The homestretch...

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Sigh...only a three more days and we are back at home. The last 5 weeks have been amazing and we are looking forward to exploring South America further in the near future. Thank you all for your comments and for following along on our trip with us. It has been a memorable adventure!

For our last two days in Bolivia we travelled to Lake Titicaca. Some say it is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world..others say that there are higher lakes in Peru. Some say Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela is the largest lake in South America...others say that it is Lake Titicaca given that Maracaibo is fed by the ocean. Sounds like the jury is still out on the official claim to fame for this lake. In any case, like everything else in Bolivia, it is located at an extremely high altitude...3812m. The lake is fed mostly by rainwater and glacier water. The are 41 islands in the lake of which we visited only one...isla del sol (the island of the sun). This isn´t just your regular terraced island, it is of paramount importance in Inca history. It is believed that this is the location where brother and sister Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo were sent down by the sun. For those needing a brief recap of Inca history.... Manco Capac was the first Inca who married his sister (Mama Ocllo) and travelled from Lake Titicaca to Cusco to found the Inca city of Cuzco...aka the navel of the world.
We came back to Copacabana in time for a beautiful sunset which we enjoyed over a couple of glasses of wine and a game of cards. I'm distraught to report that Ian is the reigning champion of Argentina and Bolivia in Shithead...I´m still fighting for the Peruvian title..although my chances are quite low...I think Las Vegas has the odds at 600 to 1.
For dinner we had the local specialty...trout. Although not native to the waters of Lake Titicaca, it was delicious...maybe because it was the least amount of starch we have eaten during our entire stay in Bolivia...they sure like their potatoes here and I´m sure they don´t get bored of them easily given that there are some 70 different varieties.
Tomorrow we´re off to Lima for a little RnR in our favorite B&B before heading northbound.
See you all soon,
Kasia & Ian

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Photos

Crusin on Lake Titicaca
We were lucky enough to have the entire boat to ourselves...not sure how that happened.It was kind of strange since some of the boats leaving the Island of the Sun were easily overloaded and living by the motto ¨there´s always room for one more¨.

Funny, I don´t remember reading about an Inca named Ian...
This is where Manco Capac would sit and look out at his empire...all he would really see is Lake Titicaca and the Island of the Moon..where the women were kept.

Stairway to the fountain of youth...
At the top of these steps were 3 fountains.Depending which one you drank from helped you with one of three vices...lying, lazyness and stealing. It is also said that he who drinks from the fountain will stay young forever...will see how it works on me and Ian.

Inca terraces
On the island of the sun is a museum for the richy rich tourists that come by yacht. The museum has developed some of the terraces with agricultural products the Incas would have used to depict what it looked like back in the day.

Sunset over Lake Titicaca
The view from our hotel was priceless.

Life in the Altiplano
Outside of Tibet, this is the most extensive area of high plateau in the world.