Tiquimani

Publication Year: 1967.

Tiquimani, by Margaret Griffin. Stellenbosch, South Africa: Kosmo Publishers, 1965. 164 pages; 1 color frontispiece, 21 photographs and 2 sketch-maps on inside covers.

This is the story of the first South African expedition to the Andes. Since in their homeland South African climbers do not confront problems of snow and ice, they wisely chose as their objective a rock peak of the Cordillera Real of Bolivia, an 18,400-foot three-peaked rock bastion with a reputation of inaccessibility. All three difficult peaks of Tiquimani were climbed, as well as six ice mountains, mostly first ascents.

Something appears to be lost when the story of an expedition is told by a person who did not participate in it. The author, a Capetown journalist, did an excellent work within the limitations imposed by the lack of first-hand contact with a foreign country and its people. But the familiar touch with the mountains is lost; the narrative of travel in the high country is mostly a narrative of the difficulties encountered (and there were many). The graceful Bolivian peaks are described with little love. Nor do we find much to learn about the Aymara highlanders of Bolivia, although the author partially compensates this omission by devoting one chapter to Julio, the porter-climber of the expedition, who is named "a Tensing of the Andes.”

The story is told in a style direct and brisk; the chapters on equipment are particularly interesting and useful, but other essential details, such as height and location of new peaks, are not found. In fairness to the author, she stated in the first pages that her book was not intended for the expert, but "for the reader who would like to have been with the team, but who lacks the necessary skill and application for such an undertaking.” It is evident, from the vocabulary used, that the book was intended mostly for home consumption.

Still, a more precise sketch-map, with more names and approximate location of the peaks climbed would have been most useful, the more so since a Yugoslavian expedition climbed afterwards in the same areas and a confusion of names has arisen. The photographs, however, are very good and well reproduced, the peaks of the Condoriri group looking particularly attractive.

Although the author does not claim to have written a mountaineering book, Tiquimani is the most valuable contribution to the meager literature of the Bolivian Andes which has grown but little since Sir Martin Conway did his climbing half a century ago.

Evelio A. EchevarrÌa