Potosi

Dynamite (and fuse)!
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Potosi was founded by the Spanish in the mid 16th century when they discovered indigenous mining activity there. The highest city of it´s size in the world at 4060m,it is dominated by Cerro Rico (rich hill) from which Silver, Tin, Lead and more recently Zinc have been extracted. Though Potosi is a UNESCO world heritage centre containing many wonderful examples of colonial architecture, the main reason Gringos tend to come to here is to visit the mines and we were no exception!

Gifts of cigarettes and cocoa leaves for the miners
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The tour began with the fitting of our overalls, helmet, torch and wellies before we were bussed to the miners market. Here our guide Pedro (not to be mistaken with "pedo" which means fart in Spanish!) advised us on what we could buy to bring to the miners as gifts, namely cocoa leaves (which they chew), mineral drinks, cigarettes and dynamite (yes, over the counter dynamite!!). Next stop was the refinery, where ore is crushed and chemically seperated into silver, zinc and waste product. The plant is very basic and we couldn´t help wondering how much chemical waste reaches drinking water in the city below. The bus then transferred us to the side of Cerro Rico, from where there´s a very pleasant view of the city, before dropping us to the mine entrance. Lights on, we entered the shaft and walked for a few hundred metres where we visited the mine museum. Here we learned that the mine was state run until the mid 80s but since then has been run by cooperatives of small groups of local miners. Sarah began to feel claustraphobic at this stage so she opted to go back out, good move as things got a lot worse! We continued into the mine system, visiting Tio (a clay model of the devil) to whom offerings of cocoa leaves and alcohol are made as thanks for letting them remove his minerals. We then dropped 2 levels where it got hot (30 degrees +), very dusty and involved crawling through some very tight sections. We saw miners working in what could only be described as 19th century conditions. Hours are long, cave ins are common, there is no proper ventilation and work is back-breaking (manually chiseling, digging, pushing 2 tonne trolleys all at over  4000m). In this environment most suffer first from back problems and later Silicosis of the lungs from continually inhaling dust and gases, which if they keep working there long enough, is fatal. A recent survey had revealed 90% of those working in the mines do not want to and only do so because there is no other work. Our guides father died in his 50s and his uncle in his 30s, he and his 3 brothers continue to work there. We continued, climbing back towards the exit, pausing in a disused section of tunnel where the miners gather on a Friday evening to drink 96% alcohol before going home, hard lives, hard men. I have to admit I found the whole experience sobering if not slightly disturbing, it´s not right that people have no choice but to work in these conditions in the 21st century.

Looking stylish in our mining gear!
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Back at the surface, the guides detonated a few sticks of dynamite, a lot louder than you´d expect, before we made the return bus trip to town and a welcome shower.