- Day 1 - Cochabamba to Torotoro, Umajalanta Cave & dinosaur tracks
- Day 2 - The lost dog and slot canyon
- Day 3 - Fossil hunting and return to Cochabamba
- Return to Bolivia 1999 Index
- Another good Torotoro trip report
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through
the canyons and mountainous countryside. Before taking off, the Swedish
pilot asked us (in Swedish) if we would like a "little adventure" during
the one hour flight, if weather allowed. We happily agreed.
We arrived in Torotoro one hour later, after the pilot had completed his best "Top Gun" imitation through the canyons surrounding the town. The Torotoro airstrip consisted of an overgrown field and stone hut (with Bolivian flag). After arranging for the pilot to return in three days to pick us up, we began the short walk into town.
After checking into the only *hostel* in town, we were assigned (without choice, by decree of the local militia) several local guides, ranging in age from 10 to 30. There was no electricity in town, and no vehicles in the cobbled streets. Most people burned gas for light at night, or used batteries in flashlights - as illustrated by the corroded Duracell batteries strewn throughout the streets. We were also greeted by the town major, who declared how impressed he was to see clean-cut good-looking Americans. Evidently the previous Americans who had visited Torotoro were longer-haired and with poor hygiene. At mid-day, accompanied by four guides, we started the 10-kilometer hike to a local Umajalanta cave.
We arrived at the cave entrance after two hours, and found the cave to be much larger than expected. We scrambled down the cave entrance with our guides, who carried candles and hemp rope. We turned on our personal headlamps after entering the first dark chamber, which provided about 10,000% more light than the candles. The guides were quite impressed. We spent the next several hours walking, crawling, and admiring the various rooms and underground water features. The highlight of the cave was an small lake filled with blind fish, which we easily spotted underwater with our headlamps.
After a late lunch outside the cave entrance, we began the return walk
towards town. We stopped to look at various dinosaur tracks, which
had been fossilized by the thick mud deposits that once covered the entire
valley. We returned to town in time for dinner at a local residence,
and retired back to our hostel.
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mountain
top was another 3000 feet above the city. As we started the climb
we were followed by two dogs from the hostel - one golden short-haired
athletic dog who was a great climber, and one small black-haired dog who
resembled a small mop. I tried to scare them back to town, but they
were intent on staying with us. We spent the next 2-1/2 hours climbing
to the top (with the dogs), and were rewarded with an incredible view of
the entire valley and surrounding canyons. Well worth the effort.
We decided to take an alternative route down, via a boulderfall on the
opposite side of the mountain. The boulderfall became quite steep,
and the black dog had more and more difficulty jumping down small 3-4 foot
ledges. The black dog usually found an alternative route around each
ledge....but ultimately disappeared during the descent. We assumed
that the black dog would find an easier way down, and did not worry.
The golden dog had no problems keeping up, and stayed with us during the
entire descent.
We returned to town at 10am, and were greeted by Cecilia, her mother, the hostel owners, and our four local militia guides. The hostel owners had already been inquiring about the missing black dog, and claimed that the dog had never left the hostel. The owner's young daughter began to cry as a small crowd gathered, and all mayhem broke out. In addition, the guides were very upset that we had wandered outside the hostel (let alone to the top of the mountain) without their mandatory escort. We were forbidden from doing it again. The owners put together a small search party, but we knew that they would be unable to ascend the steep boulderfall. Andy and I were *fairly* sure that the dog would survive, but everyone else had become quite concerned.
We had no choice but to continue with our planned day, and assume that
the black dog would show up later after finding a better way down the mountain.
We had breakfast at another local residence, and arranged for dinner there
that night. We hiked to the site of very large dinosaur tracks, just
outside the town border. Some of the tracks appeared to climb up
the slope, due to the uplift that had occurred since they had fossilized.
We continued hiking into a slot canyon nearby, and spent the afternoon
bathing in the turpentine water, eating lunch, and admiring the red walls
of the canyon. We returned to town by 5pm....still no sign of the
missing black dog. The owner was now very angry at us, and the situation
did not look promising. As we sat on the doorstep of the hostel,
we saw a small black furry creature staggering up the main road - it was
the missing dog. The owner rushed to the dog and swept it into his
arms, and we were redeemed....
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Day
3....Fossil hunting, return to Cochabamba
We ate lunch while collecting fossils, then returned to town to pack. We hiked up to the airstrip, and the Swedish pilot landed right on time. He again offered to provide us with a little entertainment on the return trip, and we again agreed. The in-flight adventure consisted of flying as low to the ground as possible, and then passing over a 3000 foot dropoff into a deep canyon. I think that he also dipped the nose of the plane as we passed over the canyon edge, to enhance the experience.
We returned to Cochabamba unscathed, and returned home to celebrate our wonderful trip to Torotoro.
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