Dinos and Mines

On my last day in Sucre I took the Dinotruck to a dinosaur reserve and museum. Ok there were no real dinosaurs. However, I got to see the largest collection of preserved dinosaur footprints in existence, which was pretty cool. Supposedly, the footprints were formed around 40-60 million years ago in what used to be a lake. Eventually the lake dried out and through a geological process (which I will not attempt to explain here) the footprints were preserved. There are footprints for over 250 species of dinosaurs. It was surreal to witness. The rest of the park was pretty goofy with fake dinosaur statues and sounds. Definitely a far cry from Jurassic Park, nevertheless, it was amusing.

Yesterday I left Sucre for Potosi. A mining city that was once one of the largest cities in the world during the height of its mining success. Now a little less than 200,000 people live here.
It was a city divided between two cultures-the Spanish and the Indigenous people. A river literally separated the two. The Spanish side being the rich side. The Spanish used the indigenous people as slaves in the mines. The mines are still active today. However, nowadays each miner works independently and sells his or her minerals to the processing companies. Everyday between 7000 and 20,000 miners go to work. Today I took a half day tour of the mines. It was incredible. Before heading to the mountain, my tour group and I had to gear up. Put on proper clothes for the mines including a hard hat with a light. Once at the mines, we needed to buy the miners items to thank them for our visit. Some of the gifts we bought for them were coca leaves, dynamite, crackers, cigarettes, and soda. I am not kidding. The miners chew the coca leaves all day. They say it helps keep the dust out of their lungs and gives them energy. They also believe that the devil is the god of production so they present gifts to statues of him asking for him to bless them with many precious minerals. They give the devil statue alcohol, cigarrettes, and coca leaves. Inside the mine, we heard explosiones and watched the miners work so hard. Then we blew up a piece of dynamite outside of the mine. It was crazy.