up to provide energy to facilitate some of the processes.

Marc and I wonder. The project started as the revival of ancient techniques and traditions. But it looks like it is enhancing the production cycle similar to the development of modern methods of production. Plus, the new income in the communities is often used to send children to schools in town thus giving them a better chance for the future. And in the future they will likely stay in towns, not in the villages of their parents.

This is certainly not a bad thing. All people deserve a chance for a better, more comfortable future. We should not hope that they will keep living their traditional (and harsh) lifestyle just because we find it interesting and picturesque.

I simply find it ironic how an attempt to revive the tradition has lead to progress along the same lines as in the western civilization. Of course it will be long, very long, before the lifestyle of indigenous people around Sucre even approaches the quality of life of city dwellers. I hope that the beautiful weavings will somehow find their place in the new reality. Hopefully traditional artisanat will remain in demand and become a profitable occupation…

New pictures uploaded

Enjoy beautiful Sucre.

To view the pictures in the correct order, please click on "View My Gallery" under the thumbnails, select the desired album and click on the first picture.

Trip monthly update

August 9 2011 – September 8 2011

Summary of the tenth month of our trip

Number of countries visited: 3

Number of flights taken: 0 (the first, and possibly the only month without flights!)

Number of posts added to our blog: 20

Number of marital conflicts: 0 (we've been angels this month:)

Best overnight stay: Marc wouldn't forgive me if I didn't give the prize to our hostel in Sucre, Bolivia. He loves this place. It's a simple bed and breakfast according to western standards but believe me, it feels like the ultimate luxury after weeks of cold and austere accommodation. So clean, so warm, and so solid. Should I also mention that I can take a hot shower in my own bathroom whenever it pleases me?

Worst overnight stay: T night we spent at Laguna Colorada on the trip from San Pedro in Chile to Uyuni in Bolivia. It was the coldest night I have ever experienced; the temperature was minus fifteen outside and there was no heating in our dorm. Thank God the view of Laguna Colorada was totally worth it!

Best Call we made: Departing from the original plan and staying longer in Bolivia. Originally, we planned between 7 and 10 days for the whole country. But we fell in love with Bolivian landscapes, towns and villages and now it looks like we will stay here at least a month. Unfortunately this means that we will spend much less time in Peru. I guess it is better to see everything we want to see in Bolivia than do a half-ass job in both countries.

Worst Call we made: While on the road trip around Salta, we decided to visit a lake that was at some distance from the main road. We took the shortest path to minimize the number of kilometers spent on the unsealed road. Well, it may have been the shortest way but certainly not the fastest. After a few kilometers the road turned into a not too clearly defined track. We drove 25 km in two hours and got lost once. We finally decided that no lake in the world was worth passing half a day on a terrible road and risking wrecking our car. We headed back to the main road. By this time it was already too late to visit anything else. Needless to say, we found out that there was a perfectly good road leading directly to the lake.

La Nouvelle Cuisine

Sucre doesn’t get better than this. Steak lovers, this post is for you.

I was told countless times that Argentinean beef was the deal in town. Well I can tell you that Argentinean beef is no match for the incomparable steak offered by the restaurant La Nouvelle Cuisine in Sucre. For a paltry 4.5$ a tender grilled steak is offered with an all-you-can-eat salad bar. The steak is almost as good as the unbeatable steak offered at Ristorante Nancy’s about 100 km south of Quebec City. :)

For now Sucre is a three strikes deal: 1 – La Nouvelle Cuisine - the best steak I’ve had this year 2 – Casa Verde - one of the best accommodation this year 3 – Sucre - the most beautiful town we’ve seen in Bolivia.

If you choose to visit Bolivia you’ll be committing a crime if you do not visit Sucre. And you’ll be committing an even bigger crime if you don’t eat a steak at La Nouvelle Cuisine.

A delightful, colorful festival

While we’ve been used to spectacular landscapes in Bolivia and the country being rough on the edge, nothing prepared us for the type of stay we had in Sucre. Sucre is by far the most beautiful town we’ve seen so far in Bolivia (and according to most travel guides, in all of Bolivia).

Much to our delight, Ania and I realized that we had decided to stop in Sucre right at the time when Sucre goes all-in in the gigantic festival Virgen de Guadelupe in early September.

Bolivians from all over the country congregate in Sucre to celebrate the city’s patron saint. The festival was a multi-day affair, with the first procession being composed of cars that are richly decorated by labor unions. At night, a concert took place around the central plaza. Now any light sleepers should do well to visit the town on a different date. Indeed countless fireworks and firecrackers were set off until 5 AM (Thank God I didn’t forget to bring my earplugs).

And then the next day the festival took an even more vibrant twist. Colorfully dressed dance groups paraded to the beats of the brass bands until the early morning hours. The colors were vivid, the bands played excellent tunes, the ladies were gorgeous, and the dresses sexy. Why would anyone want to miss on that? :)

Although Virgen de Guadelupe is supposed to be a religious festival, the only reference to religion happened before the first procession when the locals walked down the streets with a framed image of Santa Maria.

Granted, I haven’t been to the Rio Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Purists will find Carnival Rio more exuberant in every possible way. Also, the festival in Sucre started as a religious procession and has metamorphosed into a carnival over the years. The Brazilian success story has surely something to do with this.

But for now Sucre has given me the best party of the year.

New pictures

Enjoy the stunning views!

To view the pictures in the correct order, please click on "View My Gallery" under the thumbnails, select the desired album and click on the first picture.

Mint your own at Casa de la Moneda!

If you’ve survived a visit to the Potosi mine, there is a good chance that all the minerals (and wealth) you’ve seen in the mine has piqued you interest for precious metals. If you are interested to know what happened to all that silver once it was extracted from the mountain, then head to the Casa de la Moneda, arguably Bolivia’s finest museum.

In Casa de la Moneda you’ll have the chance to visit the oldest mint in the Americas. Built by the Spaniards soon after the first silver was extracted, Casa de la Moneda gives you the chance to see the machinery used to mint the silver coins that made Spain rich. Bloody rich.

Casa de la Moneda has a lot to offer besides 16^th Century coins. The museum boasts a rather nice set of paintings, including the unique Virgin of the Mountain (La Virgen del Cerro). I suggest you listen carefully to the explanations of your guide about this painting. The painting is choke-full of historical information about the city of Potosi.

Some of the rooms include the large machinery used to mint the coins. These were operated by mules whose life expectancy didn’t exceed three months. Mules died in droves as a result of the high altitude and terrible work conditions. So many mules died every month that Potosi was forced to import thousands of mules for as far as Northern Argentina. Seeing the heavily indented circular path in the cobble stones around the machinery is a sober reminder of the fate of the poor animals.

Ok so now you’ve seen all these nice coins and you are thinking “I want one!”. At Casa de la Moneda everything is possible. Just go to the souvenir shop and tell the lady that you want to mint your own coin. Then you’ll have to choose if you want your coin to be made of bronze, lead, or silver. I would recommend silver, of course, but the price of silver has gone through the roof in the last years which means that you’ll have to fork out about 40$ for a silver coin. I decided to settle for bronze mostly because I already have a few silver souvenirs. The rest is just straightforward. Put your piece in the machine, take that huge hammer and WHAM! You just minted a new coin just like it was done in the 16^th and 17^th centuries!

If you visit Potosi give Casa de la Moneda a couple of hours of your time. It will be the perfect wrap-up to your Potosi mine tour.

Potosi - our history

“Do you want to light the fuse” the tour guide asked me. Crazy. Absolutely crazy. It was a tempting offer but I have to admit that, err, my experience in manipulating dynamite in underground terrain is…rusty to say the least.

I don’t really need to tell you that I did the right thing in refusing the offer. A lot of miners die every year manipulating and setting off dynamite. If experts can’t always figure it out right…

So you want to visit Cerro Rico? Sure. But before you set off with your tin hat, you need to know a few things about the tours and the conditions inside the mine.

1 – Choose your tour operator carefully. Ideally you want your guide to be an ex-miner. One tour operator stands out in Potosi. It is called The Real Deal. The Real Deal is the only tour operator owned and operated by ex-miners. And trust me, descending into the abyss with ex-miners is a wise move: they know the mountain better than anyone who has never worked in the mine. In fact there was something reassuring when we saw our guide meet other miners and start joking with them in Quechua, the language of Inca descendants. Another advantage to having an ex-miner as a guide is that the guy knows the tunnels by heart. This could be a life savior should s*** hit the fan. Somehow it felt that we were in good hands (relatively).

2 - You’ll have to buy gifts to the miners. All tours start with a visit to the miners market where you are expected to buy gifts to the miners. Miners like to receive coca leaves, a bottle or two of Coke, and dynamite. Lots of dynamite. We bought a bundle of dynamite complete with fuse, powder, fertilizer, along with coca leaves and Coke. Walking around with dynamite in a backpack is not everyone’s typical idea of a restful vacation, we understand that. :)

3 - You’ll see miners working in awful conditions. Some miners will smile, others will not. You’ll come about miners that carry 40 kilos worth of ore on their back. Obviously you’ll be a sensible tourist and won’t strike a conversation with these poor chaps – or worse - ask for a picture. Life is already very hard for miners at Potosi. Don’t make it any harder.

4 – You’ll hear dynamite blasts or be given the chance to blast yourselves. You should always refuse a generous offer to set off dynamite. Miners know what they are doing, but the whole process of setting up and setting off dynamite has been known to go wrong at times, injuring or killing the unfortunate miner. Don’t add your name to the dreadful list of casualties.

4 – Dangers include: Tunnel collapsing, runaway trolleys, explosions gone bad (collapses, injuries), deep shaft falling, exposure to noxious gases (read my last post for more details), falling rocks, and acid water, among others. You’ll have to cross pools of acid water and exposure to this water is, obviously, highly toxic. Our very relaxed guide’s own recommendation: walk slowly in the pools of acid water. Madre de Dios the locals would say.

Cerro Rico does not accommodate tourists. If you choose to visit the mine, you need to know that you are taking on serious risks. Noxious gases are always present – more so when there is a lot of dynamiting going on. We chose to visit the mine on a Saturday. Visiting the mine on a Saturday can be a bummer – that’s at least according to our guide – as you’ll meet fewer miners. Well for us this was a no-brainer: fewer miners = fewer explosions. Fewer explosions = less chance of tunnel collapsing. I’ll take your Saturday offering thank you.

The risk of collapsing tunnels is real, and you’ll realize it for yourselves when you see the number of makeshift support beams, many of which are already heavily bent due to intense pressure. A high number of collapses have occurred before (read my previous post), and everything indicates that more collapses will occur in the future. And this is no joke: upon noticing a nice silver vein in the ceiling of a tunnel, Ania asked our guide why miners weren’t extracting ore in that area. Our guide told us that the floors and ceilings were no more than a half a meter thick between tunnels and that any mining on ceilings and floors could produce collapses. In fact, so many tunnels crisscross the mountain that our guide has made the dreadful prediction that Cerro Rico has about 15 years left before the final collapse occurs.

Now most of you probably think that Ania and I (along with anyone else who has visited the mine) should have our head examined. Really, so many risks…and for what?

Now let’s talk about the rewards. If you visit Cerro Rico, you’ll have a very good idea of what mining is all about in poor countries. This will be a real eye opener. You’ll appreciate your desk job much more than you did before (and my comment is aimed specifically to all the bureaucrats who complain about the workload). Life will seem…simpler, easier than before you visited the mine.

If you are a rockhound addict like me, well, you’ll be in paradise: I collected dozens of fine pieces of pyrite, a massive rock full of silver and bronze. I also collected amazing crystals made of copper sulfide. All these incredible rocks will be on display at the Delisle’s residence and everyone will be welcome to see them.

With Cerro Rico you get a chance to visit the mine that produced most of the wealth of the Spanish kingdom for two hundred years. This mine is the very justification for the tortuous – and at times certainly criminal – history of Spain’s involvement in the New World.

Be part of history, too. Just make sure you know exactly what you are doing.

Potosi - a history

Cerro Rico. The towering mountain over Potosi reaches 4824 meters above sea level. It wasn’t always like this though. Cerro Rico used to stand at 5200 meters. Hundreds of years of heavy mining have produced so many collapses that the mountain has literally shrank in size.

Why do I want to talk about Cerro Rico? What is so special about this mountain? Cerro Rico is arguably the most famous silver mine in history. That’s why.

Cerro Rico was “discovered” (the indigenous people always knew of its existence) in 1544 by the Spanish after a local llama herder, Diego Huallpa, built a fire at the foot of the mountain known in Quechua as “Potoxsi” (meaning “thunder” or “explosion”). The fire grew so hot that the very earth beneath it started to melt, and shiny liquid oozed from the ground. Now there is some confusion as to why Diego Huallpa decided to alert the Spanish of this news, since local Inca customs prevented the exploitation of the mountain which was considered sacred. Anyway, news reached the gold-crazed Spaniards who investigated the area and founded the town of Potosi in 1545.

The gruesome history of Potosi was about to be written.

Large-scale excavation began in earnest. Thousands of indigenous slaves were pressed into service and the first silver coins were headed for Spain. Over the years the Spaniards imported thousands of African slaves to augment the labour force.

Work conditions were horrifying. Slaves were working “shifts” that lasted for four months. Four months without ever seeing the sun. The slaves simply ate, slept and worked in the mine around-the-clock. Of course life expectancy in the mine was reduced to a few years as the slaves died in droves as a result of exposure to noxious gases and chemicals such as silica dust (the cause of silicosis), arsenic gas, acetylene vapors, as well as asbestos deposits and mercury poisoning. Millions of Indigenous people died from exposure and brutal labour.

The mountain consumed such a massive quantity of human flesh that historians put Potosi right the centre of the massive demographic collapse of Indigenous people in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. At the same time the population of Potosi ballooned and the city started to require massive food support from the surrounding regions. In fact Potosi grew so big that it was probably the biggest city in the world in 1625 with 160 000 thousand people. At that time London had 100 000 people and Paris less than 80 000.

Meanwhile the Spanish kingdom enjoyed the luxury related with thousands of tons of gold and silver pouring into the empire (a staggering 41 000 metric tons of pure silver was extracted from Potosi alone between 1545 and 1783). So much gold and silver reached the shores of the empire starting from 1545 that Spain was able to build the most powerful navy (“Armada”) in the world. Another consequence of all this silver and gold flooding Europe was that the continent experienced severe deflation for two centuries, as the price of gold and silver cratered and brought all prices down with them.

Mining at Cerro Rico continues to this day. Nowadays zinc, lead, and tin are being extracted in greater quantities than silver. This does not prevent miners from trying to find a rich vein in silver that may allow them to retire early. Cerro Rico has also become a premier destination for tourists as they descend into the abyss to explore the tunnels of the mine with the most terrifying history of this world. Ania and I have put on our security gear and have decided to find a rich silver vein for ourselves. Have we been successful?

I’ll let you know in my next post.

Bolivia 101

Our introduction to Bolivia was from the backseat of a 4x4 vehicle going through a desert situated at 4000m above sea level. It was, needless to say, a memorable experience.

We left San Pedro de Atacama (Chile) towards Uyuni (Bolivia) on a 3-day tour. We saw on the way some of the most amazing landscapes of this trip.

Our group consisted of two French guys, a Portuguese couple, Marc and me. At the Bolivian border we got into a 4x4 and off we went through the desert, counting on our driver to get us where we needed to get, as there were no roads to speak of.

But if you think that crossing Bolivian deserts at 4500m of altitude in a 4x4 means that you are left alone to experience the solitude of the altiplano, think again. You may be off the beaten track but only literally. At least 5 other vehicles with groups similar to ours accompanied us throughout the entire 3-day tour. Only a few times did we find ourselves truly alone to admire the beauty of the altiplano.

That being said, no matter how many people were around us, nothing could possibly spoil the views. Some people suggested that after seeing so many beautiful places on earth, Marc and I became blasé and not easily impressed. This may be true sometimes, but I must admit that the landscapes I saw between San Pedro and Uyuni left me in awe and were comparable to nothing I’ve seen before.

The two most spectacular sites to me were Laguna Colorada and Salar de Uyuni (salt desert).

An amazing site suddenly unveiled before my eyes in the middle of the altiplano – Laguna Colorada, a lake with red water surrounded by yellow grass. The lake was also choke-full of pink flamingos casually wading in the shallow waters or snacking on oysters. After having seen so much dusty brownish-grey landscapes during the day, the flamboyant colors seemed surreal.

Why is Laguna Colorada so bright red? The lake derives its unusual color from a combination of minerals, notably magnesium and mercury (surprisingly not iron, if I am to believe our tour guide). And the flamingos are pink not because they drink the red water but because they feed on pink oysters that color their feathers. Apparently if a flamingo changes diet, it becomes white.

For Salar de Uyuni, I had the luck to see it first at sunrise. The Salar is a huge (10,582 square kilometers) dried salt flat that gives more an impression of a desert with sand than a desert with salt. I had visited before the Salinas Grandes in Argentina, which is similar. However, the Salinas Grandes didn’t prepare me for the spectacular sight of Salar de Uyuni. The salt flat extends till the horizon in almost all directions, with an occasional mountain or two being visible far, far away. According to Wikipedia the Salar de Uyuni is actually used for calibrating satellites because it is so huge, flat and provides good reflection. The Salar has many small holes filled with salt water, which indicates that underneath the salt crust there is a salt water lake (and the largest reserves of lithium on earth).

But to see all the wonders of the altiplano, one has not only to put up with numerous groups of other tourists, but also with very rough conditions. We spent our first night in a hostel near Laguna Colorada. At 4600m above sea level it can get pretty cold in the night – about -15 to -20 degrees. One might say that living in Canada, I should be used to these temperatures. This is true, but I am also used to heating devices indoors and believe me: no matter how many Canadian winters one lives through, it doesn’t prepare one to survive a night in an unheated and un-insulated stone construction with a tin roof. And the fact that the air is pretty thin at such altitude, rendering practically every activity a considerable effort, certainly doesn’t add to comfort.

Fortunately, our group got along really well, the evening flew by with lots of laughs and discussions that helped forget about the temperature. I survived the night buried under all the layers I could get a hold of.

Marc would have a slightly different story to tell about this night, though, as the altitude sickness prevented him from sleeping altogether – he struggled to breath, fought a headache, and had nausea all night long. Early next day we fed him a healthy dose of coca leaves which did help him :)

So what did I learn about Bolivia from my first introduction to the country? These are my first impressions:

- It has stunning landscapes;

- It can be rough to travel around because of limited infrastructure;

- High altitude is a force to reckon with;

- It is much more touristy than I anticipated.

Time will tell if these observations are applicable to other parts of the country. I will keep you posted.