Bolivia Expedition Dispatch
June 12, 2011 – Off to Copacabana
Today two more members of our team have arrived, Bill from Los Angeles and Lucas from Chicago. They barely had time to go to their room, freshen up and come down for breakfast before our departure to Lake Titicaca. We were scheduled to leave at 8:30 and for the first time we were all inside the bus and ready to go on time!
Tiwanaku is known for its impressive gateways such as this one.
Some are made from a single stone and all of the stones on the
site are believed to have come from a site 6 miles/10km away.
Today is always a long day. Our first stop is Tiwanaku, an amazing UNESCO Heritage Site and an important archaeological pre-Inca site. The area around Tiwanaku is said to have been inhabited since 1500 BC when it was a simple agricultural village. It grew in importance over the coming centuries and between 300 BC and 300 AD, it is thought that people made pilgrimage to the site because it was an important spiritual and cosmological center. The site grew into a city between 600 and 800 AD though there is disagreement about how big the city actually became; some experts say 15-30,000 and others say upwards of 250,000! Regardless of how big, it is an important historical site and is always worth the visit.
As usual, we had a picnic right after our visit to Tiwanaku since our lunch stop isn’t for another 3 hours at Lake Titicaca.
Nate decided to join in the festivities.
We all rested and slept on our drive and it went quite fast. Once we got to the restaurant, we all chose the type of trout we would like. Trout is the only item in the menu and it is famous for being very fresh right from Lake Titicaca and it is always expertly prepared. As usual, the trout was excellent and we still had time to visit the reed boat builder, Paulino Esteban, famous for having built Thor Heyerdahl’s boat the Ra. The reed boats are famous for their beauty and uniqueness. In his small office, he has copies of books and a National Geographic magazine from 1971 that has his boat on the cover.
We then drove to the ferry but passed by a local party where we made a quick stop and Nathan decided to join the locals for a dance; he did quite well.
We arrived quite late in Copacabana but still full of energy; the team still went out for a pizza close to our hotel - a place well-liked by our team last year.
Bart, the last member of our team, arrived 1 hour later with Wendy and Edy; he has arrived from Cuzco and his flight was a bit delayed.
Now we are finally together and tomorrow we will go for our first hike, the entire team together, to an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site.
Bill and Lucas arrive looking well despite their long, overnight flight.
The team heads to Copacabana. Along the way we made many stops, but the highlight is always the archeological site of Tiwanaku, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Admiring the landscape of Tiwanaku
Ryan
Left: Lucas; Right: Jared
Bill
Mark and his team
Mark and Bill enjoying our picnic
Teodoro stopped at many viewpoints along the way. Leila is enjoying the spectacular views.
Paulino Esteban, a builder who helped to construct the reed boat "Ra II", belonging to the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, who sailed from Morocco to Barbados in 1970. Thor’s goal was to prove that it was still possible to sail across the Atlantic Ocean using ancient technology. The boats are built out of totora reeds that are grown around the lake.
A boat made completely of totora reeds.
Bill looking at market goods in Copacabana
The brothers sit on a sofa made of reeds.
Richard relaxes at the restaurant where we ate a late lunch.
On the way to Copacabana, we encountered a street party.
A beautiful mountain view