Traditional lama slaughtering in Bolivia
While having breakfast in front of our room the next morning the family is preparing a lama slaughtering in the back yard. Mmhh, nice to see such a spectacle for breakfast, I think, but it turns out to be really interesting, absolutely natural, and not as disgusting as I thought before.
The butcher comes to cut the lamas throat with a knife. Everything else is done by the two Señoras of the house and the sisters family. For them it is the most normal thing in the world, they do it every second day. They laugh about our curiosity but patiently answer all our questions and have fun at work. The lama meet of these healthy and happy lamas is supposed to be very nutritious and good for us humans. People in this region eat it every day and a lot of them get 120 years old – they say. At first it is quite hard to get the skin off and to cut and break the feet. Then it comes to a division of work for men and women, the man cuts the rips and the big bones. The women take out the intestines. Little daughter Anita has to help as well - while European kids today play with iPads and now all about the wipe gestures, this Bolivian girl plays with the inner things of lama. She enjoys letting it all slip through her fingers and complains when she has to stop her game to hold the lama leg up… Suddenly the younger lady comes out with some plastic glasses, they pour the liquid from the uterus in a bowl and offer me a drink. „Agua de vitaminas“ they explain and laugh. I cannot be overcome to try a nip but they happily clink glasses.
What a start in the day!