Colonel John Blashford-Snell

Explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell will be flying the Jersey flag on yet another intrepid adventure – this time in Bolivia.

The expedition, starting this month, will last 45 days and has been approved by the Scientific Exploration Society of Jersey. The 72-year-old will lead a team of doctors, dentists, nurses and water engineers through the Beni region of the south American country to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a tribe in the 12th century.

The region is known for its difficult terrain and the group will have to navigate swamps and jungles in temperatures rising above 35ºC. The indigenous Moxo tribe once inhabited these lands, forming settlements on elevated mounds as the area flooded every year. However, in the 12th century the Moxo community appeared to have deserted their lands, leading experts to offer a number of possible explanations.

Some say that they left because of climate change; others believe it was disease or the arrival of the Spanish. In 2005 a new theory was put forward by Sergeotecmin – formerly known as the Bolivian Geological Institute – that 500,000 people were wiped out by the impact of a meteorite.

The party will base themselves in the remote village of Coquinal, on the shore of Lake Roja Aguado, before a team of expert geologists and archaeologists set off to survey the region by boat, horse and on foot.

After conducting an initial survey of the region in February, Col Blashford-Snell believes that large iron deposits which formed after the impact of the meteorite may be contaminating the water there.

In return for local assistance to the mission, the team will provide much-needed medical and dental treatment and build six wells to provide clean drinking water for their hosts.
‘The people of Coquinal are desperately poor and live in the most terrible conditions. Like the Moxos before them, they are forced to leave their homes when the floods come,’ Col Blashford-Snell said.

In addition to providing expertise to local tribesmen, the former Victoria College student is hopeful that the mission will help improve the fortunes of the Beni region.
‘The findings of the study may be of tremendous economic value to the region because it is thought that the land is rich in industrial diamonds and sapphires,’ he explained.