Lake Titicaca and Its Islands

Straddling the Peru-Bolivia border at 3,800 metres above sea level, Lake Titicaca is the world's highest navigable lake, and the mythical home of the original Incas. In the fierce sun and cold, people carve out a simple life on the shore of the lake and its inhabited islands.

 

Click on any image to enlarge.

 

The island of Taquile in the middle of Lake Titicaca is visited daily by tourists, some of whom stay with families. Local children still live a harsh, isolated life in the fierce sun and cold and to get some benefit from tourism, have learnt to pester visitors to buy their simple woollen finger puppets.

 

 

The Isla de Sol (Island of the Sun) is accessible from Copacabana, on the Bolivian side of Lake Titicaca. It is the mythical origin of the first Inca, Manco Capac, who is said to have emerged from the lake at a spot near the island. The photo gives an idea of the brilliant light here in the dry season.

 

 

The Uros are floating islands near the shores of the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca, made entirely out of totora reeds. They are constantly maintained to replace the foundations that gradually rot in the water. The Uros are historically home to isolated ethnic groups who migrated into the lake to avoid conflict with mainlanders, although these days many of the 'locals' live in the city of Puno and migrate out to the island by day to entertain tourists.

 

 

The totora reeds that are used to construct the floating Uros islands also serve to make the boats which are the main form of transport around the shallows of the lake. This boatload of 15 tourists are being ferried from one of the islands to another.

 

 

Although this looks a bit like a painting, it is actually the indistinct background of a photo taken from the Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca, looking towards the Cordillera Real in Bolivia. Without a zoom lens it was difficult to capture the scenery, but I scanned the print image and enhanced the colours to give an impression of how the mountains appeared from the island at sunset.

 

 

The village of Copacabana bears no resemblance to its namesake beach in Rio de Janeiro. It's a popular stopping-off point for those travelling between Puno and La Paz. From here it's little more than an hour by boat into Lake Titicaca to reach the Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna.

 

 

Copacabana's most notable feature is the basilica of the Virgen de la Candelaria, the patron saint of Bolivia. The basilica is the destination of a pilgrimage in honour of the Virgin, whose feast day is on August 5. The virgin's shrine houses a statue that was originally carved by a descendant of the Inca Huayna Capac, in 1583, and is credited with many miracles.

The current basilica dates from 1805 and is built in a striking, almost Moorish style, as examplified by this archway.

 

 

La Paz and the 'Death Road' to the Jungle

On the altiplano at nearly 4,000 metres above sea level, the air is clear and brilliant, the landscape stark, and life difficult. In a basin below the peaks of the Cordillera Real sits Bolivia's capital La Paz, the world's highest capital. From these lung-bursing heights, it only takes a few hours on precarious roads to drop into the warm coca-growing lowlands of the Yungas, and from there to the Amazon jungle.

Click any image to enlarge.

 

A view into the shallow canyon in which the city of La Paz sprawls. The road from Lake Taticaca crosses the dry and windswept altiplano before entering the chaotic city of El Alto, a zone of rapid migration from the sierra and cradle of many of Bolivia's numerous protest movements. Then a few more bends lead to the rim of the canyon and this first view of La Paz itself, at 3,800 metres above sea level the world's highest capital city.

 

 

The 'Death Road' plunges from 4,900 metres at La Cumbre, above La Paz, to Coroico, 3,000 metres below. Warm air rushes up from the tropical valley floor, while the icy peaks of the Cordillera Real remain in view. The sheer drops are dizzying, but it feels a lot safer on a bicycle than a minibus.

 

 

Tourists on bicycles gather near La Cumbre, at 4,900 metres, ready to descend the 'Death Road' to Coroico. Many travel agencies in La Paz offer tourists the opportunity to make the trip down the road on two wheels. Spectacular photos and complementary t-shirts allow backpackers to later boast of their dalliance with oblivion.

 

 

This photo gives some idea of the sheers drops on the scariest part of the 'Death Road', as well as the safety precautions taken by cycling tour groups. Tour guides normally order their group to stop to let vehicles pass, in this case the truck in the bottom left of the picture. It's a lot more dangerous for vehicles -- the cloud of dust in the centre is from a minivan that had just edged past the truck, it's wheels scraping th abyss.

 

 

 

From the bottom of the Death Road, it's a short way up to the pretty town of Coroico, which is a holiday resort for wealthy people from La Paz. From a restuarant courtyard above the township, this view looks back over the route snaking its precipitous way back up to La Paz.

 

 

Bursts of ubtropical vegetation frame the view from a courtyard near the township of Coroico in the Yungas valley below La Paz. In these surroundings it's hard to believe you're only a couple of hours away from the thin, frigid air of the Bolivian capital.

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