Pongo, Chapter II

The Choquetanga Valley above Pongo. Note the glacially sculpted form.
A the bottom of a scree slope I just climbed down. I tried to get to the top of the ridge to look over the other side but the trail had been erased by a landslide and going was tough on the loosely packed rocks. I was also very tired after the long climb and time was getting close.


The ruins of an old gold- mining camp.

Looking down on the old mining camp


A water fall at the edge of a hanging valley


The nice thing about Pongo is the food stalls at the trail-head. Here is lunch after the hike: fresh trout with potatoes, rice and hot peppers. It is a good time to look up what birds were seen along the route. Riding back to La Paz in the back of a cargo truck. This truck was carrying empty beer bottles and propane tanks to be refilled in La Paz and then shipped back down the Amazonia.

Rural Tourism in the South Of Bolivia

We met some folks one Sunday on the Prado at a festival of Rural Products who were starting a Rural Tourism company. The idea was that the agency would be a solidary type enterprise with the communities and they would share in the profits of the tourism venture and would be a vehicle of sustainable development. The business model would be contrary to the current system where outside agencies visit the villages or the region with outside guides and leave very little for the local economies. This agency would be formed as a cooperative with various local organizations and the guides, drivers, cooks and hosts would all be locals.
We were one of the very first groups to take the tour and although there are still some rough edges, the trip was very nice. We met some great folks who opened their villages and their homes to us and were very happy for our visit. We were shown local customs, attractions and way of life.
Some of the highlights were the explanation of the wool thread making processes, dyeing and weaving in Livicucho; the explantion of the uses of medicinal plants and the hike in the canyon in Puqui; the meteorite crater in the middle of the desert; the ancient mummies; and the salt flats....





The Salar de Uyuni
Mummies.... hundres of years old.
The island of Cactii and the Salt Flats

Driving out to the Salt Flats


Livicuchans

Vicuñas
Weaving with Llama wool and natural dyes from Puno plants


Local garb

Making wool into thread


Typical scene in the Bolivian Altiplano.... expansive vistas, brillant colors and very uncertain weather. In the foreground is a thunderstorm while in the middle a mixed herd of sheep and llama.

Happy Thanksgiving

-pobre pavo-

Mr. Bobby

Sometimes I dream about reality
Sometimes I feel so gone
Sometimes I dream about a wild wild world
Sometimes I feel so lonesome

Hey Bobby Marley
Sing something good to me
This world go crazy
It's an emergency

Tonight I dream about fraternity
TONIGHT I say: one day!
One day my dreams will be reality
Like Bobby said to me

Hey Bobby Marley
Sing something good to me
This world go crazy
It's an emergency

Hey Bobby Marley
Sing something good to me
This world go crazy
It's an emergency...

Tonight I watch through my window
And I can't see no lights
Tonight I watch through my window
And I can't see no rights

Tiwanaku

The ancient, ruined city of Tiwanaku is an hour away from La Paz.

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert ... Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works ye mighty and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

        -- Percy Bysshe Shelley

Stone Carvings
The wall of faces

A collection of faces, ancient and worn

An inca wall...

Pongo

They raise trout in Pongo and there are a number of stalls that fix up trout meals. I have only gone to stand 21 because I like the trout here very much. Alex, a road worker building the new Cumbre- Santa Barabara Highway confirmed that he has been to many of the different stalls but that the food in stall 21 is by far the best. After hikes in the Cotapata National Park, a meal of Trout, Rice and Potatoes with a Coca Tea is a fine lunch.


Stall 21


The mountains above Pongo

The CotaPata Cloud Forest

Behind the Cotapata Petrol Station, there is an old road that leads to an extensive trail system through a beautiful cloud forest. Thanks to Sjoerd Mayer for the description of the trail.

Indeed, at the end of the trail there is a small gold panning operation as well as a number of old mine shafts. There is also an abundance of bird life but which requires a great deal of patience to find and observe as the vegetation is very thick and because the birds often travel in mixed species flocks. This means that most of the time there will not be any birds in sight and then all of a sudden, as a mixed species flock moves through, the trees are filled with individuals of many different species. At this point, it is challenging to fix on one bird and concentrate on that bird to pick out some identifying features.

On the hike, toucans, tanagers, tufftedcheeks, thistletails and warblers were observed. Sign of the Andean Spectacled Bear was also found.

The good things about the cloud forest are the adundance of ferns, mosses, orchids, bamboos and other plant life. In turn, this diversity of plant life encourages a diversity of animal life. The downside of the cloud forest is that this diversity is due to the large amount of rain, fog and moisture in the air. The best way to deal with the clouds and rain is to set out early in the morning before the clouds build up and when the visibility is high...


Fern Detail


A cloud forest butterfly


Ferns growing in the branches of a tree

A fallen leaf on a landslide


A forest lily
A new fern leaf extending itself

The cloud forest

None cut fern leafs


Another type of fern and its new-growth pattern

Cloud forest flowers
Cloud forest ferns

Cloud forest bamboo plant

Tradition Costume and Dance Groups Come to La Paz and Parade through the Center of the City

They danced down Camacho and put on their best show in front of the grandstands by the old zoo. Paceña was the sponser so there was plenty of beer to keep the judges and the dancers going. The costumes were amazing, the music was hypnotizing and the dances were were a spectacle.