Everything for the expedition fits neatly into Sergio’s decrepit Landcruiser, including our cook, Claudio. It’s another awkward drive up and out of La Paz before we turn south and west towards Sajama National Park. The park, which lies on the border with Chile, has some beautiful scenery, including some spectacular eroded sandstone and volcanic rock formations. It’s a hard life here on the altiplano and the Aymara eke out a living by grazing alpaca and llama. We soon get our first sight of Mt. Sajama (the highest peak in Bolivia) and eventually the twin mountains of Parinacota and Pomerape. We stop in Sajama village for lunch and to pick up two porters. Officially they should carry no more than 22 kg each, but they take 44 kg to get double pay. It’s an hour’s drive from the village over rough, desert tracks to the end of the road. Now we hike.
Even with the porters bearing the brunt of the equipment, my pack is much heavier than I’d anticipated. And it’s a 90-minute trek uphill through deep sand to base camp at 5,200m. My shoulders ache with the weight of the pack, but I push myself to keep up with the others. After 45 minutes hiking, we break and Sergio advises me to hike more slowly. This I do and not surprisingly I’m the last to arrive at base camp. The campsite lies 200m below the saddle that separates Mt. Parinacota and Mt. Pomerape and is surrounded by large boulders, which hopefully will provide some protection against the biting wind. My tent has yet to be erected and there’s little to suggest that anyone other than me will be doing it. This is definitely not a soft Inca trail hike, but a serious mountaineering expedition where you’re expected to pull your own weight.
Pulling my own weight lasts about 30 pathetic minutes before the porters rescue me from my own ineptitude. Later, we huddle in the food tent, eating soup, steak and pasta, and pineapple. Sergio is not the most communicative person I’ve ever met. He volunteers little information and while he does answer my questions, he’s not effusive. It’s 6-7 hrs to the top; we’ll stop hourly; wind could reach 100mph; don’t take Diamox in the morning (it’s not traditional). Bed at 8pm (nervous).
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching tale of love and test tubes.
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