INTRODUCTION

The Cordillera Apolobamba is one of the least explored mountain regions of the Andes. It was considered by many to be the hiding place of El Dorado or Paititi (the city of gold). The mountains of Apolobamba drop precipitously into the rainforests and jungle basin of the Madidi National Park, home to the indigenous Toromona tribes.

Apolobamba, as described in the “National Geographic” magazine (March, 2000) is one of the world's most unique mountain and rainforest ecosystems. It has an extraordinary variety of cultures, and many as yet unclassified species of flora and fauna. There is so much to write and praise about in Apolobamba, so many hidden secrets and mysteries that it deserves far more than a single chapter in a book. A detailed study of the climbing opportunities are beyond the scope of this work and so I have decided to provide only background information and historical facts to the region. I will not provide route descriptions to the climbs as this is my next project. The British climber, Yossi Brain was enamored with Apolobamba, so much so that he left England to live and work in Bolivia. In his book, “Bolivia: A Climbing Guide”, Yossi gives a historical overview to the region and provides descriptions to the major mountains; Chuapi Orko, Palomani Grande, Ascarani, Katantica Central, Cololo, Cuchillo and Acamani. Yossi died tragically in an avalanche on this range in 1999.

There has been recent international interest in Apolobamba. A 1979 report entitled, “French Expedition Report- Club Alpin Francais,” attracted a number of European expeditions such as the 1986 “Anglo-Scottish Womens Expedition to Apolobamba”, the 1988 “Yorkshire Ramblers Club”, 1989 “Bath University Apolobamba report” among others. The works of Paul Hudson (1993), including the Mount Everest Foundation report from the Edinburgh University Bolivian Mountaineering Club (1999) and the Swedish Apolobamba Expedition (2001), attest to the intrigue of the Apolobamba range.

 

CURVA

This town of 1,600 inhabitants sits at an altitude of 3,700m/12,136 ft. and has small stores that sell food items such as potatoes, vegetables, fruits, pastas, rice, tea, coffee, sugar and bread. There is a National Park Ranger base where names and passport number of visitors must be registered.

PELECHUCO

The name “Pelechuco” comes from the Quechua language. The two words, “Puyo” and “Kucho” translate into "region of fog", which is clearly appropriate as Pelechuco is often under the cover of thick, humid cloud. The average humidity is 80% and the average annual rainfall is 1,000mm. Like Charazani and Curva, Pelechuco is a place of extreme beauty and real adventure. Pelechuco however is even more isolated than other towns in the Apolobamba and so the challenges of climbing and exploring in the region are even more dramatic. It is a colonial town with 1,200 inhabitants and most of the historical information comes from legends and extraordinary tales of men who today would be considered improbable heroes or crazy. One such character is the eccentric British explorer, Colonel J. P. Fawcett.

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EXPEDITIONS IN THE APOLOBAMBA AREA

The writer Cesar Augusto Machicao Gomez wrote in “The History of Apolo and the Franz Tamayo Province” (ed. CIMA, 1990) that during the Inca reign of the 13 th century, Yahuar Huacaj marched across the Apolobamba mountain range in charge of 15,000 men and conquered the Amaru Mayu, “Serpent River” or what is today known as the Madre de Dios River. A century later at the head of 10,000 men, Inca Yupanqui followed the route of his great-grandfather and descended to the Beni, in the Amazon. Later Huayna Capac, the son of Yupanqui sent his general Hurcu Huaranca at the head of a further 10,000 men. The first myths of the famous Patiti or El Dorado, appear to date back to these great invasions.

Once the colonizing Spanish forces exerted initial control and dominance over the American territory, Evangelization or Christian conversion of the traditional populations followed. The Spaniards settled in Franciscan, Augustine and Dominican missions all along the Apolobamba and Apolo regions. However the secret, main reason for their presence was not to preach the word of God, but to find the Golden treasures of the Patití. In 1573, the appointed governor of the Arexaca Province (today referred to as Larecaja) Juan Álvarez de Maldonado, became the first great explorer of Apolobamba and the founder of the town of Apolo. The few surviving reports, archived in the Spanish National Library, describe explorations all along the Nudo de Apolobamba (Apolobamba Mountain Chain), in search of gold. These small expeditions concentrated on the villages of Ilo-Ilo, Mojos and Keara. After 1619, the alliance of Diego Ramirez Carlos with the bishop of the city of La Paz, Fray Gregorio de Bolivar de la Orden de San Francisco led to much bigger explorations.

The historical records, like in other parts of Bolivia, are inaccurate and scanty. Many legends and myths, passed on through the oral tradition of story telling have been mingled with actual historical facts to create a magical realistic account of history. In Pelechuco, at the beginning of the Colonial period it was well known that between "the frozen summits and the fast-flowing rivers" there was an abundance of gold! Cristian de Tejada and Juan de Salinas were the first explorers to cross the Pelechuco mountain ranges. In 1551, Juan de Nieto described the mountains as "so high that they are rarely seen through the thick layer of clouds". Anton de Gaston and Diego de Aleman in 1563 wrote about the incredible beauty of the region and described expeditions over the high mountain passes. They spent time with locals who feared that dangerous animals would descend from the mountains.

In 1780 auriferous veins of gold were discovered in the mountains of Ilo-Ilo, in the Apolobamba region and the next generation of explorers were geologists, botanists and cartographers, who were forced to become Andinists and climbers in their search for the glowing metal. In 1853, the geologists Hans Hortemann and Hover Hotanghel, reached some of the minor peaks of Akamani (5,666m/18,584 ft). According to hand-written documents found in Pelechuco, they reached the summit on August 21, 1853. The first maps of the Apolobamba region archived in the Royal Geographic Society date back to 1911. In the 1940’s, the first German and Austrian expeditions arrived and tackled the main peaks. Japanese and English expeditions soon followed.

In 1957, the “Defense Mapping Agency” published the first aerial photography maps of the area. Unfortunately, the mountain names on the map were completely inaccurate. In August of that year, during their expedition, Wimmer Hans and Richer Hans used the I.G.M. map (58 pages) with a scale 1:250.000. The maps were so imprecise that they unwittingly climbed on the Peruvian side, instead of the Bolivian side as they had planned. When they finally identified Chaupi Orko (6,044 m/19,824 ft.), they made the first ascent. W.H. Melbourne of the “Imperial College” drew the first geographical map of the northern part of the Apolobamba, covering the area from the Pelechuco valley to the Peruvian border.

Paititi- Gold city - El Dorado

Father Miguel Cavello Balboa left an important testimony that highlights the Spanish conquerors’ hopes of finding Paititi. He narrates how the missionaries suffered during their efforts to evangelize the “barbarous” Indians. He comments that the great Paititi was protected by warrior women who were very strong and skilled with weapons such as spears and arrows. H e wrote accounts of fighting tribes known as Toromonas, who traveled from the Carabaya or Tuichi River to the Madidi and its tributaries in order to attack the Spaniards at night. This tribe had no pity or remorse for the deaths they caused with their terrible arrows. The Viceroy Jusepe de Caceres writes not only about the Indian attacks but also of the threats the foreign travelers faced from wild animals such as tigers, lions and alligators that would wander into camp at night. Many explorers lost their lives to wild beasts when they roamed too far from the encampments. Illness also ‘consumed their lives little by little’. Fray Gregory de Believer was already sending reports about the area as early as 1621, referring to populations of the Madidi and Madre de Dios areas such as the Lecos, Omapalcas, Yuquimonas, Chamas, Arechuchos, Moveotes, and Tacana.

More explorations

Around 1680, evangelization was taken over more by the Franciscan order whose missionaries came down from the town of Pelechuco, located at the foot of the Katantica mountain. The missionaries Francisco Cortes, Luis Enriques, Pedro Saenz de Mendoza, Diego Gomen, Francisco Ruiz, Manuel Lago and Juan Ojeda made up the largest expedition of clergy in those years and traveled to Mojos Pata (founded at the same time as San Juan de Buenaventura) and on to the Amantala River (source of the Tuichi River). This expedition lasted 6 years. These missionaries, along with other such as Esteban de Aramburu, founded the Pata towns, San Antonio de Isiamas (today Ixiamas), Santa Cruz del Valle, Ameno and Apolobamba, which is known today as Apolo.

Between 1725 and 1780, missionary activity increased as a direct result of the expansion of the supply routes through Charazani, Suches, Curva, Sunchuli and Illo Illo. These roads were constructed by Indians and are still visible today. The Beni River was also explored (previously called the Diabeni) and San Buenaventura was founded by Pedro de Goicochea.

At the end of the 18 th century, missionaries penetrated even further into the jungle to Pacaguaras. Some of the writings of Rafael Sanz and Eusebio Mejias describe their explorations of the Nagigi (Madidi) River. These two explorers were killed by the Pacaguaras during their explorations of the area.

In the 20 th century, scientific expeditions became the trend. Though missionaries, with their zeal to evangelize the entire local population were considered the greatest explorers, scientists have been the more humane travelers in their explorations.

In 1808, the road from Ixiamas to Santiago de Pacaguaras and the Heath River was finished. This river was explored from Ixiamas to Guananaguas and Madidi by several explorers, many of whom died from attacks by native peoples.

At the end of the century in 1897, a scientific expedition headed by General José Manuel Pando (President of Bolivia from 1900 - 1904) and Lucio Perez Velasco with scientist G. Vamoux (a Frenchman who explored Pelechuco and the Madidi) followed the tracks of Alcides D'Orbigny, Chandler and Heath. Pando explored Ulla Ulla and the Apolobamba, primarily Cololo and the Chaupi Orko mountains. Some of the first maps of Apolobamba (1898) came from these expeditions. At the time, Minister Ismael Montes explored the country and authorities began promoting scientific studies and travels in the cordilleras and tropical lands. Under Pando’s government, great scientists such as Alcides D'Orbigny, Erland Nordenskiod, Martin Conway, William Evans, Steissmann, Senechal de la Grange, and Crequi Montfort were invited to study in Bolivia. All of them left diaries and reports in the most prestigious scientific bulletins of their respective countries. Evans, for example carried out explorations of the modern-day Madidi Park and noted roads to Asarianas, Buturu, and San Fermin as well as maps in his writings that date up to 1949. (Bolivia. 58 sheets. Scale 1: 250.000, sheets, 6. Puerto Heath, 7. Beni River, 10 Ixiamas, 11 Santa Clara, 15 Apolo, 16 Rurrenabaque). The IGM is still using this cartographic material, which was based on explorations by foot.

Errand Nordenskiold: The Greatest Explorer of the Madidi

Nordenskiold gained universal prestige from his books on anthropology in the Amazon. He was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy and traveled to the ends of the Madidi area. This academic was not well-known in Bolivia, though his contributions were as important as Col. Fawcett’s to the history of exploration. Nordenskiold’s 1904/1905 expedition along the Bolivian/Peruvian border set forth the definitive line that now divides the two countries. Other areas explored by Nordenskiold included areas of Pelechuco, Queara, Puina, Macara, Calle, Mojos, Capamitas, Santa Cruz del Valle Ameno, Apolo, Alen, Buturu, Asariamas and Yuri on the Piora river.

Nordenskiold was assisted by Karl Franck who at the time owned a rubber shop in Pelechuco. Fawcett also cooperated with him in explorations of Puina, Querara, Mojos, Tuichi and Amantala. Nordenskiold also investigated the gold country of the Motosolo, Tabakuni and Tuichi Rivers as well as the northern part of the San Juan River. Franck and Fawcett were good friends and shared information and theories on all areas of these treasured natural locations.

 

Heath was an explorer, archeologist, humanist, meteorologist, botanist adventurer expeditionary and business man. The river that separates Peru from Bolivia (between the Manu National Park in Peru and the Madidi National Park in Bolivia) is named after him. The Heath river is one of the most extraordinary and bio-diverse rivers within the Madidi Park. Heath traveled to Rurrenabaque, Bolivia from the Mamore River which is on the border of Brazil and Bolivia. He traveled with the expedition of Lucio Perez Velasco, Vaca Diez and Antenor Vasquez in 1878.

Heath preceded Col. Fawcett in his exploration of the Madidi, Ixiamas (to the north), the Black River, Enapurera, etc. He notes in his writings the extraordinary escape of prisoners from “Isla del Diablo” a prison in French Guyana — these escaped convicts fled into remote areas of the Amazon as far as the Amazon region of Bolivia. The data was verified at the time by General Ballivian president of Bolivia from 1841 to 1847.

Heath’s work was primarily in the low savanna where the Madre de Dios River is located. This explorer got to know the local Araona or Datimanu Indians who settled near the river Heath later named after Jaime Orton.

On April 27, 1881 Heath set out to explore the Bala and Beu area of Rurrenabaque. Fifteen years later Col. Fawcett followed his footsteps using Heath’s own diary as a day to day reference. At the time of Heath’s travels, Rurrenabaque was a small town of only 467 people. San Buenaventura, located across the Beni River, had a population of 193 people. Edwin Heath was one of great explorers of the Madidi and the Madre de Dios Rivers and is a name that still enchants us today.

Percy Harrison Fawcett

A remarkable person, Fawcett mysteriously disappeared in the Brazilian jungle in 1925 after which various universities and private organizations organized numerous searches to find him without success. Colonel Fawcett achieved universal fame not so much for his trips and explorations, which were extremely valuable in themselves, but for the mystery surrounding his death that probably occurred, along with that of his eldest son, in the Brazilian jungle of Xingú.

Colonel Fawcett’s younger son later compiled a book from his father’s letters and records titled “Exploration Fawcett” (Hutchinson & Co. London 1953) which was very successful. Fawcett was invited by the Geographic Association of London and by the Bolivian Legation in England to come to Bolivia with the purpose of defining the border between Peru and Bolivia. Fawcett was obsessed with the idea of finding the lost city “Patiti” or ‘El Dorado” which according to him, was located in the Bolivian jungle. The Bolivian explorer and later president of Bolivia, Jose Manuel Pando, provided Fawcett with materials and supplies for his journeys.

One of the few photos of Fawcett shows him in the town of Pelechuco in1911 from where he began his exploration of the region traveling to Curva and Apolo through what is today the Madidi National Park. Colonel Fawcett described his adventures to Sir ArthurConan Doyle who later based his book, “The Lost World” on Fawcett’s travels. Years later in 1950, Hans Ertl accompanied by his daughter, Monika Ertl (who was assassinated during the 1971-1978 General Banzer dictatorship), followed Fawcett’s footsteps searching for Paititi in the Apolo jungle. The Apolobamba cordillera with its summits that reach to 6,000m/19,680 ft., and eastern faces which lead down to the uninhabited jungles, represents the best preserved ecology in the Andean Amazonian region in all of South America today.

 

Lars Hafsjkold and Col. Fawcett

In 1998, Lars Hafsjkold was an agricultural technician working for Conservation International and other non-governmental organizations such as CARE here in Bolivia. He disappeared without a trace in the Madidi in the same year.

Lars was a likable and ambitious young man who lived in both San Jose de Uchupiamonas and Ixiamas. However, his independent personality and strong will made it difficult for him to work in organizations whose order and organization left little place for personal initiative. A native of Norway, Lars was enamored with the jungle and its dangers, he was last seen by the people of San Fermin, a lost town at the far ends of the Madidi ( GPS Coordinates: 19L 0506709/ UTM 8451830). Jazmin Caballero Garcia, a biodiversity specialist and expert on the Madidi, tells us that the tracks of several nomadic tribes were discovered though they were not well - identified. It is possible that they were from the Toronomas of the north Madidi or possibly from the Yaminahuas.

The last visible tracks seem to go through the jungle area of the Madre de Dios River to the Colorado and Asunta Rivers and into the high Madidi. There are speculations that perhaps Lars is living with a yet undiscovered tribe or more logically, that he is dead despite his being an expert on the jungle. Prior to his disappearance, he was known to travel for months in the jungle in the farthest regions of the Madidi area.

His family and the Norwegian consulate along with park guards such as Rolando Cuqui of San Jose de Uchupiamonas and Chambi Cucuakina Marino of San Fermin searched the branches of the Tambopata to the Madidi basin looking for signs of Lars. They did find tracks near the Colorado River though nothing came of it. Rene Ortiz was the last person that had been with Lars, he took him up the Colorado River and left him at the camp.

Ironically, Lars disappeared mysteriously on his quest for lost tribes in a remote area of the jungle, just as his predecessor Colonel Fawcett did years before. An extraordinary coincidence.

In both cases these were people not of this area who where enamored with the myth of Paititi and the search for uncivilized tribes. Lars knew the north part of the jungle of La Paz well, having run all of the ancient roads of Indian territory from Ixiamas to the Araona on foot. His knowledge was not a fantasy and he had the spirit of an explorer. At the age of 28 he vanished and has become an errant phantom that the native people still discuss at night around the fire.

 

Following the Tracks of Lars

Pablo Cingolani recounted in his “Cronica de Una Busqueda” or “Chronicle of a Search,” possible explanations regarding the disappearance of Lars. This in turn, led to the idea for “Expedition Madidi 2001” Like Lars, Cingolani reached the most remote regions of the mysterious Amazon in November of 2002. A tall, skinny man with white skin and long hair blonde, he is an indispensable partner in human adventure. Born in a foreign country (Argentina), as I was born in France, Cingolani is also a researcher, writer and reporter who also has a deep passion for the Madidi region.

Happy Birthday Madidi!!

This was the famous expression of actor and “Conservation International” board member Harrison Ford that is so tied to the watchfulness of the Madidi National Park. Furthermore, Ford supported the scientific expedition of the “Cordillera de Los Andes a la Amazonia” in 1990, he is assuredly the only internationally well-known movie star who takes seriously the ecological preservation of a park very much removed from mainstream news. “Madidi 2000” is a forgotten niche in the world with an incredible geography of unknown summits and tropical areas still untouched by civilization. Colonel Fawcett left us a legacy of human patrimony. Apolobamba, a range with a length of 60 km/ 37 miles (Cerro Akamani in the south to Nevado Chaupi Orcko in the north), is considered to be the largest biosphere reserve, with a diverse collection of flora and fauna, at high altitude. Apolobamba, Ulla Ulla and Madidi are all protected areas of exceptional natural zoology.

Madidi 2000

The National Geographic Society, National Geographic Television, the BBC, The Discovery Channel, the Royal Geographic Society, not to mention the support of Harrison Ford and a scientific expedition made up of Pablo Cingolani, Gonzalo Guzmán, Emmanuel Laleos and technicians all followed the footsteps of explorer Percy Harrison Fawcett. Pablo Cingolani, Argentinean climber and instructor, was able to assemble a reliable expedition with tradition in an old fashioned style as expeditions through these regions still demand a dosage of toughness. The expedition, “Apolobamba-Madidi 2000,” set off from Pelechuco and headed on foot across the cordillera and later descended down to the Madidi just as Colonel Fawcett did in 1911. Madidi was the first ecological project here in Bolivia to warrant the attention of the international press. This is due in large part to the help of Conservation International and their efforts to aid Bolivia in their quest for ecological preservation.

Mountain Books:

• Yossi Brain : Bolivia A Climbing Guide. Edition, The Mountaineers UK 1999
• Patrice Pawlak/ Patrick Wagnon : Les plus belles courses des Andes centrales. Edition Glenat Grenoble France. 2004
• Alain Mesili : Los Andes de Bolivia. Edition CIMA La Paz – Bolivie 2002
• Alain Mesili : The Andes Of Bolivia, Adventures and a Climbing Guide. Edition CIMA La Paz – Bolivie. 2004
• Victor Saunders : Trekking and Climbing The Andes. NZ 2002
• John Biggar: Les Andes, Guide d´alpinisme, Edition Nevicata, Belgique. 2000

 

Sites : Cartographie andine - Termes et conditions - Bibliographie - les 6.000m des Andes – Curriculum Vitae – Les principales voies d´escalades ouvertes par Alain Mesili – Sites sur la Bolivie

Photos: Alain Mesili, et Waldemar Niclevicz