| Activities and Events near Copacabana | |
| Day 4 | |
| Currency Converter - $1.00 US Dollars = $3.39000 PEN Peru Nuevos Soles | |
| SouthWind quote | |
| This morning we'll drive to the Huarina port where we board a small boat to cross the Huanamarca section of Lake Titicaca. We’ll visit Suriqui and Kalahuta islands where the typical totora reed rafts, similar to those that Thor Heyerdahl used in his famous "Ra" and "Kon Tiki" expeditions across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, are still built and occasionally used by the local Aymara fishermen. We'll have a chance to learn more about this traditional Andean craft as several of the residents of these small islands were involved with Heyerdahl’s projects. We'll return to Huatajata for lunch and afterwards drive about 30 minutes to the Strait of Tiquina. Following a ferry crossing we will continue driving another 1½ hours along a winding road that overlooks the lake to arrive to the pleasant port town of Copacabana (12,600'). The Sanctuary of Copacabana has been a pilgrimage center since the Incas established it in honor of the Sun and his first children, Manco Capac and Mama Huaca. After checking into the Rosario del Lago Hotel (or similar) those that wish can hike to the mountain shrine and lookout point on Calvario Hill for a commanding sunset view of the town and lake, and possibly receive a blessing from one of the deacons stationed there. Dinner is included this evening. (CB,L,D) | |
| email home from Copacabana | |
| Visited the Island of Kalahuta to visit post-Tiahuanaco and pre-Inca. There burial tombs, spiritual houses and homes were located right next to each other instead of seperate locations. Then onto the Staits of Tequina. We found the palce were Dad finished the swimming race. It happens to be where the Navel Station is, so no pictures on the shore. We climbed the hill a little ways out of town and took a pictue from about the same angle. On the road from Staits and Copacabana we stopped at the highest point on the road and climbed to the summit *14,400*. | |
| Paulino Esteban | |
 |
We are sitting with the world renown constructor of totora reed boats, Paulino Esteban. He and Thor Hyderdal crossed the Pacific in a totora sailboat. Bindy is wearing a hat made by a woman in his family. |
| Kalahuta Island | |
 |
This sacred stone village with two and three stories high-ChulIpas (Mortuary towers) is the largest Necropolis in the area and shows how much respect our ancestors had for the dead. You reach the island through Totora reed canals in a 20 foot wooden fishing boat equiped with 2 outboard motors. The crossing took about 30 minutes from Huatajata. We are sitting near totora reeds which are used in the construction of the traditional boats. |
| Straits of Tiquina | |
 |
Nelson Beck after winning the swimming race across the Straits of Tiquina in Bolivia's Lake Titicaca. 1939. |
 |
The Bolivian Navy is located on the site that Dad finished the race. We traveled up the road to an overlook near the cemetery to match the angle and position of the photo. |
| The strait of Tiquina is 3/4 of a mile wide and divides the small lake Chucuito from the main one Huihay Marca. On both sides of the strait terraced hills populated by two picturesque villages, San Pedro and San Pablo, rise four-hundred feet high. Between its shores you will see the flat Indian boats which ferry vechicles back and forth through the strait. | |
|
|
|
| Summit climb | |
 |
We climbed to the summit of a mountain (14,400 ft) from the road between the Staits of Tiquina and Copacabana. During the climb William found an old Inca well with ferns growing on the inside walls. While hiking to the summit we met grandma taking her flock of sheep to the highlands for grazing. |
|
|
||
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 | Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | ||
| < Return to Tour of Altiplano main page |