Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

From La Paz, a 3.5 hour bus journey west brought us to the small town of Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca, just short of Bolivia’s border with Peru. At one point along the way we came to a narrow strait where all the passengers had to get off the bus and cross on small boats while the bus itself was floated across on a timber barge barely bigger than itself.

Lake Titicaca is a vast high altitude lake; more like an inland sea. And it’s the lake that gives Copacabana its popularity with tourists, being the jumping off point for all manner of lake excursions. The most popular by far is the three hour boat ride, on vessels of questionable resilience, to the large Isla del Sol (Sun Island) out in the lake. Isla del Sol has several indigenous communities clinging to their largely traditional lifestyle and also a significant Inca-era settlement ruin.

We joined too many others on a boat on Wednesday 6 April and made the journey out to Isla del Sol. Fortunately we arrived safely and disembarked at the northern end of the isle. There we hiked to the Inca sites before turning and hiking the full length of the island to its southern end. In all it was only about 10 km, but the combination of the high altitude, hot sun and big undulations made it feel like 30. Shortness of breath accompanied us all the way, and we were happy just before nightfall to flop onto a bed in a very nice hostel pn the south coast. We made the return voyage to Copacabana the following morning, this time on a boat with even more question marks hanging over its head, the most concerning being the strong smell of gasoline pervading the cabin. None of the passengers was silly enough to light up.

Despite playing second fiddle to the Isla, Copacabana is a very pleasant place in its own right with great water views and a nice restful ambience. We put our feet up for two days here, and lunched at the excellent trout stalls along the lake shore. You might be short of oxygen in Copacabana, but never Omega 3.