Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
GLOSSARY
Achachila/Apu
Powerful mountain gods or spirits believed to inhabit high Andean peaks
Aguas termales
Thermal baths, hot springs
Apacheta
Stone cairn marking mountain passes, created by travellers carrying stones on the climb up as penance
and as an offering to the mountain gods
Artesanía
Traditional handicrafts
Ayllu
Andean extended kinship group, roughly equivalent to a clan or tribe
Barrio
Neighbourhood, quarter or suburb
Cabaña
Cabin
Calle
Street
Camba
Old Inca term for lowland tribes, now used as slang term for people from the Eastern Lowlands
Camion
Lorry
Camioneta
Pick-up truck
Campesino
Peasant: literally, from the countryside
Canoa
Dugout canoe
Caudillo
Chief, military strongman
Chaco
Cultivated clearing in the forest, also the verb for creating such clearings through slash and burn
Challa
Ritual offering of alcohol and sweets to the mountain spirits, often carried out as a blessing for a new house
or car
Cholo
Mixed race or urbanized indigenous person
Colla
Ancient Aymara nation, now a slang term for people from the Altiplano
Cordillera
Mountain range
Criollo
“Creole”: used historically to refer to a person of Spanish blood born in the American colonies
Curandero
Healer
ENTEL
Bolivia's national telephone company
Gringo
Originally someone from the United States, now a non-derogatory term used for all white foreigners
Guardaparque
Park guard
Hacienda
Large private farm or estate
Huaca
Sacred place or object
Indígena
Used adjectivally to mean “indigenous”, or as a noun to refer to an indigenous person
Junta
A ruling council; usually used to describe small groups who've staged a coup d'état
Kuraka
Indigenous nobleman in the colonial era
Lejía
Alkaline reagent used when chewing coca
Mestizo
Person of mixed Spanish and indigenous blood
Mirador
Viewpoint
Nevado
Snowcapped mountain
Pampa
Plain