Toro Toro

Dinosaur tracks. Condors. Waterfalls. Rock paintings. Caverns. These are just some of the highlights I encountered when I went to visit Bolivia’s smallest national park in Toro Toro. Bolivia continues to amaze me with its wonders and beauties. I’m so grateful I got to go visit this area, which is about 130 km south of Cochabamba or a 5 hour bumpy ride.

 

The first day we found a guide in this very small town and he took us to see the first of many dinosaur tracks, Toro Toro Canyon and my favorite, the waterfall Vergel. The guide had little toy dinosaurs to demonstrate which ones left which prints. I’m not sure what the names are but the first ones we saw were of a 4-legged herbivore.

 

The prints were on this hill, which we were told was originally flatter but the earth has shifted a lot over time so the slabs were pushed up to more of a diagonal. I wished I knew geography better because looking at the mountains/hills, it’s clear that a lot has happened over time to change the landscape, but I don’t quite understand how, why or when it happened.

We also saw prints from a dinosaur with 3 fingers/toes that had wings and it would put its 2 wing points/hands on the ground and then lift its feet up and swing or hop forward. Some tracks were inverted in the ground and the guide explained that has happening because they stepped in mud and after it hardened was overturned somehow and yet maintained its original footprint form. We were having a ball getting in or very close to the prints, pretending we were dinosaurs or their prey, thinking we’ve got to enjoy this while we’re here because there are so many other things to see. Little did we know that we would continue to come across dinosaur prints in multiple places throughout our journey.

To continue on to the canyon we walked along a road and then a dried-out river or stream bed. At one point we came across a herd of goats all by themselves and they started jumping off the cliff at the sight of us…well, not really a cliff, but a small jump. Then, what seemed like out of nowhere we were at the edge of this canyon, whose expanse and depth surprised me. There were two condors swooping around at the opposite end from us, but other than them and us, it appeared to be rather deserted, which made it all the more beautiful.

 

After a mandarin break, we hiked down into the canyon to the waterfalls and swimming holes, where we ate lunch and played in the water. The 10 meter high waterfall is called El Vergel in Spanish, but in Quechua, it’s called Waca Senq’a, which means the cow’s nose. Can you tell by the picture why they call it that?

 

Green water plants and names aside, I thought it was gorgeous! The water was very refreshing and cold, but nonetheless irresistible.

 

I had a blast. The hike back up the canyon and to town took up the rest of our sun-light hours, so we could prepare for the next even fuller day’s activities.

The morning began by hopping into the back of a truck that would take us to the Ciudad de Itas caves and the Umajallanta caverns. The road was not paved (to say the least) and at some parts extremely soft so it took several hours to get there with all the getting stuck, but it was worth it. Several times we came across shepherds or shepherdesses and their flocks of either goats or sheep and their very protective sheep-dogs.

 

If I remember correctly, Itas, in Quechua means a type of bug, which apparently inhabited this place in mass numbers back in the day. We walked along what seemed like gigantic turtle’s backs made out of stone, down, up, down, up again more rocks to see the different “rooms” of this ciudad or “city”. One room was like a cathedral, but all made naturally. It was beautiful and even had a roof with “sky-lights”. We also saw some rock paintings that have lasted over time.

 

After eating lunch on the top of the ciudad, we headed back to the truck and drove down to our final adventure, the Umajallanta caverns. Between the spot to park the truck we came across more dinosaur tracks, this time of the ferocious T-Rex!

 

The ever-changing and enchanting geography was also a major highlight. For example, there were large plates of what used to be cracked mud and over time have become these beautifully designed slabs of stone that also got turned on an angle with the moving of the earth. Simple yet beautiful.

As we arrived at the large mouth of the caverns and it kept getting darker and darker, I knew we were in for a good adventure. The only lights inside the caves were our headlamps or flashlights and there were no railings or nice flight of stairs. Every now and then there were some metal rods to descend as a ladder but we mostly used ropes, our limbs, stomachs and our bums to slide, crawl, and climb through the caves. It was NOTHING like Lurray Caverns in VA, in the sense that you were just right in there with everything. I had to remind myself that it was ok to touch things, aside from the growing stalactites of course. We saw blind fish, little ponds, streams, stalactites and stalagmites including a stalactite tree and hollow stalactites. Only 7 km of caverns have been explored so far but it continues on and no one knows where they end…pretty amazing.

 

The more I experience parts of Bolivia like Toro Toro, the more amazed I am at the earth we get to live on. It’s pretty remarkable. If you’d like to see more pictures, please go to
http://picasaweb.google.com/nora.pfeiffer/TorotoroBlog#

For a little video of my musical debut in the caverns, click on
http://picasaweb.google.com/nora.pfeiffer/ToroToroPics#5473733119050953842

5 Things I’m thankful for: the treat of eating delicious fish; my safety and health; reading a good book; dancing a tinku (folkloric fighting dance of Potosi) to celebrate Mother’s Day here in Bolivia this past Thursday May 27; getting to talk with family and friends.