Humajalanta '98 Expedition

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"Humajalanta, located in the area of Torotoro, is the most important known cave in Bolivia; hence, its name was given to the second Expedition of AKAKOR Project. This Expedition was the first in a series of Expeditions to be conducted in the region until all the objectives of the project have been realised. It is the first Italian-Brazilian-Bolivian Expedition and the second Brazilian international speleological Expedition" (CLAYTON LINO, personal communication). Just as the Italian/Brazilian team was able to conduct a highly professional and successful scientific Expedition in Bonito '95, this time Bolivian colleagues, with their recent speleological history, will be incorporated into another equally professional and scientific Expedition. During the Expedition, the First Speleological Meeting involving Brazil, Italy and Bolivia, organised by the Bolivian Speleological Society (SBE-Bolivia) and the directors of AKAKOR GEOGRAPHICAL EXPLORING was held. Representatives of all countries participating in the Speleological Federation of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (FEALC), the entity which is sponsoring the realisation of both events, were invited to participate, not only in the meeting, but also in the Expedition.

The district of Torotoro is located in the Province of Charcas, in the Department of Potosi, in Bolivia. The entire area of approximately 165,700 km² needs to be explored and investigated even if various Expeditions are necessary.

The landscape of the region is similar to that of the Venezuelan tepuis. It is located in a semi-arid area of deep, 60 - 300 meter canyons on the high Alpine plains at an altitude varying from 2000 - 3500 meters; the region is covered with a low, creeping vegetation with few trees similar to the flora of the Brazilian cerrado.

Various features typical of karst terrain (caves, pits, sinkholes, resurgent waters, dolines, and lapiès or karrens) are found here in limestone of the Miraflores Formation of the Cretaceous era (GUYOT and MELO FILHO 1997). This limestone is in contact with areas of fine-grained sandstone, where the deep canyons are formed. Of the 8 caves known in Bolivia, 5 are in the region of Torotoro, although it must be remembered that speleology in Bolivia is still. Its infancy and there is much left to be explored. The Humajalanta-Chiflonkhakha area is the largest and most important karst system in Bolivia (surveyed by JEAN LOUP GUYOT and his team, with maps published in GUYOT and MELO FILHO 1997); over a kilometre of development in the cave has been mapped.

This cave and the one formed by the resurgent river of Chiflonkhakha are the two largest caves in the country and will also be investigated in relation to their potentials for the exploration of tourism.

Not only does the region around Torotoro have great speleological potential, but also it offers opportunities for exploration by professionals in various areas. It is ripe for the exploration of palaeontology (numerous fossil sites which encompass turtles to dinosaur footprints), anthropology (with its numerous rupestrian primitive paintings and the ruins of the Inca civilisation), biology (endemic flora and fauna) and geology (with its unique stratigraphic and structural aspects).

During Humajalanta '98 expedition were discovered and explored the following caves:

1. Caves names are stated using local languages (Quechua or Aimara).
2. Torotoro's rocks are metamorphic carbonate (metacarbonate). In another way, is not so clearly if they are made of limestone or of dolomite. Detailed analysis will be performed to obtain more accurate data.