That Congolese station was FANTASTIC. Sorry Namibia, the DRC beat ya for best African station... so far.
We haven't visited South America in a little while. What say we head to Bolivia?
We're gonna go ahead and warn y'all, the Bolivians must be WAY into DJ chatter, 'cause Pinky couldn't find one that doesn't have a ridiculous amount of talking. Even the classical stations. Just fair warning.
Named after Simón Bolívar, the man who led six South American nations to independence from the Spanish, Bolivia declared independence in 1825. Since then they've lost over half of their land to adjoining states as a result of war, including their access to the sea. One can still get to the Atlantic via the Paraguay River, but for real, this is bummer, y'all. They do have the highest capitol in the world and VAST mineral wealths to make up for their water problems.
What a surprisingly handsome freedom fighter!
Pinky remembers reading once that the Spanish pulled so much silver out of Bolivia during the colonial period that they created horrible inflationary problems in Spain and that it was one of the first instances in economic history. In the late 1800's the world looked to Bolivia for gold and in the 20th century eyed it's tin. And, today we look towards it once again for its lithium deposits - we've got make sure our cell phone batteries stay charged.
We know you're getting the impression that they're a rich country. Well, stop it! That mineral and natural gas wealth historically hasn't made it to the populace. Evo Morales' promise to remedy that discrepancy has helped get him elected. After dealing with the painful liberalization of the economy in the 80's and 90's, we're sure a lot of folks flock to that ideal.
OK, so today we're tuning in to the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Santa Cruz is a the fashion and modeling hub of Bolivia. However, of more interest is the fact that the city's streets are layed out in concentric circles. The oldest part of the city is encircled by the first ring. One the map below you can see the grid of the old city pretty clearly. Each anillo - or ring road - is numbered and separates each suburbs and neighborhoods. We're all about crazy road configurations and this is right up our alley! Haha! Puns.
Alrighty. We hope Radio Activa kicks off your weekend well. Grab your gold deposits, practice driving in literal circles and tune in to hear some quality
South American radio! We'll see your face on Monday! Enjoy!
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