The altiplano has been said to be the Himalayas of South America. The indigenous people continue to work the land with a ox drawn plow and sweat from their brow. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world at 12,505'. Backdropped by the towering pyramidal peaks of Huayna Potosi (19,975') and Condoriri (18,557'), enjoy expansive views of the Altiplano, or high plain, while driving along dirt roads to visit the ruins of the pre-Incan ceremonial center of Tiahuanaco. From Bolivia travel onto Peru and Ecuador, to see the Incan cultural centers along the Incan trail to Machu Picchu. The Galapagos offers nature at its finest with rare animals on their protected islands.

Located 72 km (44 miles) west of La Paz, Tiahuanaco sits in a long, desolate wind-swept valley that today barely provides a poverty level subsistence for its inhabitants. It is thought that Tiahuanaco was a great imperial capital of an immense empire that stretched from Ecuador to northern Chile.

My grandparents spent their lives in Bolivia from the 1910s to the 1960s, and they touched many people's lives during that time. We realized that this was the time to travel, because most of the people that would remember my grandparents and my father, Nelson would be 70-80 years of age. I learned so much about my father and his family while they were living in Bolivia. I was introduced to many of the people who had known my family. They would look into my eyes and nod, "Yes, I see that she is Dr. Beck's granddaughter."