Dynamite Dabbling Tourists in Bolivia

Tourists visiting one of the oldest working mines in Bolivia are having quite a blast.
They get a chance to set off their own dynamite at the end of the tour.

Every year thousands of tourists tramp their way through the Potosi silver mine in Bolivia.

It's a history lesson in the life of the 400-year-old mine but the real blast comes right at the end.

That's when visitors get the chance to detonate the dynamite they've been quite legally able to buy hours earlier.

[Barry Larson, Tourist]:
"Yes, it's just very strange that we can go into a shop in town and buy dynamite and blow it up later on. It's really cool."

Many of the guides at the site high up on Mount Rico are former miners apparently well-used to handling explosives.

Tour guide Helen Rios admits many visitors are surprised they can try their hand with it as well.

[Helen Rios, Tour Guide]:
"The removal of minerals is done with dynamite and it shocks the tourists that it's legal and that anyone can buy it. This is something the tourists like."

The big bang end to the tours is not so popular with everyone.

Dynamite use is already restricted at from 4, 400 meters above sea level where the peak is more vulnerable to collapse.

But further down the hill much of the mountainside is controlled by foreign companies.

Geotechnical experts are trying to find out how much more it can take.

For the time being the tourists are getting plenty of bangs for their bucks.