Enjoying Bolivia 201centre is part of a protected area. For years, Efrem Hinojosa
had been promised fi nancial help in caring for wildlife that
was sent to him from the local zoo, but the help never
came. An overworked Hinojosa was bitten by a zoo animal,
provoking a heart attack. He recovered, and perhaps the
shock of the event triggered the local university to provide
the help he well deserved.
Cobija, capital of the forlorn Department of Pando,
may hold the record as a capital city with the lowest
population—9,000. Cobija’s greatest distinction is its role
as port of entry to Brazil. The Department of Pando, to the
extreme north of Bolivia, would be an ideal site for a frontier
fi lm portraying the dramatic and violent rubber boom in the
early years of the 20th century. Rubber from Malaysia would
replace the Brazilian and Bolivian variety, and then synthetic
varieties further diminished the business, which has been
replaced by another gathering enterprise, Brazil nuts: hardly
the right trademark for this native Bolivian product.
BOLIVIA PLAYS HARD TO GET
Travel in Bolivia
In his Holidays in Hell, P J O’Rourke writes: ‘Like most people
who don’t own Bermuda shorts, I’m bored by ordinary travel.’
Mount Illimani presides over El Alto like a robed Buddha.