Copa, Copacabana

Copacabana and Lake Titicaca from above

Copacabana is a small town situated on a big lake. The people are nice enough, and the town is perfect for relaxing, with just enough activity to keep you satisfied for a few days. And, unless you are willing to pull out a couple of hundred dollars in advance for your stay, you can only stay for exactly that--a few days. Copacabana, you see, has no ATM, which I believe allows it to maintain its integrity despite the thousands of tourists that visit it each year. All in all, it was a great place to relax for a couple of days after having been ot the Galapagos Islands and then almost immediately heading out on the Inca Trail in Cusco...

When I arrived the power in the entire city was out. It's apparently something that happens quite often--multiple times during a day, week, month, year, etc. I didn't even know if the power was on in my room until I woke up at four in the morning with all of the lights on--those damn left to right switches can be quite confusing. I couldn't get back to sleep, and I just lied there in bed, thinking about what in the hell was going on, what I was doing, and the like. I decided that I really wanted to go kayaking in the morning. Seriously, how unbelievable would that be? Kayaking on Lake Titicaca...

I arose shortly after sunset and took the first hot shower that I had had in quite a while, meandered off for breakfast, and decided that it would be this exact morning that I would go kayaking. I made my way down to the beach with my Bolivianos ready to pay the approximately $2.50 needed to go kayaking for an hour. They tossed me a life jacket and I was ready to go--I just needed a kayak. I tried the first one, but unfortunately couldn't fit. I tried a second, a third, a fourth, and finally a fifth. I was too big (I know what you're thinking and no, I am not getting fat). There wasn't a single kayak that worked. Not one. It sucked.

I trodded back to my room, slightly defeated, but still positive as there were plenty of other things I could do in Copacabana--like hike more.


Alone on the island after our guide Oscar left us for the day--his aunty told him not to go too far...

Aside from being what is maybe the first most visited village on Lake Titicaca, Copacabana is also home to the jumping off point for Isla del Sol--the birthplace of the sun in Incan belief systems. Despite the fact that I couldn't fit in a kayak, I could still take a boat out on the lake with a bunch of other Gringos to see this historic island. A couple of traveling buddies were on the boat too, which gave us ample time to complain about the traveling habits of other tourists, figure out how to say certain things in Spanish, and bemoan the cold. There is nothing like bemoaning the cold with good comraderie... There is a lot of cold in Copacabana too...

We jumped off the boat and hopped onto the island. While everybody else went with some overgrown tourist guide, we decided to venture off on our own. We had the Bolivia Lonely Planet Guide and figured we could read what was what just as easily as somebody could tell us. Listening to guides gets really old after a while too... After a while, we walked up the path and were met by this 10-year old entreprenuerial lad named Oscar. He was on break from school for Navidad, and figured he could earn a couple of Bolivianos (Bs) from us Gringos. We started to brush him off, but he would stop us and tell us a few things here and there... We started to fact check him, and everything he was saying was at least as true as the guide book. Finally, we gave in, and allowed him to give us the full-blown explanation to everything.

He took us to the Titi Kahla--the sacred Incan rock with features of a Puma. He proceeded to tell us of Llama sacrifices, explained how the Incans knew all of the cardinal directions (displayed via stone organization), and helped us brush off people trying to sell 'fossils.' The kid had his act together, and actually reminded me of another young boy who used to sell golf balls to old codgers at the golf course across from his Grandparents' house. I was impressed.

We started walking back toward the southern side of the Island and Oscar stopped us... He could go no further. His Aunty had said so. We collectively ended up giving the kid an ample amount of Bs, and he happily scooted off. I think it was one of the first times that I really started to think about the different ways that children work in South America... the differences between what is good for the individual, the culture--long and short term--and how the future will unfold for all of the kids in the cities or countryside down here...


The only flower on the entire Isla del Sol... Not really, but the only one like this.

We meandered back across the island and eventually made our way back to the best hotel in Bolivia--La Cupula. The next day I set out to discover the Incan monolith, Horca del Inca, and captured the pictures featured at the beginning of this post. A couple of kids tried to guide me up there as well, but I think Oscar might have ruined it for them. The kid got me to really start thinking about child labor down here, and I'll probably post something on it here in a little bit...

For now, Happy Christmas Eve. I miss my family and friends... So much, that I might even make a list of things I would like to do today. Odd, huh?