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Captain´s Diary #9, 8/27/02, by Paul Harmon

On Monday, September 16, we woke early to sail the Qala Yampu less than a mile into a canal in Santa Rosa. As we sailed, I took the opportunity to put our video camera in a waterproof case and dropped in the water in front of the Qala Yampu. We had a decent wind, so the Qala Yampu sailed toward me very quickly. In a matter of seconds, I ducked under the hull and allowed the Qala Yampu to sail over me as I filmed from underwater. It was eerie and beautiful, even hypnotic, not to mention FREEZING! I emerged at the stern of the boat in a matter of seconds. Because I was not sure what I had captured on film, and because the icy waters had damaged my brain, I decided to do it one more time.

Before long, we were rounding the point, heading directly toward the canal to Santa Rosa. The canal was built some 400 to 500 years ago as a port to a magnificent plantation that no longer existed. The dirt road was lined on both sides with massive, ancient Cyprus trees, forming a canopy that in a lot of ways reminded me of the ancient plantations in Charleston, South Carolina, lined with ancient oaks draped in Spanish Moss. Beautiful is an understatement. I had seen nothing like it in Bolivia.

To our surprise there were about 40 school children and other people from the community waiting to greet us. We do not know how they knew we were coming. We hardly knew when or exactly where. The children were singing songs for us and everybody was cheering. As we landed, more and more people joined to welcome us. It was the nicest greeting we had received during the entire project.

Before long, officials greeted us and soon told us of their desire to keep the stone and the boat there in Santa Rosa. They want to build a park and museum, and name it all after our project, Yampu Qala, the reverse. I agreed that it was a fine idea, and I supported it, but I let them know that would be a decision that they would all have to make among themselves, among the leaders of the surrounding areas, including the Mayor of Tiwanaku.

The rest of Monday and all of Tuesday were planning days to organize the people to move the stone from the boat. Tuesday was a rare day of leisure for all of the Qala Yampu crew. However, there was no privacy. People from this and neighboring communities constantly dropped by to say hello and admire the Qala Yampu. Kenji took this time to carve a baseball bat out of a large log. It took most of the day, but the result was beautiful..."The Kenjiville Slugger". Then we made a ball out of wood and commenced to playing baseball, or at least batting practice. It started with me and Kenji with 50 people looking on. Then Rebekka joined. After a while, others tried their hands at swinging the bat. It was the "Field of Dreams" across the plowed fields along the shore of Lake Titicaca. It was magic. Then as night fell, we moved to a basketball court and played a game of 5 on 5 with a ball that would not bounce. It was not the prettiest game ever played, but it was tons of fun.

We walked back to the Qala Yampu thinking that we would be able to settle for the evening early. Wrong! The leaders of the town soon brought wood down to the Qala Yampu and built a bon fire. They played music on their native instruments as we all talked and laughed and had a great time. Before too long everybody went on their way and we went to sleep one last time on the deck of the Qala Yampu. Tomorrow we would be moving the stone, and then saying goodbye to our boat.

The next day, Wednesday, September 18, we woke and started moving around 8:00 am. From the distance in all directions came individuals carrying long poles or logs on their shoulders, or balanced somehow on a bicycle. For the next hour people continuously arrived with these logs to move the stone from the boat. I have to use the "Field of Dreams" reference again, because it was if they were coming out of nowhere, out of thin air, delivering these tools to finish the job. It was magic!

By 11:00 pm, everybody had gathered to begin the task. We placed the logs from the bank of the canal across the boat to the stone. It was if the canal had been made for this purpose, and had been waiting for the last 500 years for this opportunity. This time, instead of sliding the stone, we rolled it. It rolled amazingly easily. We had it off the boat and 50 yards up the bank in less than 2 hours.

We took a break to eat. The women of the community laid out a long cloth upon which they spread out all kinds of local food including among others, potatoes, chuño, abas, choclo, and fish. Everybody simply grabbed handfuls and ate as much as they wanted. Afterwards about 70 people circled, gathered around the Mayor of Tiwanaku, to discuss the fate of the stone and the Qala Yampu. Originally the home was to be the museum at Tiwanaku. But the leaders of Copacabana one by one stood and spoke with such passion and intensity about their desire for both to stay in Santa Rosa that ultimately the Mayor of Tiwanaku agreed. Then Alexei stood and spoke of what would be required from a preservation perspective. He stated that if the community promised in writing to do these things, then the Qala Yampu team would agree on Santa Rosa as the new home. They did agree, and a promise was signed by all the officials and the Directors of the Qala Yampu project, Alexei Vranich, Rebekka Rust, and me. There were cheers and congratulations for the next 30 minutes.

The community of Santa Rosa is natural and beautiful. Maybe the most beautiful place I have seen in Bolivia. It is currently difficult to access, so it is not a tourist destination. They spoke of big hotels, but we cautioned them strongly about destroying the beauty. We talked about the uniqueness of simple, natural cabañas. We talked of the sin of removing even one single amazing tree. They agreed with everything we said. Time will tell. They want to build a park around the stone with a building, a simple museum to store the boat, to tell the story of the Qala Yampu Project and what it means. These things they promised. Time will tell. But this I will tell you now. This was the first community that did not ask for money from us. This was the first community that gave their resources and time to help without asking for anything other than the opportunity to be a part of Qala Yampu. They gave their hearts, and Qala Yampu has a new home.

We, the Qala Yampu volunteers, boarded the Qala Yampu one more time for a very emotional farewell. We made the crew turn off the cameras as we said goodbye. Although I will try over the months to follow, words will not describe what this project has meant for many of us.

The project continues. Alexei and I are off to New York to meet with Engel Brothers, the film company that has sponsored the project from start to finish. We hope this will become a feature film for National Geographic, Discovery, Nova or other worthy company. Then Alexei and I are off to the beach of Manuel Antonio in Costa Rica in October to write a book about the project. There I will continue to study Spanish at La Escuela D'Amore during the mornings. They prepared me in terms of language for this project. I will write during the afternoons and evenings.

Please continue to follow us through our website. I will make improvements to the site before heading to Costa Rica, and will continue to do updates on a regular basis from Costa Rica. Take time to give us feedback, it is important to us.

Thanks for you support! This project was a bigger success than even we imagined.