The Moutain That Eats Men Alive

No, this is not the title of an ancestral Africain tale. Even though my last post was about the African autumn, I need to get back in time a few weeks to tell you about a place, high up in the Bolivian Andes.

The Moutain That Eats Men Alive is the grim nickname given to the Cerro Rico ("Rich Moutain"), a moutain full of silver and other minerals that overlooks the city of Potosi at 4,824m altitude. It is said that since the start of its exploitation under Spanish ruling in 1545, 8 millions miners lost their lives while digging for the precious mineral. Although there is obviously no official figures to confirm this, there is many reasons why it is probably not too far off the truth: the working conditions are dreadful and they were probably far worse for the first 3 centuries, with slaves being sent down without any protection whatsoever against the many dangers looming down there. Gas explosion and bad manipulation of explosives, silicosis (a lung disease caused by the inhalation of dust), falls, tunnels collapses, etc.

Today the whole mountain threatens to collapse due to the high number of mines (with more than 500 entrances and 50kms of tunnels each operated by different cooperatives and a few private owners) and inadequate mining. 

Men start working sometimes as early as 10 year-old and are heading to a certain death around the age of 45 because of the silicosis. Yet, to stop digging is not an option as the 20,000 miners who work in Cerro Rico pretty much support the whole 200,000 Potosi inhabitants. 

So with no other option to earn a living, they head down every day, sometimes up to 24h in a row, chewing coca leaves in order to make their stomach numb and cope with the altitude and fatigue. They also have "El Tio" to look after them, a devilish figure whom they believe rules the kingdom of the depth and will protect them as long as they worship him and offer him his daily fix of coca leaves, alcohol and the occasional cigarette.

Thanks to its silver, Potosi was once one of the richest cities in the world and bigger than Paris. It is said that with the 41,000 metric tons that were extracted between the opening and the middle of the 18th century, a bridge made of silver could have been built between Potosi and the royal palace in Spain. But as one miner puts it (see www.time.com article): "Another bridge could be built from here to Spain, one made from the bones of the miners who have died inside here."

See the pictures taken by Hardy here (haven't had a chance to upload mine yet) including our own stunt in the mine bringing down gift bags filled with dynamite sticks, to the miners.

And if you'd like to know more, I recommend the excellent documentary "The Devil's Miner" about 14 year-old miner Basilio.

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Sources: our guide in Cerro Rico, Wikipedia and www.time.com