Lake Titicaca

We visited Lake Titicaca twice.  Once from Peru and this time in Bolivia.  We left mid morning with our family below

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and it was mayhem in La Paz. This is equivalent to our route 95 wow kiosks on the road and crazy

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Once exiting La Paz it was a nice drive – although we saw a terrible accident- some people probably died.  Roads are not that great in Bolivia to say the least.

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Lake Titicaca   by volume of water, it is the largest lake in South America. It is the highest navigable lake in the world, with a surface elevation of 3,812 meters (12,507 ft) and is the highest navigable lake in the world. 

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The overall average depth of the lake is 107 m (351 ft) and five major river systems feed into Lake Titicaca and the lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated. ON the Bolivian side they made the ConTiki rafts below
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Cool little island homes below


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ConTitki raft above = recreation of the famous ConTiki movie and expedition

 

The photo above and below are from the Peruvian side.  We arrived in Puno the town of Titicaca. It was perched on a high setting overlooking the Lake, one of the highest navigable lakes in the world.

 

 

In the morning, we rode a small boat out to indigenous village, which was actually floating, on reeds and compost. In the morning, it was gray and cold as we approached the small hamlet.  About 7 families or 25 people) live on the floating reed islands.

 

Their homes are built up with reeds and they grow vegetables, farm and fish from their homes.  We took a ride in a hand made reed boat and listened to these indigenous people sing songs in their native language.  From here we traveled for over 2 hours on this huge lake to a very large  island between Bolivia and Peru.  We ate lunch on this island and watched the locals sing and dance in their traditional brightly colored clothing.  After a lunch of Guinea pig, we hiked to the top of the mountain where we had significant views of Bolivia and its magnificent snow covered mountains.

Later that day we boarded a boat, traveling back to our hotel.  I climbed on to the top deck for the ride home and as we pulled away from the peaceful shore line, the sun god bathed me in its warm healing rays and like a lover, the winds soft hand caressed my face and I listened to the metronomic sycophantic sounds of the engine.

 

Well after a few days here we traveled back to the states, which took about 36 hours of travel time.  I have fond memories of my times in Peru and the study of the Inca civilization.  I find it amazing how they built such amazing temples, structures, roads, governmental agencies and so on.  Their structures remain a mystery.

This was the first tour I have been on.  The advantage of the tour is that everything is done for you: the air, bus and train tickets, the guides, the hotels, the food and the places to see. This is a huge advantage for the person on a limited time frame that does not have the time to do the necessary ground work.  On the other hand there can be something said for being able to serendipitously travel with the flow of the waters.  There is a certain level of excitement in planning ones trip, being able to do things when you want to, taking chances with ones schedule and embracing the unknown.  Allowing the flowing river of life to take you, can be quite exciting.

 

 

Since 2000 Lake Titicaca has experienced constantly receding water levels. Between April and November 2009 alone the water level dropped by 81 cm (32 in), reaching the lowest level since 1949. This drop is caused by shortened rainy seasons and the melting of glaciers feeding the tributaries of the lake. 

Both times we had a fun time visiting islands and seeing the people.  The photos are from both times