ENG: Today, I am sharing some impressions from last week’s shooting session in the Zongo Valley. We took amazing shots in Milluni, Huayna Potosí, Laguna Viscachani, and, of course, in the Yungas cloud forest environment of the Zongo Valley. It was just amazing, and every time it is an impressive experience to travel into the […]
Category: Travels
Chhalla Sourcing Region: Alto Beni
ENG: Alto Beni is not only one of the municipalities of Caranavi province (La Paz department) but also defines a natural geographic area (broader ecoregion), partially integrated within the departments of La Paz, Cochabamba, and Beni. It is situated in the syncline valley of the mid-course of the Beni River (called Alto Beni or Mosetén […]
Tuquru Sourcing Region: Cantón Arcopongo
ENG: In the past, Bolivian highland flute makers personally sourced their musical bamboos by embarking on trips with pack animal caravans, traveling along pre-Hispanic trails in the La Paz Department (such as Sillutinkara, Choro, and Takesi). These journeys allowed them to maintain spiritual connections with mountain guardians and inherently limited the quantity of bamboo they […]
Returning to Chuspipata after Six Years
ENG: After six years I returned to Chuspipata, which is located at the higher parts of the Yungas of La Paz at 3000 meter above sea level. Chuspipata is one of the recognized sourcing regions of tuquru bamboos (Aulonemia hirtula) in the Central Yungas of the Department of La Paz. My flute maker friends used to tell […]
Estación Biológica Santiago de Chirca
ENG: Last week I had the opportunity to visit the Estación Biológica Santiago de Chirca (FB) in Sud Yungas province of La Paz department. I was invited by botanist and plant ecologist Silvia Gallegos, who leads the biological station and is responsible for the Yungas Restauration Project of the National Herbarium of La Paz and the Martin-Luther-University […]
Vicente Ojeda and the Moseñada of the Huari Ponchos
ENG: Jesika and I had the honor to accompany Walateño musiñu specialist and musician Ignacio Quispe to the Altiplano community of Kolluhuma-Belén in Aroma province, where he met again after eleven years his good friend and musiñu musician Vicente Ojeda. Don Ignacio invited us to document his interview with Don Vicente, one of the initiators of famous Moseñada group called Huari […]
The Musical Bamboos of the Bolivian Andes 