Taking a mine tour in Potosi is a highlight of many tourists visit to Bolivia. With over 1000 cooperative mines in the outlying areas there are many options – and tour operators – to choose from.   Travel Guide to Potosi, Bolivia

Note: If you are claustrophobic-prone and worried about being underground in an enclosed space for too long a time, some tours visit more than one mine, making short stops below ground, while others tour a single mine and stay below ground for 2 hours or longer. Ask around for a tour that suits your preference.

A typical tour lasts 4 hours (morning or afternoon leaving at 8 a.m. or 2 p.m.) and includes transportation plus all necessary gear (lamplight & facemask).

Your first stop from the town of Potosi is to the market to buy gifts for the miners – bring a little extra cash. Miners do not work on the weekends, so make sure to plan your tour for a weekday.

To see what it is like walking inside a mine shaft with ony a headlamp lighting the way view this YouTube vide:
 

 

Another video on South America Living´s YouTube Channel is of miners hard at work:
 

 

The Miner's Devil 'Tio' With a Tourist

Walking Through a Mine

Sulfur Dripping Inside a Shaft

Busy at Work Shoveling

Entrance Into a Mine Shaft

Ones Who Made it Out Alive!

Photographs & video by Blake McHugh, all rights reserved.