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.