Potosi

We arrived on a evening bus to the vibrant city, and our time here started with chaos. Our bus stopped at, to our unexperienced eyes, a random side of the road in the city and everyone got off. We got off with everybody else, not knowing what we were doing. Luckily, a local took pity on us, and we shared a cab to the city centre. I guess the bus station is a bit out of town, so everyone gets off here.

We had very little time in the evening, so we settled for a poor gringo dinner of ravioli’s and a burger, and went to bed. We did a little bit of exploring. The main centre of the town is quite lovely, with lots of walking streets, but transitions to chaotic residential pretty quick.

Potosi has one reason for the cities existence, and that is the Cerro Rico mines. These tunnel mines hoard a wealth of silver, zinc, tin and lead that the locals extract. Approximately 16,000 locals work in these mines, out of the cities 200,000 populations. We met an ex-miner, Johnny, who was willing to show us around.

The tour started with us getting kitted out in miner clothing. Jacket and pant covers, rubber boots, and a helmet was the outfit. No gloves, no goggles, no masks. We then headed to the miners market, where we were offered a variety of goods. There are the classic small booth items, Pepsi, coca leaves, snacks, and the others, black market beer, dynamite, ammonium nitrate. We each got a bag of coca leaves, Pepsi, and two beers as gifts for the miners. The market also had 96% sugar cane alcohol. Had a sip, tastes as expected, like ethanol.

We made it to the mine, and met a few of the local miners, Carlos and Freddy. These guys were in their mid twenties, and had been working in the mines for the last five years or so. Throughout our whole conversation with them and Johnny, they were demolishing coca leaves, and smoking cigarettes. We split two of the beers we brought with the miners. A tradition that they all do, and we followed, is before they take a sip of beer, they poor a little bit on the ground. This is an offering to the Pachamama (Mother Earth).

Bolivians as a people are very superstitious. Especially around the mines, where accidents and market fluctuations can change a miners life for the worst quickly. The offerings to Pachamama are asking for good fortunes for the day, whether that is safety in the mines, or lots of ore veins. At the entrance of each tunnel, there is a statue of a diablo, which is a representation of Pachamama. These statures are given offerings of coca leaves, cigarettes and 96% alcohol for good fortunes. Some on the head for knowledge, the hands for accident prevention, and the penis for fertility (more ore).

We chatted about salaries and cost of living with Freddy and Carlos as well. Their livelihoods are highly dependent on international metals prices. These metals are almost exclusively exported to the outside world. On good weeks, they can make 5000b ($1000CAD) per week. On poor weeks, 1000b per week ($200CAD). On average, its about 2000b per week. They work 4-8 hours per day, depending on how much available ore there is. The mining company is also a cooperative, meaning that every employee owns part of the company, and every worker splits the profits. There’s not office CEO making most of the bank.

The boys balked at the food prices in Canada when we told them what they were.

The mines themselves were a little claustrophobic. We must have spent 40 minutes or so walking through the tunnels, to a place where active work was occurring. We could hear the small echo’s of dynamite throughout the caves. We split a beer with one of the workers, again giving a little to Pachamama before each sip.

There are no proper safety systems in the mines. Given that the mining is under a cooperative, we were a little surprised that there was no investment into gloves or safety goggles. Lifespans for miners are about 10 years shorter than the average Bolivian, but they retire 10 years earlier. Every miner goes through a bag of coca a day. It looks like a hard life.

After the mine tour, we took a walk around the city. Potosi is quite a vibrant and pretty city. Johnny was excited to tell us about all of the festivals that occur here. I guess Halloween is a four day affair. The streets are very busy. We had lunch at a little café on the main square, and dinner at a pub. Great sandwiches. We saw a large collection of those gold stature people as well. Not sure what that’s about.

It is just a short time in Potosi. It is over 4000m, and this extended time at high elevations is starting to take a toll. So were off to some lowlands in Bolivia tonight. Night bus out, we will see you tomorrow.