Unfortunately we only had two nights and could easily have lazed around for a week in the small city overlooking the highest navigable lake in the world, shared by both Bolivia and Peru. At an altitude of 3.812 meters and covering over 8.300 square kilometers the lake is huge with many islands scattered between the two countries, including our next destination of Isla del Sol, or Island of the Sun.
Outside of some interesting hikes in the Copacabana area there is little to do except enjoy the views of the lake. An easy hike up to a mirador overlooking the town is Cerro Calvario with cool views of the town, Isla del Sol and the vastness of the lake – the view clearly showed much of the seventeen kilometer hike to Yampupata where we planned to get a rowing boat to Isla del Sol on Friday afternoon. The usual way to the island is via small ferry from Copacabana to either the north or south ports but we had heard of another option involving a few hour hike along the peninsula to the tip, then taking a very short boat ride. We hadn’t reserved a boat or hotel so hopefully this would work out for us!
The seventeen kilometers along the peninsula to Yampupata took us around three and a half hours and along the way we were rewarded with fantastic views of pueblos, floating islands and of course, the lake. Packing light for the hike and the single night we would be spending on Isla del Sol was a good idea and paid off with the great weather. Upon our arrival at the small port we noticed a few boats, some motorized and some requiring manual assistance! We had been told that to get a private motorized boat across the short span of water to the island was not cheap and were hoping that we would meet someone who would row us across – our hope paid off and the first person that came wandering over was an old guy offering to row us over for fifty Bolivians, around seven Dollars.
Turns out our powerhouse rower was eighty four years young and made rowing the thirty minutes across look easy. Trust me it wasn’t, as I tried and the damn boat either circled or zig-zagged through the water! He was amazing and set off back to his village like he had a motor on the back – what a great experience.
Inca legend has it that the God Viracocha rose out of the water and created the sun at Isla del Sol and the moon at nearby Isla del Luna, hence the names. Life on both islands is tranquil with no motorized vehicles, and the only sounds being of mules complaining about their heavy loads. Being the preferred mode of transportation they get to carry everything up from the ports, including water on their backs.
After a short thirty minute walk we arrived in Yumani, set on a hillside with amazing views, where we checked into a cheap hotel and set about discovering the small town in the south of the island. There seemed to be enough pizza houses for each tourist to have one to themselves – we opted for a warmer looking place, also completely empty, and with the cute kid that greeted us we were in no position to try elsewhere. I’m not sure I’ve sampled anything other than Titicaca trout since we arrived at the lake, and tonight was no exception with two portions!
Our plan for the following day was to walk to the far north of the island, then following a different trail back to Yumani to catch the 3.30pm boat to Copacabana, and our onward bus to Peru. Not sure if this was possible as we’d heard from different sources that it was a five hour walk to the northern most point. I definitely planned on giving it a good shot so we left straight after breakfast and turned out that we had the entire picturesque trail to ourselves, covering the ten or so kilometers in around three hours. With plenty of time available we made the return hike relaxing, stopping for lunch in the islands northern port of Challapampa, and eventually arriving back at Yumani with a couple hours to spare! Not sure how it was established but there are tolls to pass through different parts of the island, with fifteen Bolivianos for the use of the Challa paths and another five Bolivianos to enter Yumani – it was also ten Bolivianos to enter Challapampa, which somehow we bypassed. Most of the trail system was very well maintained so guess it was worth the small expense.
August 28th – August 31st 2013
