Potosi and the notorious "Cerro Rico"
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2008
1
94
122
Trip End
Dec 17, 2008
Potosi,
Bolivia
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Potosi 13
. We got kitted out in all the protective gear - trousers , jacket , helmet , bandana (to wear over the face to filter the dust somewhat) , lamp and boots. Then first stop was the miners market , where I really a bit of a muppet tourist traipsing around in my (very clean) mining gear along with many other travellers . Here we could buy some presents for the miners whom we were to meet down the mine ... the presents that the miners like include sticks of dynamite & detonators (we bought some of these for ourselves aswell ... more of that later) , coca leaves and bottles of fizzy drinks. Next we visited the mining refinery where the output from the mine is processed into the actual minerals that can be sold such as lead , zinc , silver and tin. The refinery is owned by a separate company which buys the unprocessed rock output from the mining co-operatives and then puts it through a series of mechanical and chemical processes to get to the "semi-final" minerals .... apparently they still aren´t particularly pure and are sold as exports to other countries where they have further more expensive & advanced processes to get to the final pure minerals. Then it was time to head up in the bus to the actual mine itself - it starts off gently as the tunnel is quite wide and tall enough for you to stand up but it soon becomes lower and narrrower as you go deeper into the mine at the first level. We stopped at a little mining museum which is actually located inside the mine and had a series of exhibits , models and information in English about the mine and the industry
Potosi 14
. Here we also got to see a "Tio" , the devil which the miners believe controls the mine ... above ground they worship God but below ground in the mine they believe God is not in control but rather the Tio ... so they offer the Tio things like cigarettes , coca leaves and alcohol in order that he protects them from accidents down the mine and brings them good yields of minerals ... every mine has a "Tio". The museum showed examples of how the miners have suffered at the hands of the authorities , as it their daily lives werent hard enough ... there are numerous examples of miners being massacred when protesting at their working conditions. After the muesum it got tighter and lower and we reached a point where we stopped and I could really feel all the dust & gases going into my lungs ... it was getting harder to breathe normally. We heard a bit more about the miners and their work - they work 6 days a week in 8-12 hours shifts and are all part of mining co-operatives (the state mines were shut in the 1980´s). There are estimated to be about 15 000 people working in Cerro Rico , including 2 000 children aged from 10-16 years old. Each co-operative is maybe up to 25 miners and naturally they are all trying to find the best veins of minerals to mine ... apparently this can lead to physical fights between members of different mining co-ops as they look for what they think is the best spot. The first level was nothing , however , compared to the descent to the second level where we were crouching through narrower and narrower cracks , sliding down on our backsides at some points ..
Potosi 15
. it was getting more and more claustrophobic and hot just moving around down there , never mind actually having to do some work. We then heard some explosions from another part of the mine where work was going on ... really makes the hill shudder ! The descent to the third level was even more of a "challenge" as our guide described it and we had to do it by ourselves as the guides went another way (a "shortcut" they said) - basically we had to clamber through a very narrow shaft , over a large wooden fence and then duck under some metal implements and slide down a very steep section on our backs to get to the third level. Here at this third level we actually got to see some miners working - there were two guys who have to shovel the rocks into rubber baskets which are then winched up to higher levels in the mine ... hard enough to do this back-breaking work in fresh air and sunshine but down here where it is hard just to breathe and taking in the dust and the fumes its simply infeasibly horrible as a working life. The miners have their cheeks puffed out with balls of coca leaves which they chew and swallow the juices from ... similarly to the porters working on the Inca Trail in Peru they use coca leaves to stave off effects of fatigue , hunger and altitude. Then some wagons arrived - these contain up to two tons of rocks and are pulled/pushed by four other guys who are dripping with sweat and look absolutely knackered from their efforts as they unload all these rocks for the other guys to shovel into the baskets ...
Potosi 16
. and then take the wagons back to the other end of the mine to get more ! We werent allowed to go further down to the 4th level of the mine because its too unsafe for tourists ... this is where they are working with the dynamite to extract more rocks from the hill. So we took our final challenge which was to clamber back up through various narrow cracks and shafts to get back to the first level where we could walk back out to the exit. Fresh air and daylight seemed like heaven after just a couple of hours down the mine , never mind working a full day shift down there ... just about everyone´s reactions were the same in that this sort of experience puts your very comfortable life into perspective and makes you realise just how lucky you are ! There was a fun part to lift the spirits at the end when we got to blow up our dynamite ! We moulded the explosives into little balls .. its like playing with plasticine ... and then the guides attached the detonator and lit our little "bombs" ... much nervous hilarity followed as we got to hold the lit explosives for a few seconds (you have about 4 minutes before they detonate) before the guides took them off us and ran off into the distance to place them in the ground before making a sharp exit themselves ... then about 30 seconds later we witnessed the exciting explosions. Alas I didnt take many photos down the mine because it was so dirty & dusty and we all got absolutely filthy ... I didnt want to risk ruining another camera by getting it full of dust. Also with all the scrabbling about just getting around the mine it would have been a real pain to be carrying the camera at the same time so I kept it safely in my pocket. Without wishing to speak too soon , I have so far been really lucky in my travels around Bolivia ... I have experienced none of the problems that are increasingly in the news with the various political protests & blockades and so on that apparently causing mayhem for some travellers and restricting their movements ... I heard today that the US has actually advised its citizens to leave the country ! My plan now is to avoid any potential issues with road blockades in the south by going to the border with Argentina by train from Uyuni to Villazon so hopefully I shouldnt have any problems ! 
