Bolivia Expedition Dispatch

June 14, 2010 – Visit to Sun Island

This is Leila Silveira reporting from Copacabana at Lake Titicaca. Today we had a 9am departure to visit Sun Island. A boat came to pick us up and in less than an hour we were on Sun Island.

Sun Island is now a quiet island with a few villages, but during the Inca period it was one of the most important religious site in the Andean world. Sun and Moon Island were considered to be the place where the sun and moon were created and the Inca dynasty was born.

Surrounded by the blue water of the Lake Titicaca and the peaks of the Cordillera Real to the east, there is absolutely no place on the island where you don’t have amazing views. It's quite understandable that the Incas chose this to be a sacred place with several shrines and temples. So what better place for us to have our first acclimatization hike? Great trails, beautiful views, strong energy, perfect.

We spent our boat ride to the Sun island enjoying the scenery on Lake Titicaca, Theo as usual explained to us a lot about the lake and its history. Upon arriving on Sun Island, we started our hike in the direction of its lighthouse, the highest point on the island.

It was great to stretch our legs and do our first acclimatization hike in such beautiful scenery. We enjoyed seeing the small villages where locals were having gatherings and parties to commemorate the day of Saint Antonio which was just yesterday. The weather was fantastic, clear blue sky and just a bit cool. Once we arrived at the lighthouse we joked that it was the first summit we reached on this trip, the highest point on the island. Sam immediately said that for her the bedroom in our hotel in Copacabana was her first summit. Her room is on the top of floor of our hotel which has several floors and getting to the top is like a cardio exercise class with amazing views to the lake!

After the lighthouse we started our way back down to where we were going to have lunch and take the boat back to Copacabana. We had a local meal for lunch. The dish comes wrapped on a typical Bolivian fabric and inside it has all the main vegetables from the area such as potato, sweet potato, huge beans as well as an enormous corn on the cob. It was quite an interesting experience as well as a great healthy meal. After lunch we visited a temple next to the restaurant where we could go inside some of the rooms. It was a bit claustrophobic, but fascinating. All of the windows were not only small but also very low, really close to the floor.

We were exited to get back on the boat after a good day. We made it back to Copacabana by 4pm and each one of us had a different agenda: some wanted to do some last minute shopping in town, hiking to the city’s highpoint, or just relaxing and getting the gear organized for tomorrow when we will finally move to the mountains.

Today was the last day that Sam’s father is with us, tomorrow he is going back to La Paz where he will catch his flight back home. Michael was a great addition to our team, even if it was only for a short time. He will be missed for sure: his energy, his sense of humor, and his relaxed way of taking life in stride. I know that his wife is looking forward to his return, so safe travels Michael!!!