Read Around the World August 2021 – Bolivia

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August 2021 sees the intrepid read around the worlders heading to Bolivia but what did we find there?

Fun facts about Bolivia from this website 

• In the year 2000, an ancient temple was found submerged in the depths of Lake Titicaca. This ruin of the temple is believed to be Pre-Inca which go back to about 1,000 to 1,500 years ago. Also, found near the sunken temple was a patio for crops, a long road and an 800m long wall.
• During 1987 Bolivia made the world’s first debt-for-environment trade when the country swapped the 135,000-hectare Beni Biosphere Reserve with an U.S conservation organization who in turn bought US$650,000 of the country’s national debt from a bank for US$100,000. Bolivia still conserves its environment and in 1995 the Madidi National Park was created. The park includes just about everything which ranges from Andean glaciers to rain forests. Maddi has also helped to develop the country’s ecotourism, which includes watching about 1,000 species of bird and tracking tapirs.
• Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, is the world’s highest capital city. La Paz is located at an elevation of 3,630 metres.
• Bolivia’s Lake Titicaca is the largest South American lake it is also the highest commercially navigable body of water in the world based on its location at an altitude of 12,507 ft.
• The planet’s largest deposit of salt can be found in Bolivia. The Salar de Uyunior salt flats or Uyuni salt beds hold more than 64 million tons of salt.
• Beneath the largest salt bed in the world is the world’s largest deposit of lithium and yes it is in Bolivia.

• Bolivia is biological diversity. The country is home to 40% of all animal and plant life in the world. Bolivia’s Pantanal Wetlands and tropical rainforests are some of the world’s most biologically rich ecosystems.
• Bolivia is one of the top “mega-diverse” countries in the world. The mega-diverse countries have more than 70% of all species known to man. Bolivia is 11th in the world’s country for plant spicies with over 20,000 plant species, 7th for bird species and 4th in butterfly species and 10th when it comes to vertebrate species.
• Bolivia is also home to the worlds only known bolivianita mine. Bolivianita is a gem that is partly yellow and purple and is formed when citrine and ametrine are combined.
• Bolivia is home to South America’s second largest natural gas reserves.

For my visit to Bolivia I chose to read Andean Express by Juan De Recacoechea. The central theme of this plot is the murder of a unlikeable man on the train from Bolivia to Chile. As the story progresses it appears that nearly everyone on the train has a reason to wish man dead not least of all his nubile young bride. But which of them actually does the deed and why?

This was a 3 star read for me I found the cast of characters interesting and the motives for murder understandable, it was interesting to see the process applied when the train crossed over from Bolivia to Chile and I enjoyed the descriptions of the landscape as the train passed through it.

Other readers visited in the following ways:

Rockpools from Litsy – Andean Express by Juan De Recacoechea rated So-So

Currey from Litsy – American Visa by Juan De Recacoechea rated So-So

Did you join us on this journey? What did you read?

Next up San Morino let us know what your reading plans are