Island of the sun, or lack of, as was the case for us when we woke up early to catch the boat from Copacabana only to see dark clouds on the horizon. Nevertheless, we decided to be optimistic and hoped that the island would live up to its name.
Surely enough as we boarded the overcrowded boat the clouds began to part, which momentarily stopped me thinking about the lack of sufficient life jackets on board. After an uncomfortable two hour journey we arrived at the northern part of the island. The island itself is situated within Lake Titicaca and many say the island is the highlight of the area. Once a sacred part of the Inca empire the island is now a pilgrimage for tourists.
Now, with blue skies and the sun shining down we could see why people say this.
If you have a tent you can camp on the beach filled with backpackers and join in the party.
Sadly without a tent we decided to spend our day hiking around the island. Along with the amazing scenery there are also several pre Columbian ruins dotted around. The most impressive is the Chicana Ruins and the near by sacraficial table.
Next we headed along the path toward the southern end of the island. This is a beautiful walk but at an altitude of 3800 meters the hills feel like mountains when climbing up them.
We spent the night in a hotel in the small village of Yumani and had to catch the compulsory sunset shot. The village lacks running water and the descendents of the ancient Uro culture still own and farm the surrounding land.
Hiking From Isla Del Sol to Copabana
The next morning we had two options. We could either catch the boat straight back to Copacabana or, alternatively, we could head over to the mainland village of Yampupata and walk the 18km along the lake to reach Copacabana by foot. We decided to head down to the harbour to see what boats were leaving. After a short discussion with the locals we managed to charter a boat to take us to Yampupata.
So, despite being tired from yesterday’s high altitude hiking, it was settled that we were in for another day of rambling.
It all started well enough as we passed through small local villages we walked along flat roads and were able to see what life is like in Bolivia outside the tourist hubs.
Then the roads turned steeper and as I struggled to breath I questioned why we didn’t just get the boat straight back to Copacabana.
However, we powered on and the road started to wind down hill as we took a short cut along an old Inca road where pilgrims once walked on their way to the island.
For once I was glad that Karl had made friends with a local stray dog as it protected us from the many dogs which tried to attack us when passing their farms.
Dogs weren’t our only danger. As I walked along, peacefully letting my mind wander, I looked down and what I thought was a stick started moving by my foot. I realised soon enough that it was in fact a snake. I was so shocked that I had almost stood on it that I may have screamed and ran away slightly more dramatically than I would have liked. So much so that I managed to attract the attention of a local Bolivian woman, who, when I told her it was a serpent went over and proceeded to bash it on the head with a rock.
Further along the path we passed some beautiful floating islands made of reeds. These aren’t as impressive as the ones on the Peru side but were a perfect place to stop for lunch.
We ordered trout, the local speciality. There were hundreds of them swimming in the nets by the islands. Our fisherman come chef simply grabbed two from the lake, gutted them, cut them in half, fried them and had them on our plates in minutes. It was delicious.
The last section was an easy 3km back to the town, where, along with our stray dog, we also befriended some of the local school children.
Both the Isla del Sol and the walk back to Copacabana were two excellent days where we really felt we got to see a different side to Bolivia.
