Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(
694-3003;
www.tupizatours.com
; Chichas 187, Hotel Mitru)
This outfit pioneered
many of the Tupiza-area routes now also offered by competitors. While the agency is well
run and has daily departures to the
salar
, there have been mixed reports about the quality
of its tours that apparently lack a personal touch (it uses 12-person minivans). Their two-
day
Butch and Sundance tour
(B$600, based on 4 people)
is popular, and it includes an
overnight stay in the hamlet of
Tatasi
as well as a visit to the abandoned mining village of
Portugalete
.
Valle Hermoso Tours
(
694-4344;
www.vallehermosatours.com
; Arraya 478, Hostal Valle Hermoso)
The
agency inside Hostal Valle Hermoso gets mixed reviews and the owners tend to be pushy.
GUIDED TOUR
THE LAST DAYS OF BUTCH CASSIDY & THE
SUNDANCE KID
Butch and Sundance (real names Robert LeRoy Parker and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh) came to southern Bolivia
in August 1908 and took up residence with the Briton AG Francis, who was transporting a gold dredge on the Río
San Juan del Oro. While casing banks to finance their retirement, the outlaws learned of an even sweeter target: a
poorly guarded US$480,000 mine-company payroll to be hauled by mule from Tupiza to Quechisla.
On November 3, 1908, manager Carlos Peró picked up a packet of cash from Aramayo, Francke & Compañía
in Tupiza and headed north with his 10-year-old son and a servant, but they were discreetly tailed by Butch and
Sundance. Peró's party stayed overnight in Salo, then set off again at dawn. As the trio ascended the hill called
Huaca Huañusca, the bandits watched from above with binoculars. In a rugged spot on the far side of the hill, they
relieved Peró of a handsome mule and the remittance, which turned out to be a mere US$90,000 - the prized
payroll had been slated for shipment the following week.
Dispirited, Butch and Sundance returned to Francis' headquarters at Tomahuaico. The following day, Francis
guided them to Estarca, where they spent the night. On the morning of November 6, the bandits bade farewell to
Francis and headed west to San Vicente.
Meanwhile, Peró had sounded the alarm, and posses were scouring southern Bolivia. A four-man contingent
from Uyuni reached San Vicente that afternoon. Butch and Sundance arrived at dusk, rented a room from Bonifa-
cio Casasola and sent him to fetch supper. The posse came to investigate and had scarcely entered the courtyard
when Butch shot and killed a soldier. During the brief gunfight that ensued, Sundance was badly wounded. Real-
izing that escape was impossible, Butch ended Sundance's misery with a shot between the eyes, then fired a bullet
into his own temple.
At the inquest, Carlos Peró identified the corpses as those of the men who had robbed him. Although buried as
desconocidos
(unknowns) in the cemetery, the outlaws fit descriptions of Butch and Sundance, and a mountain of
