Potosí‘s Silver Mine - Buying Dynamite

We had a long travel day ahead of us. First, a 4h bus to La Paz, followed by an 8h night bus to Potosi, where we would visit the (in)famous silver mine and then hop on another 4h bus to Uyuni. But first things first.

Now, here are a few things to know about the silver mines:
1) First of all, it is an active mine with thousands of miners still working in the mines. The conditions are horrendous with hardly any advanced technology. Just imagine working in a dark and dusty mine and now also add the altitude of at 4780m above sea level. Your breathing is gone!
2) Second, the silver mine fuelled the Spaniards riches in times gone by and Potosi is said to had been one of the richest towns in the world - now it is very poor due to the exploitations of the conquistadores.
3) Thirdly, the mines started to operate in the mid-16th century and since then more than 8m people are said to have died in the mine. To this day, our guide told us that around 100 people still die in the mine every year.
4) Fourthly, life expectancy of the miners is just around 40 years due to a proliferation of lung cancer.

So why on earth would we want to visit this place? Well, it provides you with a unique perspective and will shine a completely new light to the value of life and human capabilities. During the tour, we will have a chance to talk to the miners (hopefully make them maybe forget their ultra-hard life for a brief moment) and witness their second-to-none resilience. And lastly, any tourism dollar that pays for the tour is good for the local economy and a part also goes to the miners directly.

Anyway, Maria, I and the rest of the group got a proper miner's outfit and headed to the 'miners' market' to buy supplies to give to the miners in the mine. Here, we also learned about dynamite and, of course, bought some. In Potosi, anyone from the age of 7 or 8 can legally buy dynamite (also foreigners without proof of ID).

A stick of dynamite incl Nitroglycerin, the detonator, fuse, etc. costs a total of 35 Bolivianos (around $5). At the market our guide told us how the miners use the dynamite and some of the accidents that can happen. In addition, popular items that the markets sell are cocoa leaves, cigarettes, fruit juice and 96% alcohol (!) - we took a little sip and it tasted strong, but not horrible. But yeah, we drank some high-percentage alcohol before going into one of the deadliest mines in history armed with explosive dynamite... what could possibly go wrong?

Watching the Cerro Rico mountain and its mine tower above us gave us a weird feeling, but at the same time we were excited and intrigued to experience what life is like in the mine - even though we know it wouldn't be a comfortable 2-3h.Read more