Five years ago Bolivian Express was born between a japanese restaurant and a lift on Avenida 20 de Octubre in La Paz. During the clunky journey from the ground floor to the 17th storey, two young gentlemen and a Swiss-Indian chica lamented the absence of an English-language publication in the country; two notable predecessors—the Bolivian Times and Llama Express—were sadly no longer in circulation. And so the name of the magazine was born as a portmanteau of sorts, an homage to the magazine’s forebearers.
We were determined to find a viable way of printing a quality free publication, given the erratic nature of local advertising revenues and shortage of local English-language journalists. A further (Irish) founder was enlisted and six university friends were boarded on a plane, kidnapped to serve as editorial guinea pigs. It became clear to the founding team that an ideal way of sustaining the project as a whole would be to combine it with a journalism training programme.
What started off as a magazine for tourists quickly turned into something else. After the first 10 issues, we had already covered all the well-trodden festivities and attractions the country is probably best known for. The continuous challenge has been to find new stories from which everyone, including the local audience, can learn something new. Indeed, over half of our readers are native Spanish speakers, so we are as committed to writing for them as we are for the uninitiated in Bolivia. This work has brought us close to people we would perhaps never have had an excuse to get to know: from former presidents, ministers and local sporting heroes, to Michael Jackson impersonators, prisoners serving life sentences and private investigators.
Since our unconventional beginnings, the project has involved over 120 people from 20+ countries worldwide who have come to volunteer as part of the effort.Today, the Bolivian Express team of volunteers live and sleep in a shared house as they explore the country, its stories and cultures with the help of a local team. By looking beyond the salt-flats and ancient ruins, their mission is to bring new eyes to this infinite land. If they leave as cultural ambassadors, rather than just tourists, the project has achieved one of its aims. And, of course, by flicking through these pages you, the reader, are closing the circle and helping to complete this project’s mission.
Over the years we have also worked with a large number of people across the world: editors scattered across San Francisco, New York and Caracas, a web developer in Berlin, an editor and marketing director somewhere in the Swiss alps, and even a virtual assistant in Bulgaria (hey, Pavlin). As past team members have taken on new challenges, others have appeared and have reshaped the project anew. With this, our 50th issue, we are incredibly proud to say that Bolivian Express has a life of its own; it exists as something greater and wiser than the people who have made it possible so far.
Thank you for being a part of this journey.
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PHOTO: Sophia Vahdati
What the stadium lacks in booze it makes up for in food. The spectacle of colours and fans sweating with passion would not be complete without the array of children, women, and men scrambling around the stadium trying to sell sandwiches de chola, popcorn, salchipapas, coffee, and fizzy drinks to help supporters maintain their Duracell-bunny energy. If the match doesn’t satiate the hungry fans, on leaving the stadium they encounter the flames and cackles of anticucho vendors. Food and football here go hand in hand.
ILLUSTRATION: MAURICIO WILDE
Kandinsky the cat was the first of them all. He lived in the BX penthouse on the 19th floor, warming the hearts of the interns who passed by. His death was unexpected. It seems the interns left a window open at night, and Kandinsky decided to cross it and travel all the way down to the ground floor.
Bruce Wayne arrived next and, since being a single mum is often challenging, I tend to bring him to the BX office. The BX team loves Bruce and his fashionable outfits. He was accepted at the house until he started to misbehave in unusual ways, including rolling on his back in his own excrement and eating 4 kg. of raw chicken skin.
Last but not least is Chappie Steve, a lovely hummingbird who shares his colors, magic and unwavering willpower with the world around him. We adopted him 3 weeks ago. Since he was becoming weak, I had to be creative about replacing his protein diet, which is why I placed earthworms in my blender without hesitation. Thankfully this formula is working and Chappie Steve is getting closer to the day in which he can fly.
ILLUSTRATION: MARCO TOXICO
For Andean and Amazonian indigenous cultures in Bolivia, hallucinogenic plants are synonymous to medicine, spirituality and even religion. Ever since ancestral times, ayahuasca (which grows in the Amazon) and San Pedro (which grows in the altiplano between 2000 and 3000 meters above sea level) have been used as medicinal plants that heal the soul. To this day, people partake in different ceremonies in the country to expand their consciousness. One of the most famous destinations in Bolivia for these rituals is the Valle de las Animas, where the Sacha Runa organisation welcomes people from all over the world to take part in medicinal plant ceremonies that can cost up to $100. The clientele varies from young alteños, to upper-class Bolivian housewives, to foreigners who come to Bolivia exclusively for this experience.
The city of Cobija is another well-known destination for medicinal plant rituals in Bolivia. In that part of the country, some people practice the doctrine of Santo Daime, founded in Brazil by Master Irineo, who allegedly received the sacred plant of ayahuasca from the Virgin Mary herself. Worshiping Catholic icons and singing hymns unique to their doctrine, these people pray to God, to life and to the forces of nature. The name ‘Daime’ comes from the portuguese word Dai-me, which means give me. Practitioners of this doctrine implore the plant to: give them strength, give them light, give them love. Among Bolivia’s many attractive features, the country is also becoming a destination where you can experience these “journeys” that in some way or another are a fundamental part of its ancestral cultures.
