Our congregation in Tarija has been assigned to work Iscayachi, a very remote town on the edge of the Bolivian altiplano. It’s about 90 minutes from Tarija by car, and sits at around 11,000 feet above sea level. Some friends of ours were headed up for the day (they study the Bible with people in Iscayachi), so we decided to go along for the ride.
We met on a Sunday morning around 6:00am. The sun had just come up but it was still quite chilly. Also joining the group was a family from Sweden who are visiting Tarija for a few weeks. They are learning Spanish (like me), but speak excellent English.
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| Packed up and ready to leave by 6:30am |
With such a large group, there wasn’t room in the cab for everyone—so the Swedish guys and me had to jump in the pickup cab. It wasn’t too bad at first, but as we ascended in elevation and started to reach the cloud line, it got really cold. Thankfully, Never—a Boliviano from our congregation, and yes that’s how he spells his name—brought an extra down jacket so I kept warm.
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| Elevation: 11,500 feet |
As we drove up the mountains to Iscayachi, the scenery was full of trees, plants, and rocky hills. At the top of the mountain, we drove through a long tunnel, probably a mile long right through the mountain. When we came out on the other side, the scenery had changed dramatically. It was like night and day. From the lush, green hills of Tarija we had arrived at the dry, arid, harsh landscape of the Bolivian altiplano. Imagine being in Glendale, driving 2 minutes through a long tunnel, and bam!—you’re in the desert of Palmdale and Lancaster. What a change!
It took another 20 minutes or so to reach the heart of Iscayachi. Along the way we passed herds of llamas, sheep, and lots of dry brush and cactus. On the farms, not everyone can read, so teaching them about the Bible requires a bit of patience and determination. But they are very peaceful, humble people and are very receptive to our message. Nearly everyone will stop and listen—they have great respect for the Bible and seemed very interested in having us return.
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| Iscayachi—population unknown (but probably 3000-5000) |
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| Herds of llamas inhabit the altiplano... |
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| ...some will be wool soon. |
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| House to house in Iscayachi |
After a morning of walking from house to house, we hopped in the truck and headed to Laguna Taxara. The descriptions we heard made it sound like a mythical place where the sun rarely shines and flocks of pink flamingos live shrouded in the dense fog of the altiplano. Those descriptions turned out to be quite true!
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| Lake Taxara—complete with pink flamingos |
After having lunch near the lake it was siesta time so we dozed off for a while...
Some people get severe altitude sickness when visiting Iscayachi. But despite being at 11,000 feet above sea level, we didn’t feel any adverse effects other than being a little out of breath after walking up steep roads. That’s probably because we had taken soroche pills in the morning. They are available at every Bolivian pharmacy and help with altitude sickness. Plus we were drinking fresh-brewed coca tea all morning, which is also supposed to help you adjust to the elevation.
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| The views of Tarija on the way back were incredible |
It was a great day—I have a feeling we will be going back soon.
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