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.