Operation Smile Mototaxi Junket – Peru, Bolivia and Paraguay
In 2009, Mark Beers and I decided to join the Adventurists and embark on a never been done before journey from Huancayo, Peru to Asuncion, Paraguay… via mototaxi. One of the points of the adventure was to raise money for Operation Smile. In the end we raised over 15,000 USD. Big thanks to everyone who contributed!
The trip by map is close to 4,000 km and supposed to take 2 weeks. We were joined by two other friends, Brett Beadle and Conor Lorimer in their own mototaxi. There were moments that tried and pushed us to the limits. Literally and metaphorically. At one point, not caught on tape, Mark and I were on two wheels going around a hairpin turn. We pushed the mototaxi too hard and we hit a rock at the same time. I saw my life flash in front of my eyes as we teetered on the bike overlooking a sheer drop of a few hundred feet at the edge of the road.
Another memorable moment was climbing through the Potosi mine at close to 13,000 ft. A tour that involved rolling our own sticks of dynamite, chewing coco leaves and drinking rubbing alcohol.
This video, Mark Beers and I shot as we brought our camera with us everywhere we went. Cheers to Mark for putting this 17 min video together.
Mining in Potosi, Bolivia
Last fall me and three friends tried to drive moto-taxi’s from Huancayo, Peru to Asuncion, Paraguay. We didn’t end up making it all the way because of problems at the Peru-Bolivian border. However we did end up driving over the Andean mountains on our 150cc moto-taxis. If you want to see videos of the adventure i suggest you visit our facebook fan page here: Operation Smile Junkies
This post is not to talk about the adventure but rather a detour called, Potosi, Bolivia. The city is one of the highest in the world and is marked by its history with mining. There is one mountain, Cerro Rico, that sustains the entire city’s economy. Hardly a sustainable practice, the town’s economy has been shrinking with the mountain…literally the mountain has been getting smaller.
Potosi plaza
Now tourists visit Potosi for the notorious haphazard mine tours. The four us thought for a second and then jumped at the adventure. What can beat climbing through a dark and slippery labyrinth in the middle of a decaying silver mine…with sticks of dynamite, coco leaves and 160 proof alcohol? Nothing.
I don’t mind the dark and i don’t get claustrophobic, but this tour made me second guess both of these. With an elevation of 4090 meters (13,420 ft), zero light except for your head lantern, slippery rocks, dust, open electrical cables and both freezing/boiling temperatures its not an easy walk about for everyone. Needless to say shooting in the cave was difficult. Most of the shots came out hard to see and both shaky. Right after I wasn’t too happy with the outcomes. But after a year my memory of the adventure has become just as shaky and fuzzy as the pictures i took, and after reviewing them i realize that they fit perfect to the actual adventure. I think they portray the adventure in the mountain as I remember. So here are some shots of our crazy tour in Cerro Rico mountain. Also check out Brett Beadle’s photos of the adventure.
A kid at the local market where we purchased our coco leaves, cigarettes, alcohol and dynamite stick ingredients. All of these are meant for the miners in the mountain as gifts. To sustain their energy levels, miners will chew on the coco leaves and smoke cigarettes. I'm assuming this is to limit the times they need to use the restroom. Their shifts are usually over 12 hours long and the average lifespan of a miner is 40 years old.
Mark and Brett before the mountain.
there she is. Bare and seemingly unimpressive. Little did we know...
crawling through a tunnel. at many points we had to crawl through or climb up very tight holes. The ground was either dusty or muddy making it difficult either way.
Handing over a bag of coco leaves and some cigarettes to a happy miner
our guide checking on a fellow miner.
miner working on one of the many rail systems running through the mountain. the miners use the mini rail system to carry around the rock loads
mine shaft
portrait of an exhausted miner in one of the social areas in the mountain. notice the bag of coco leaves and plastic bottles filled with alcohol or soda.
boots
Do yourself a favor and click on this image to see it full size. This is a sequence of a Potosi miner making a stick of dynamite with ingredients that we purchased at the local market. From a bag of nitroglycerin, wick, gunpowder and a roll of newspaper this miner created a stick about 5 inches long. He then continued to light the stick in front of us while we were in the middle of the mountain. He dropped the stick a few meters from us down a shaft.
exiting the mine
Conor Lorimer after the tour
one of our dynamite sticks we bought at the market to mark the end of the tour
