Potosi and the mines of Cerro Rico
Trip Start
Jan 26, 2000
1
15
30
Trip End
Jun 14, 2000
Potosi,
Bolivia
Sunday, April 16, 2000
Potosi had become a very rich town back in the 18th/19th century due to it's proximity to Cerro Rico, a mountain so full of silver, lead and zinc deposits it had underwritten the Spanish economy during this period. Potosi is the world highest city and back in it's glory days it was the largest city in the western hemisphere and surpassed London and Shanghai in size. Unfortunately in recent years the world money markets have driven the price of silver down and Potosi lacks the wealth it must have once had. On the bright side this wealth had created a city with some marvelous colonial Spanish architecture as well as churches dating back to the 14th century. It was Palm Sunday that day and we had a top day wondering the streets and just admiring the splendid architecture. We also found time to attend a service in one of the many churches. It was excellent to see the church so full that people were having to stand up for the service, a far cry from church services in Britain. Later that evening we experienced something from a different culture, we went to see a film, The Mummy. My only advice for those of you who haven't seen it is don't!
Day two in Potosi and it is 17th April. In the morning we decided to go and explore the mines with a local guy and ex-miner, Santos, who we had met in the streets the previous evening. We started the morning around at Santos's place(when we eventually found it!) trying on wellington boots, hard hats and yellow plastic macs. We had been warned to wear our oldest and least wanted clothes.
We first visited the miners market where we invested in coca leaves and cigarettes to give to the miners as presents and a stick of dynamite and some nitroglycerin so we could have a bit of fun ourselves. On the way to the mines we took the opportunity to chew some of the leaves ourselves, mixed with an alkaloid(usually lime, ash and potatoes) the mild drug usually numbs your throat and gives you a mild, pleasantly content feeling. The drug also suppresses hunger, pain and tiredness which is the main reason the Spanish introduced it to the indigenous people, obviously for them it meant a higher work yield.
The whole experience from the mine was fantastic, yet at the same time it was a huge eye opener and sobering experience and made me feel privileged to come from a more affluent society. During it's early years 8 million people died in 250 years. The conditions had improved but the miners still worked in medieval conditions. The temperatures get as low as freezing, yet in the height if summer they can rise to 45C, many of the mines have not ventilation. The miners work by placing dynamite in holes which they have to manually hammer out of the rock. To hammer out a hole in the rock for the dynamite, typically 60cm deep, it takes a guy 3.5 hours. Once the rock has been blasted it is sorted and another guy has to carry sacks weighing 50kg, on his hands and knees and at times up steep inclines to wider tunnels where it is wheelbarrowed out of the mine. I was given the opportunity to 'help' the miners. Firstly I took the hammer and rod used to bore the holes and after literally 2 minutes I was sweating profusely and gasping for breath and the day we were down the mines it was only 10C. I also tried my hand at carrying one of the sacks of rock up the tunnel, the bag is strapped to your back with no support what so ever, it is definitely not one of the most comfortable of experiences. While struggling with the altitude to reach the main tunnel one of my straps snapped knocking the flame out on my lantern, I was stuck there in the dark until one of the miners came to rescue me.
What was really special for me was that despite these harsh, appalling conditions the miners must have been some of the friendliest people IŽd met on my travels. After our tour through the maze of tunnels (god knows how our guide found his way out) distributing cigarettes and coca on route we went outside for our own bit of fun. We took some dynamite added some more nitroglycerin and the fuse and our guide when and places it in a spot about 150m away. I was expecting a bit of a pop, but should have expected a bit more when our guide warned us to turn our backs as we could get hit by flying debris. Well when the explosion happened the noise was deafening and even though I had prepared myself for the blast, the noise was so great it almost made me jump out of my skin! That afternoon after wondering around the markets in Potosi we came upon one of the most disgusting sights I'd ever seen, dried llama fetuses hung up from the canopy of a market stalls. Apparently some of the locals and miners used them as good look offerings and people also like to put them in the foundations of their houses for luck (if you're rich and can afford it then you can use fully grown llamas!).
