South of Bolivia (Tupiza, Potosi, Sucre, El Palmar)

After arriving in Bolivia overland from San Pedro de Atacama via the Uyuni Salt Flats, we spent about 3 weeks in the southern highlands. The altitude is an ever present topic here but the Bolivians quickly instructed us in the chewing of coca leaves to help with the symptoms.

Our first stop was Tupiza. A small town, surrounded by red jagged rock formations and the filming location for the cowboy classic Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We enjoyed the slow paced life in this town, ate with the locals at the comedor inside the main market and went on a daytrip into the surrounding countryside.

First on horseback, then hiking/scrambling up loose rocky slopes to gain a view over the red valleys, strewn with cacti. The way down proved to be more challenging and adrenaline inducing than expected, having to free climb down 10 very steep ravines while the guide told us horror stories of tourists getting lost and falling off cliffs in these parts. Thankfully we made it down without any broken legs.

Our next stop was Potosi. Looming over this city is the infamous Cerro Rico, the worlds richest silver mine, currently mined by independet mining cooperatives without any standardized safety measures in place. It provides about 60% of all jobs in the area and can make people a much better income than most other jobs, but is also extremely dangerous, and is said to have claimed the lives of 8 million men in the last 500 years, with 26 people dead already this year. Locals tell us that miners start their work at about 15 years old and usually have a life expectancy of about 45 due to lung disease.

Daunted but also fascinated by this mine, we decided to go on a tour into the oldest of the mine shafts. It is a working mine with ongoing explosions, 1-ton- carts full of minerals hurling past you at great speed, giving you only seconds to jump out of the way. You could see caved in side tunnels, huge cracks in the ceiling beams, walking was only possible crouched over. I got panicky after about 20min in this environment and had to turn around. Hadleigh completed the tour, including a 70m climb down a narrow shaft, watching the workers in these terrible conditions. Whilst an eye opening experience, I think we were both glad to leave Cerro Rico behind us.

Next up was the beautiful white city of Sucre. We needed a break and promptly both became sick, so most of our week in Sucre was spent chilling and recovering. The laid back vibe, the local markets and bustling central square provided enough entertainment to keep us happy for a week.

From Sucre we did a 3 day tour to the remote area of El Palmar, home to the elusive andean bear (which we did not see unfortunately), the world's highest palm trees (in terms of growing at the highest altitude) and what we were assured was the best condor watching in South America - we saw over 20.
On one of our hikes in the area, we heard a yelping noise and found a little 2-month old puppy stuck in a cave, probably abandoned by its mother. We rescued it and proceeded to parent her for the next 2 days, feeding her milk out of a cup, letting her sleep cuddled up next to us in bed. Suffice to say, we did not get much sleep, but the adorableness made up for it. Upon returning to Sucre our lovely guide Laura made sure that Cavita (we named her after the cave she was found in..) got adopted by a nice family.