Welcome to the launch of Curious Llama

I am new to blogging, but was inspired by my sister's blog. She is an artist and a mother and I enjoy reading her stories about her art and the antics of her family members. I am a bit too identity theft shy to reveal quite so many personal details on my own site as she does on hers, but I would like my family and friends to be able to share in the stories of some of my travels. My signature photo comes from the Cordilliera Apolombamba in the Andean region of Bolivia. This is to the north of La Paz and is near the border with Peru. The photo was taken on an pre-Inca road just above the town of Pelechuco. I have spent a lot of time in Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador and have seen a lot of llamas, alpacas and vicunas. This is my favorite llama photo.

The photo above is of the back end of the bus that took me to the Cordillera Apolombamba. You catch this bus from the cemetary district of La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. As you can see, it has Osama Bin Laden, the Twin Towers and Che Guevara. The Bolivians are not really pro-terrorism, as they are anti-American. If you read Bolivian newspapers while you are there, it is not too difficult to see why there is an anti-American sentiment. For the moment, we can leave to one side clear American support for past dictators as part of their anti-communism movement. The real sticking issue at the moment is coca. Coca has been used in the Andes since before the time of the Inca as a natural stimulant and as cure for altitude sickness. Andean Bolivians chew dried coca leaves with a bit of ash to release the stimulant. This makes you mouth feel a bit numb and is no stronger than drinking a can of Red Bull. Coca is also popular as a herbal tea. This is no stronger than a cup of expresso, but does help moderate the high altitude headaches you get when you arrive at the airport, which is at 4100m above sea level. Coca, as a leaf, is pretty harmless. However, in a lab, it can be refined and turned into cocaine. So, the American government has come down quite hard on Bolivia and other coca producing Andean countries. Coca growers now have to be registered. Legal coca is produced in the Sud Yungas region. This has a sweet taste and is preferred for chewing and tea. Coca grown in the Chapare region is regarded as 'bitter' and not used for traditional consumption. This is where most of the illegal coca is grown.

The Americans would dearly love to see coca production cease entirely. In the past, they have pressured the Bolivian government to spray pesticides on fields in coca growing regions, killing all the crops, not just coca. This does not go down well with the average Bolivian, much less with the farmers who have seen their crops killed. Cocaine abuse is seen as a largely American problem. You can buy T-shirts in La Paz that say 'la coca no es una droga' (coca is not a drug). The main issue is that Americans, those champions of capitalism, don't quite realize how supply and demand works. There is a high demand for cocaine in America. So, there are high prices for coca in Bolivia. If prices are high, that is what farmers will grow. If the demand for cocaine dropped and the demand for coffee or bananas increased, crops would change accordingly.