Potosi Mine Tour

South America Day 28

Potosi Mine Tour

The only thing on the plan for the day was a tour of the silver mines. In the end I think 9 of us went along. We were taken to get fitted out for some snazzy safety gear. The girls had to wear red and Mike and I had to wear yellow. Women aren't allowed to work in the mines so they make them wear red to identify themselves. It was all a bit strange really.

We entered the labyrinth of mine tunnels and very quickly us taller folk were stooping because the ceiling was built for Bolivians. Quickly the air became noticeable stale & I started to wonder whether this was a good idea.

Early on we reached a bit of an opening where a guy was working. Mike and I were both given a chance to have a chip away at the rock face. I had a couple of whacks before a couple of rock chips started to rebound back at me so I decided that it was a bad idea. I had no safety glasses and I need my eyes to work.
Safety is drummed into my scull at work & my heckles were up because this was fast starting to look very dodgy. Our safety boots were nothing more than a a pair of garden variety gum boots and helmets didn't exactly instill confidence either.

Back in town, we'd bought some gifts for the miners. The little shopping bags included cocoa leaves, biscuits, detonators & explosives. Our guide gave one of the gift bags to the miner who set about building a charge and setting it in the crevice he'd been creating. We all hurried back along the tunnel to a "safe zone" to wait for the explosion. When it went off with a dull thud, we were showered by bits of the ceiling. My confidence was waning even further.

We were given the option to go down a rabbit hole and Nic, Melissa and Kerri took the option. I got to carry the cameras. I would get my chance later.

Our guide led us to a hole in the path with a rope for the decent. It was a bit of a struggle particularly for a couple of the girls. Everyone made it in the end.

The miners are very superstitious. This is the least disturbing of two idols. Above is Pacha Mama (roughly the Mother Earth). The miners like to pray and give sacrifices to these macabre statues.

This was the more disturbing idol. I think it's meant to be like the devil. I have no idea what it was called.
This one mountain claims something in the range of 14 miners every month. They who work there do whatever it takes to help them survive such a high fatality rate. They don't tell you all these stats until you're deep inside the mine.

One of the tour guides in Peru was trying to justify cocoa leaves, saying how good the teeth were of the people who chew them. The miners chew loads of the stuff and this is a clear example of the cocoa not working. Maybe he eats the rocks as well.

The toothless man's son was also working with him. He looked like a school kid. He had an expensive type of light that changed colour when the air was bad. I guess his dad was a bit worried about him.
By that stage I'd had enough. The battery in my light had gone, my neck and back hurt from stooping and the stale air was giving me a headache. On top of that I'd decided that we shouldn't be there because of the myriad of safety issues. Aside from the obvious issues of safety gear, zero ventilation and no shoring of the tunnels, the big issue was the lack of dig planning. The miners all worked their own plots with no thought to those around them. Consequently a guy at a lower level could easily (and they do) set off a charge and collapse the floor of the guy working above him. No wonder they kill so many. In hind sight I should never have put myself in that situation. I'm really angry at the operators for not properly informing us.

This was the whole reason why Mike even went on the tour. Mike had bought some extra explosives so we could set off a charge ourselves.
Our bus driver (an ex-miner) set up a charge with Mikes extras. Mike was all excited to start with. The plan was to set the charge in a pit & let the fuse do the rest.

Er.... What do I do with this?

Mike was handed the charge & then the driver lit it. Suddenly Mike's excitement turned to partial panic. It was his job to carry the charge up to the pit & get the hell outta there. He was all fine carrying it up, but once he'd put the package in the pit he bolted back. It took much longer than any of us thought for it to go off, but Mike was back standing with us for some time before it did. You'd never get away with that stuff in the western world.

After we returned from the mine tour we pretty much chilled for the afternoon. Kerri went looking for jewellery without success. The hype about how good Andean jewellery is turned out to be a crock. (Not that I'm am expert).
We had a bit of a look around town including the main square (above) but ended up going to a coffee shop for lunch and a drink. Potosi just isn't that interesting. By that point I was starting to look forward to the jungle & animals in Brazil.

Potosi

South America Day 27

Travel to Potosi

It was cold again when we woke up in our hostel in the middle of nowhere. We endured a 4 hour drive to Uyuni where we grabbed our gear and got straight on a bus for the seemingly endless bus journey to Potosi.

4-1/2 hrs on the bumpy dusty bus landed us in Potosi. The road was rough so trying to sleep wasn't even an option. The dust wasn't helping either.
When we finally reached Potosi and settled into our room, the first thing on the agenda was a decent hot shower. It was the first hot shower in a number of days. We were filthy! Between the lack of facilities and the excessive amount of dust in the desert, it was hardly surprising.
We suddenly realized that Kerri left her vest on the bus. Somehow we managed to get it back with help from the folk at the hotel.

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve

South America Day 26

Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve

It was a cold night & the 7am start wasn't any less icy. I have no idea how cold it was but I certainly had a couple of layers on. It all looked clear & warm outside, but as soon as we stuck our noses out the door, the eyes started to water. Once the sun came up it soon warmed up but the cars didn't start easily.

Sol de Manana

Our first stop for the day was the geysers. with all the volcanic activity in the Andes, it was inevitable that we would see something like this at some point.

The first geyser is actually man mande. Everyone took turns at putting their hands in the steam.

I couldn't help but jump through the steam. I'd tested the temperature with my hand but had underestimated that velocity it was pumping out at because it blew my hat off. Kerri got the shot though.

These are some of the real geysers complete with colourful mud and steam. We stood around for quiet a while looking at them. It's a hard thing to take photos of because of the swirling steam. Bubbling mud and steam has a similar memorizing effect on me as waterfalls or a camp fire.

Vicuñas again have found a hostile place to live & seemed to be feeding on something. I couldn't see any vegetation so I can only assume they were licking the mineral salts coming from the geysers. (Ok, I know, enough about the Vicuñas. I'm done.)

Laguna Collpa.

We stopped briefly at the hot springs on the shore of Laguna Collpa. I can't recall anyone getting in because it was still quite cold & dressing down didn't seem that inviting. We were to return there at lunch anyway.

It's just a shallow brick pool that captured the hot water as it comes out of the ground. Pictured is the warm stream that comes from the outlet of the pool. It then runs into Laguna Collpa.

Valley of Dali

 Heading south of the hot springs, we traveled across a wide valley of course, but soft sand. It was called the Valley of Dali. It was surrounded by the most strangely coloured ranges like the one in shot, Cerro Amarillo. It was such a strange place that (again) could be a scene from the surface of Mars.

Laguna Verde

A short drive on the other side of the ranges led us to this beautiful lake, Laguna Verde. The volcanic peak on the far side of the lake (Vulcan Juriques) is across the border in Chile.

 No garden variety camera can pick up the entire lake. This aspect looks across at Volcan Licancabur (also in Chile). When we arrived there was no wind & the lake surface looked like glass.

Not long after we arrived at this amazing place, the wind started to pick up & the entire lake turned this incredible green colour. I guess that's why they called it Laguna Verde (Verde translates to green). This is my favourite photo from Bolivia.

We were dragged away from Laguna Verde & taken back to the Hot Springs for lunch. This time some of the crew had a swim, but it didn't seem that inviting with such a big crowd & the ambient temperature had climbed as well.

Laguna Colorada

After lunch we started our epic journey back toward Uyuni. Our route took us to the opposite side of Laguna Colorada (Colorada is Spanish for red) to where we had stayed the previous night. We stopped briefly to admire this red lake, the flamingos and the nasty little whirl winds (see below).

At Laguna Colorada the wind picked up the salt off the lake & turned into mini tornadoes. I'm glad I wasn't any closer to this one!

Shortly after we left Laguna Colorada we climbed a little & were suddenly no longer in the dessert. The landscape was covered in grasses and we were clearly in farm land again. This Rhea bird was running along beside the car briefly. It looked like a stunted Ostrich.

The rest of the trip was forgettable, but very bumpy. By the time we'd made it to Villa Mar (a small farming village) we'd definitely had enough. At least there were warm showers! (Or was that a warm shower?)

We crashed early because it was a 5am start the next morning. The night was cold again.

The Bolivian Southern Desert

South America Day 25

The Southern Desert.

After a cold night we set off at 8.30 in the 4x4s again. Today we would explore some inhospitable terrain in the southern tip of Bolivia.
As soon as we were under way we started seeing vicuñas. They were everywhere! I guess that's why they're not protected in Bolivia like they are in Peru. The locals don't seem in too much of a rush to kill them.
We stopped briefly in a small village to get supplies. It would be the last shop we would see for a couple of days.We skirted around a small salt lake and ended up in a valley that looked more like a place on Mars. The spec of civilisation was actually a military base & being that it was a matter of a few kilometres away from the Chilean border, was the front line of defence for Bolivia. Our driver gave them some treats & cocoa leaves. These guys do it tough out in the middle of the dessert.

Vulcan Ollague

The first scenic spot was Vulcan Ollague. It's an active volcano (just). You will see a small plume of smoke coming from near the top.

Below, see it is active. Promise! Granted it's not like the lava spewing volcanoes in Hawaii, but it is active.

At one point we had to hop out of the cars & walk up this hill. Apparently the road was so rough that us passengers without our seat belts would have been bashed around too much. Better we went for a stroll.

Laguna Canapa

This was our lunch spot. Laguna Canapa is one of a number of salty lakes in the Bolivian dessert. Not a bad outlook for a picnic.

The amazing thing is how much life thrives despite the caustic environment. The flamingos love it! It's exactly the right conditions for the algae they eat. They were not at all what I'd expected to see in the high altitude dessert.

We had ideal conditions for photographing these pink birds.

I just like the photo above because of the sparkles off the water

 If you've ever seen flamingos take off you will relate to the photo above. They wind up & to a wonderful ballet stile tip-toe across the water.

Landing isn't quite so graceful, particularly with the much that they have to land in (below).
I have added more flamingo & other bird photos to my Flickr site (click here).

Even our familiar gull friends were there. I also took photos of Sand Pipers, Finches & Plovers.

Below is a Red Backed Sierra Finch, above is a White Rumped Sand Piper.

Laguna Hedionda

We finished up lunch & headed off to the next lake (Laguna Hedionda). Not as nice as the previous one, but we stopped for a look anyway.

Even the crested ducks seem to like the saline waters. There must be some sort of life in these lakes.

Laguna Honda 

The next lake was a little more interesting & had a green tinge.

While we were admiring the view of Laguna Honda, our driver whistled and threw some food out on the ground. Within a minute this Andean Fox appeared to have it's photo taken and take a left over chicken leg. I was as excited to see this one as I was to see the fox in Alaska, but the circumstances were a little worrying. We kept hearing in Canada about the problems with habituating wild animals and that was exactly what was happening here. Unfortunate, but I got my shot. I shouldn't feed into it.

The middle of nowhere.

The next couple of hours were pretty rugged. The bumps & corrugation were severe & the 2 girls sitting on the back bench seat were getting bashed against the roof of the 4x4 and all our spines were copping a hiding. The dust was getting into everything.

We made two stops during the grind to our accommodation. The first stop was at a rocky shelf. I couldn't understand why we had stopped until this little guy appeared from a crevice. It's a Vizcacha. A bit like a rabbit, but more like a chinchilla because of the tail.

Once again, the tour operators left food for the animals. Not ideal, but once again, I got my shot.

The Stone Tree.

The second stop for the afternoon was this very strange wind sculpted rock. When you look at it it's hard to work out how this strange shape evolves. As soon as you get out of the car it becomes obvious. Aside from the wind being ice cold that late in the day, the first thing you notice is the feeling of being sand blasted, particularly close to the ground. So the sand wears away at the soft sandstone & does it more at ground level. As the sand level shifts the top of the rocks are left more or less unharmed.

Laguna Colorada

We're made it! Phew!
A small building on the shore of Laguna Colorada was to be our shelter for the night. The desert was even colder here as we had gained even more altitude & lost some cloud. We had to keep the place locked up to stay warm.
Unfortunately, after dinner some of our group & most of the other group (who were also staying there) decided that a card game was a good idea. The cards weren't that much of an issue, but the cigarettes were a different story. Somehow they figured that because we were in Bolivia where smoking inside is still not only legal, but socially acceptable, that it would be fine for them to smoke us out of the place. We weren't even safe inside our small dorms. Not cool! It's very inconsiderate particularly with the altitude & the close quarters.