I’m attempting to write this on Monday at my hotel in Copacabana. I had an 11am checkout and my minibus ride to La Paz is at 1:30pm. The hotel only has internet available in the common area, and it’s rather slow. We’ll see how this goes! (the slow internet impacts the uploading of the photos)

Friday, February 15 – transit from La Paz to Copacabana

Scheduled departure time for my minibus trip to Copacabana was 7:30am. We hit the road around 8am. (LA factor – oh well!) There were only 5 of us making the trip, so we were able to spread out in the bus for the 3 1/2 hour journey. (One way transit cost: $19) It was a beautiful drive, with many views of Lake Titicaca. We even had a little ferry crossing. And we made a couple stops along the way for photos. Awesome!

Lake Titicaca straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia in the Andes Mountains. It is South America’s largest lake (by volume) and the world’s highest navigable body of water. Elevation: 12,500ft Max Depth: 920ft

We had a little ferry crossing at the Strait of Tiquina. It joins the upper and lower portions of the lake. The crossing runs between the towns of San Pedro de Tiquina and San Pablo de Tiquina.

Copacabana is a small town (population of about 6,000). In fact, it is so small that my iPhone weather app indicates my location solely as “Bolivia”! It appears to be totally dependent on tourism. Which makes it seem odd that most of the locals I interacted with were not very friendly. Maybe it’s the culture, or that they are shy. Just kind of weird.

After checking in I decided to climb Cerro Calvario (Calvary Hill), which is lined with small monuments representing the 14 Stations of the Cross. Pilgrims visit the Stations for prayer and penance.

Here are some pictures from the climb…

Following the climb I did a roam around the little city and stopped at a waterfront food stand for a late lunch.

Saturday, February 16 – Copacabana

Today I took a full-day boat excursion to a couple of islands on the lake – Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna. (Excursion cost: $5. Cost for island entry: $1.50 each)

Isla del Sol is the largest island on the lake. The main economic activity of the approximately 800 families on the island is farming, with fishing and tourism augmenting the subsistence economy. Isla del Sol is crossed by many trails, and in the religion of the Incas, it was believed that the sun god was born here. In Yumani village, the Escalera del Inca is a staircase leading to a spring once believed to be the fountain of youth.

Isla de la Luna is inhabited by a small village of about 80 people. Legends in Inca mythology refer to the island as the location where Viracocha ( the great creator deity in the pre-Inca and Inca mythology) commanded the rising of the moon. Archeological ruins of an Inca nunnery were found on the eastern shore.

We departed Copacabana around 8:30am, with the first destination of Isla de la Luna being about two hours away (in a very slow boat!). It was drizzling on departure, but pretty much stopped by the time we reached the island.

I am now writing this in La Paz, with a fast internet connection. Got a fair amount done in Copacabana though!

There was limited seating available on the roof of the boat. No one took advantage of this area on the first leg of the trip, due to the rain. But myself and few others took a chance on the 1 hour trip to Isla del Sol.

The return to Copacabana took about 1 1/2 hours. Once again I opted to sit above deck. It had warmed up nicely, so it was a fun trip back. We even had some entertainment!

We arrived back in Copacabana around 4:30pm. I hadn’t had any lunch, so it was a perfect time for me to head back to Kiosco No. 3 for some grilled trout!

Today was the halfway point of my trip. I guess the typical thing to say is that it “has gone by so fast”. But to me it actually feels about right. It’s been a hectic first half, so the one thing I’ve learned is that I need to slow down some for the second half. My two big adventures coming up are islands – Galapagos and Easter. Other than that, I have no set itinerary. I can say my average step count will be dropping. In fact, since my arrival in the high elevations of Bolivia, it has dropped considerably!

Sunday, February 17 – Copacabana

Today was a rest day. Really! I layed around the hotel room most of the day. Took a nap, did some reading. It felt good. I did go out mid-afternoon to run a couple errands and roam a little bit.

My hotel room balcony was the perfect spot to view the sunset. So, of course, it was cloudy every night I was there! Here’s the best I could do…

Monday, February 18 – transit from Copacabana to La Paz

Time to return to La Paz. But before I go I must lament the fact that I was unable to locate Barry Manilow. Sorry Kari!

Same trip as Friday – 3 1/2 hours in a minibus, with 5 passengers ($19 one way). But this time at the strait crossing we were able to ride on the barge with the driver, and were even allowed to get out of the minibus to take pictures!

On the way into La Paz the driver stopped to let us take these amazing pictures of the city. I’m hopping to ride the cable cars in the next couple days.

The picture below is from my hotel in La Paz. I meant to post it earlier, but forgot. I’ve experienced this in other places, and I’m sure some of you have as well, but others, probably not. (It was the same in Copacabana)