Bolivia

To travel to Bolivia while staying at home, we need a good drink, good music, and either a good travelogue, movie, or book. We have all of them.

First the drink: Bolivian leaders once told their people to drink mocochinchi instead of Coca-Cola in an attempt to reject corporate capitalism. I would totally drink mocochinchi instead of Coca-Cola! It is delicious! Here’s the recipe. https://hispanickitchen.com/recipes/mocochinchi/. The hardest part would be tracking down the dehydrated peaches to make it, but Google can find anything.

Next the music: I love the traditional music of Bolivia. I have a CD in my office that I bought from one of the groups who played at the San Diego Safari Park summer after summer. I play it when I need to concentrate and it works great for me. I used to own a siku (a Bolivian panpipe) and gave it to someone who plays better than I do. There are many options for finding Bolivian music. Here is a sample from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2bmRoaYMGQ.

Then choose just one or two of these travelogues, movies and books: Bolivia has amazing diversity in its tourism. Sky tourism to the Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia draws 60,000 tourists per year. Gabriele Saluci and Ludovico de Maistre, Italian friends and explorers, show their journey to what they call the clearest and bluest skies on the planet in The World in Slow Motion, season 3 episodes 6-8, found on Amazon Prime. The humor in this series is fun and the sky pictures they take are beautiful!

Another travelogue on Amazon Prime is Bolivia: Treasures Within. The five episodes include The Butterfly Resort, working at a restaurant along the Parai River, Inca ruins and Guarani villages, farming, and serving Christmas dinner to street kids. My favorite part about this series is the diversity in what is shown and the conversations with Bolivians.

A less pleasant trip to Bolivia (terrifying in fact) is documented in Yossi Ghinsberg’s book Jungle, available in paperback, on Kindle, and free online through my local library on Overdrive. The movie Jungle starring Daniel Radcliffe tells the same true story. In normal times, you can travel to the area in which Ghinsberg was lost and stay at ecolodge Chalalan in Madidi National Park.

Another movie trip to Bolivia I recommend is Our Brand is Crisis. I enjoyed the 2015 movie. I haven’t been able to track down the 2005 documentary, but I hear it’s very good.

In addition, Jaime Escalante of Stand and Deliver fame grew up in Bolivia.

That’s plenty of movies to keep us busy on our virtual trip to Bolivia. Let’s move on to books. There are many Bolivian writers who have not yet been translated into English. I’ll focus on books in English that I found easily. Everything here is available at least in paperback and on Kindle. Most are also available on Overdrive. Besides Jungle, mentioned above, I found:

· Two books by Bolivian author Juan de Recacoechea: American Visa and Andean Express

· Our Dead World by Bolivian author Liliana Colanzi

· Red, Yellow, Green by Alejandro Saravia, Bolivian-Canadian author

· Silver, Sword, and Stone by Maria Arana, Peruvian author telling a story of Bolivia

· An Uninterrupted View of the Sky by Melanie Crowder

· The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs (experiences around the world including Bolivia)

· Once in a Town Called Moth by Trilby Kent (young adult fiction about a Bolivian child who comes to Toronto)

· The Fall of Che Guevara by Henry Butterfield Ryan

· Culture Smart Bolivia by Keith John Richards

I tried to find a book about Bartolina Sisa in English, but haven’t found one yet. She is an indigenous heroine of Bolivia who was executed by Spanish authorities due to the revolts she led against them. September 5, the International Day of the Indigenous Woman, is set on the day of her execution.

More interesting and unique places in Bolivia can be seen at https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-bolivia/.

Finally, when this pandemic is over, you might want to plan travel to Bolivia using your local travel advisor. Shout out to my favorite travel advisor, Kaitlin Darnell at Laura's Travel in Redlands. May the travel industry survive and thrive - may we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Bolivia and throughout the world.

Photo credit: https://www.rutaverdebolivia.com/tour/uyuni-stargazing-tour/