This week I returned from a big weekend on the Gold Coast at the Australian Society of Travel Writers AGM and Travel Journalism Awards for Excellence. It was my first time attending the event after being substantiated as an associate member just a few months ago and I’m happy to announce that my cover story…
If you’ve checked into my Facebook page or Twitter lately you will have seen that I had an article, ‘Inside the Silver Mountain’ in the last edition of The Big Issue, a fortnightly, independent magazine that is sold on the streets by homeless, marginalised and disadvantaged people. It’s a global enterprise with magazines in many…
I’m excited to announce my first travel feature article published in Travel Talk Magazine: Brass, Drums & Coca Leaves. It has been printed as the cover story for the current issue (September 2012) and recounts an amazing series of street fiestas I experienced in Bolivia last year. You can read the text of the article…
After more than 12 months since my epic adventure back to South America last year I’ve now posted a gallery of selected images from that continent on my website. They give a small taste of its inspiring lands and peoples. This previously unreleased image is of a family waiting for the bus in Copacabana, Bolivia.…
Amongst the hustle of packed streets and endless processions of dancers I came across this troupe of performers who said they were doing the ‘dance of the llama herders’. Don’t be confused, this flag represents the Aymaran people of western Bolivia, southern Peru and northern Chile. This is not a gay pride flag, though the…
I grabbed this shot during the fiesta in Copacabana, Bolivia I’ve been blogging about for the past couple of weeks. These two guys (amongst others) were lugging their gear up the hill towards another churchground and the main area for the night’s festivities. I think a number of things make this shot work. One is…
I nabbed this photograph of Bolivian musicians taking a break from an uphill march and the relentless sunshine pummeling our heads during a fiesta in Copacabana, Bolivia. Like most people at the fiesta -performers and spectators alike- taking a break was essential to recharge after all the beers, marching, dancing, singing, and in my case:…
The hordes of musicians and dancers continued to stream down the hill under the banner of Paceña, the beer from La Paz. Getting this close for the shot gave me a bit of an ear drubbing, but I think it was worth it. My eardrums have had worse anyway. I love the hands on this…
I arrived in Copacabana to discover yet another multi-day fiesta was about to begin. This time on a scale far larger than anything I’d experienced in the small villages of Sorata and San Pedro. Though here I had a day to explore town and the shores of Lake Titicaca before events kicked off. I took…
The cars started to roll out from San Pedro late in the evening. Crowds of musicians and dancers fell out of their costumes in every direction. One by one they climbed aboard the tooting 4WDs and old Chevron pickups that sent dust floating across the valley. A few overloaded options rolled past before I flagged…
Cam Cope / Blog 