Today was my final real day in Bolivia, before I begin the long journey home tomorrow. I decided to spend it hiking, After all, where in the world can you hike a segment of the Inca trail, visit a volcanic crater, and see some prehistoric dinosaur footprints, and still get back to town in time for dinner?
Trekking with Condor
Unimpressed with the recommended offerings of G Adventures in Sucre, a dozen or so of us booked a private hiking tour with Condor, the agency that runs the vegetarian cafe and walking city tours. Condor is a trekking company that operates as a nonprofit, funding community projects for the local indigenous people who live in the region. I felt pretty good about travelling with them.
So at the bright and early hour of 7am, we were met by Marvin, our guide for the day. We also met our protection, entertainment and companion for the day, Marvin’s little dog Pepe, who was part pinscher, part chihuahua, and all excitement about getting to spend a day on the hiking trail.
We all loaded onto an ancient minibus of the sort that are used here in Bolivia. The bus was something out of the 70s, and probably originally came from Asia or elsewhere. It barely seemed able to get out of Sucre, let alone into the mountains. But, in the grand rule of international travel, the little bus that could proved up to the task. It groaned, whined and struggled its way around dizzying mountain switchbacks, in no hurry, but making it up the hills fairly impressively. In the process, we kicked up a ton of dust, which infiltrated everywhere. I haven’t felt properly clean for weeks.
After an hour and a half or so, we reached a small chapel near the tiny the the village of Chataquila. Next to the chapel, there was an outdoor theatre. There, Marvin and his driver and assistant guide set out a blanket and served us a breakfast of coffee or tea, banana chocolate chip bread, and crackers.
Hiking the Inca trail, Bolivian style.
When we were visiting Machu Picchu, Marie, Vanessa and I expressly decided not to hike the Inca Trail. The classic 4-day trek is on a lot of people’s travel wishlists, but we were more realistic about it and opted to take the train instead. It’s a decision I certainly don’t regret in the least.
But the Incan Empire was quite large. And the Inca people certainly had more than one section of trail. Some of it extended to here. So when we began our hike at Chataquila, we were technically hiking the Inca trail. Well, part of it, anyway. The Bolivian part. Maybe not the most famous part, but I say it counts.
We spent about an hour and a half hiking gently downhill, past several interesting rock formations and a few modest ruins. It was a pretty hike, not too strenuous, with nice views along the way that I was able to see every time I lifted my eyes from the trail.
So, there you have it, folks: It took me until my last day of the trip, but I’ve officially hiked some of the Inca trail.
Not quite Jurassic Park
After the Inca hike, we loaded onto the minibus and drove for another hour or so, into the Maragua Crater. This volcanic crater was formed either by a meteor crash or by the drying up of an ancient lake; nobody knows for sure. It may be both, but there was almost certainly a volcanic eruption at some point here, because the rock is black ash.
We passed the small village of Maragua, which is the central one in this area, and was also to be our lunch stop for the day. But we were a bit early for lunch, since we’d set a quicker pace than expected on the Inca hike, so Marvin suggested we go straight to the next hike first and break for lunch afterwards. We agreed.
We drove up the hill again, quite high, taking in stunning views of the crater along the way. Then, we reached a point where the road got too precarious for the bus, and we jumped off and started our next hike, to Ninu Mayu. What is there at Ninu Mayu, you may ask? Well, let’s just say there’s a prehistoric tie-in. Yep, we were there to see some dinosaur footprints.
Sucre is famous for having some of the most well-preserved dinosaur prints in the world. There’s a small dinosaur park on the outskirts of the city that can be easily visited in a couple of hours, but I was told it’s not very impressive and is quite touristy and geared towards school groups and such.
In contrast, Ninu Mayu is inaccessible except by trekking or the sort of tour we were on today. You can actually walk right up to the footprints; there’s nothing stopping you from walking in the prints other than the request of the guide to avoid ruining them. I’m sure plenty of people ignored that advice, and I wonder whether the Bolivian government will eventually step in and protect the site before it gets vandalized or ruined.
The hike took about an hour to get down, and another forty-five minutes back up. It was definitely the most physically demanding thing I’ve done on this trip. At sea level, it might have been a moderate pleasant walk. But we began the hike at over 3000m, and, acclimatized or not, I was definitely gasping for air on more than one occasion. The down part was okay, if a bit hot because of the strong sun here. But the climb back up was brutal. Altitude is humbling.
Compared to the intensity of the hike, the footprints themselves were a bit underwhelming. There were a few well preserved ones on a slab of rock, and we stopped for a few minutes to snap some photos. Each toe was larger than my foot. Sure, it wasn’t quite Jurassic Park, but then, being chased by giant prehistoric reptiles isn’t exactly on my to-do list. So it’s all good.
Lunch in a crater
After climbing back up from Ninu Mayu, and taking a break to catch my breath and drink some water, we drove back to Maragua Village, where we finally stopped for lunch. By this point, it was about 3pm, and we were all starving.
Luckily, Marvin and his crew served us a veritable vegetarian picnic feast: Avocados, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, potato salad, and even wine and chocolate. We ate in a covered area behind one of the community hostels, with views of the crater all around us. It was absolutely lovely.
Quiet night in Sucre
We took the bus back to Sucre, climbing through many more mountain switchbacks that had me convinced the bus would go over the edge on several occasions. Of course, we didn’t, and we arrived back to the hotel around 7. I promptly took a shower to try to wash off some of the dust, though it’s truly everywhere and it might take more than soap and water. I can’t wait to run every single piece of clothing in my bag through the laundry when I get home, maybe twice.
Sam had left a message saying she booked some sort of dinner-and-a-show thing for this evening. But it sounded pretty full on, and I was absolutely exhausted after such a long day of hiking. I opted instead to head with two of my tourmates back to the vegetarian cafe for a quick, light dinner that hit the spot.
After dinner I went back to the hotel, sorted my bags yet again for tomorrow morning’s flight to La Paz, and basically fell into bed. It’s been a long day. But it was definitely worth it.