68 – 66 Days Remaining
The most gorgeous, glistening blue you could ever imagine going on endlessly for miles and miles. I knew it was huge but I really didn’t think it would look so enormous. You can only ever see land on one or two sides of it, there’s always a part that just keeps on going. I’d love to fly over it; I reckon that’s the only way you could really get a grasp of its full size. However here are a few facts (collected from the numerous tourist leaflets I was handed whilst at the lake) to help you try and imagine the enormity of it…
- Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the WORLD at 3811m (12500 ft)….But what does that mean?? (I kept asking this the whole time I was there because it’s not actually the world’s highest lake, it’s the world’s highest navigable lake). It means that it’s the highest waterway able to be sailed on by ships and boats (it’s deep enough and wide enough).
- Lake Titicaca is in both Peru and Bolivia.
- Lake Titicaca is 118 miles long and 50 miles wide at its maximum points.
- Lake Titicaca holds more water than any other lake in South America.
- Lake Titicaca has 41 islands on it, both natural and artificial.
I’d definitely recommend seeing Lake Titicaca from Isla del Sol. It’s a small Bolivian island two hours away by boat from Copacabana. (I would not recommend seeing Lake Titicaca from Puno in Peru, read this to find out why). Lake Titicaca looked the most impressive from Isla del Sol. You can take a boat to the north or south of the island. There’s a great walking trail which goes between both ends of the island. It’s a long walk but truly stunning. Most of the walk goes right down the center of the island, you can see Lake Titicaca on your right and left, absolutely gorgeous. You’ll pass tons of deserted little beaches along the way which make Lake Titicaca feel even more like an ocean and not a lake. I just wish the weather had been hotter because the water was so inviting, it really made me want to go for a Lake Titicaca swim. However it was pretty chilly as I’m sure you can imagine at that altitude (3811m!!!). Although I reckon you’d just about manage a swim if you camped on one of the deserted beaches and woke up hot & sweaty in your tent from the morning sun.
Unfortunately I timed my Lake Titicaca visit with two major celebrations. One was Bolivian Independence Day and the other was a festival in which Bolivians and Peruvians seemed to bless miniature objects like toy cars and houses. I think they blessed the objects to help their real size cars and houses keep safe, but I’m not 100% sure, it was quite bizarre.
Normally this would be great news, two festivals to observe and enjoy. However the small town of Copacabana became incredibly busy and really expensive. Also the owners of the hotel I was staying at, as well as a few ladies in the market, warned that Copacabana wasn’t safe for tourists during the celebrations. With this unfortunate information I decided to leave Copacabana so I didn’t spend more than one day on Isla del Sol. Despite this set back I had a wonderful time visiting Lake Titicaca!
Another great world site crossed off my list.
Hasta pronto!
Read my previous blog all about the most delicious chocolate cake EVER.
Or read an older blog all about the legendary South American Bus Experience!
wander with coffee 
Navigable lake means one that ihas comercial boat that takes passengers(who pay). I think or lake 69 would be higher if you carried a cannoe up and paddled it across