The Bolivian People 83and through rich foliage, from the nearby resort towns of
Coroico and Chulumani.
A trek to Afrobolivian territory begins in Coroico’s
village square. Walk downwards to the last house in the
village. The path continues, twice crossing the main road to
Santa Barbara.
Passing a chapel, Capilla del Carmen, on the left side,
you reach the road to Caranavi. Take it for 15 minutes until
you cross the Mururata Bridge, where you will be pleasantly
distracted by lavish swimming holes. Tocana is another hour
and a half downward over a spectacular winding road.
The total trek is only 7 km (4 miles). The highest point
is 1,715 m (5627 ft) in Coroico, the lowest is 1,170 m
(3839 ft). If you don’t relish the uphill return, then continue
down the road for 5 km (3 miles) to Santa Barbara and then
hitch a ride in a truck back to Coroico. It rains a lot around
here, so the best time for the trek is in the May–October dry
season, when the mosquito population shrinks.
La Paz to Yungas was once believed to be Bolivia’s most
dangerous road. But drivers exercise more caution and are
forced to drive more slowly on a hairpin road like this one
than on the straight paved La Paz– Oruro Highway, now
nicknamed ‘The road of death’. The winding La Paz– Yungas
road and its breathtaking precipices are featured in the 1995
fi lm, A Question of Faith, winner of awards in France, Italy
and Puerto Rico.
The new La Paz– Yungas road means that the road of death
is no longer an obligatory menace for fearful travellers.
The right time to visit the Afro- Yungas and Coroico is
during the alternating six months of dry weather, but most
injuries and deaths were due
to truck and pickup accidents,
although a single bus accident
resulted in 36 deaths that year.
The improved 1995 safety record
for public transportation over this
road suggests that the single
1994 bus accident was just a
statistical blip.
Accident statistics along the
La Paz– Yungas roads in 1994
showed 102 deaths, 75 of which
happened during the six months
of wet season. The ratio of deaths
to non-fatal injuries suggests a
relatively low survival rate in case
of accident, with 125 non-fatal
injuries, 89 of which occurred in
the rainy season.