30 Jun, 2012 | Caroline Risacher

The immense Bolivian altiplano is a high plateau covering over 100,000 square kilometers between 3,000 and 4,900 meters above sea level. Its landscape varies from grassy fields to seemingly desolate v...

10 Jan, 2013 | Caroline Risacher

How to Avoid Getting Mugged in the City 'Boteros, lanceros, monrreros, descuidistas, cuenteros, jaladores, pildoritas, secuestro express, cumbreros, carreros, cogoteros, documenteros....’ Thus be...

15 Feb, 2013 | Caroline Risacher

Courtship and Marriage Rites in the Altiplano Within the Andean conception of life, getting married follows a higher purpose than simply finding a companion for life. The idea of dating for weeks...

18 Nov, 2012 | Caroline Risacher

Conceptions of Death in the Bolivian Andes According to the Aymara conception of the world, life is not a state but a process. Everything that exists – solid or conceptual – has an opposite compa...

14 Mar, 2013 | Caroline Risacher

The need for alternative energy sources is increasingly becoming a worldwide priority. Oil and natural gas, on which we have become so reliant, are not sustainable sources. Efforts to change our ways,...

02 Jan, 2013 | Caroline Risacher

How Bolivia Is Going to Survive the Apocalypse The world is going to end on December 21, 2012, the Maya warned us. According to their beliefs, on that date we will arrive at the end of the 5,125-yea...

23 Feb, 2018 | Caroline Risacher

Photos: Carlos Sánchez NavasSocial Change Is Noisy and Inconvenient – But the People Will Be HeardBack in 1981, a New York Times headline declared that ‘For Bolivia, Chaos Rules.’ This referred to the...

15 Apr, 2017 | Caroline Risacher

Photo: Nick SomersThe Río Choqueyapu’s journey from mighty Amazon tributary to the sewers of La Paz.Toxic foamy water and muddy brown slush are rotting with a variety of discarded rubbish. The pungent...

26 Mar, 2018 | Caroline Risacher

A film festival pushes boundaries in BoliviaOn 22 February 2018, the third edition of the international human-rights film festival Bajo Nuestra Piel visited Tarija, in southern Bolivia. Having premier...

25 Jun, 2017 | Caroline Risacher

Photos: Nick somers and Fabian ZapataOr, how to dress like a hippieThe 2017 guidebook on how to be a hippie is very clear:Be from Argentina, Chile, or ColombiaCongregate in specific places in South Am...

29 Oct, 2017 | Caroline Risacher

Illustration: Oscar ZallesWatch out for the slippery streets. Watch out also for the meandering dogs who might bite you and the daydreaming tourists who will get in your way. The cobbled web of electr...

29 Oct, 2017 | Caroline Risacher

Photo: Xavier IturraldeMan of ChangeI am meeting with Xavier Iturralde, founder of the Spazio Wellness and Lounge gymnasiums. The first thing he tells me is: ‘I am paceño. I love my city.’ His love an...

26 Mar, 2018 | Caroline Risacher

Photo: Iván RodriguezThe impresario wants Bolivia’s creative community to come into its ownIf you live in La Paz, chances are you’ve walked past a picture of Leonel Fransezze on a billboard advertisin...

26 Apr, 2018 | Caroline Risacher

Photo: Iván RodriguezThe young entrepreneur is providing science and technology education to Bolivia’s new generationHow can you make a car go from point A to point B using only the power of the wind?...

26 Apr, 2018 | Caroline Risacher

Photo: Iván RodriguezSebastian Quiroga’s gourmet meat-free missionOn the corner of Calles Potosí and Colón in the bustling, chaotic centre of La Paz, tucked between two chicken restaurants, almost out...