La Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia

Before leaving Copacabana, we ate a yummy breakfast at our hotel and walked to the Church of Copacabana. Outside the church, local residents line their cars up, decorate them with flowers and brightly colored decorations, and wait for the priest to come out and bless their cars.

Once inside the church, there is a room to light candles for loved ones in exchange for protection from the Virgin of Copacabana. The walls of this room are covered in wax images of houses, cars, and people, which are sculpted by local families as form of prayer. I bought and lit five candles for my family in hope that the Virgin will keep us all safe J.

After our spiritual morning, we headed out on Lake Titicaca and took our motorboat to La Isla del Sol. Lake Titicaca is so beautiful, beyond what my words can convey here on this blog, so please check back for pictures, which I will post soon!!

Our first stop on La Isla del Sol was a quick visit to a local town. Here, we walked up a small hill and learned a little about their local “Fountain of Youth.” Although our guide encouraged us to take a sip from the three water spouts, we all kindly declined.

Next, we headed back out onto the water to our next destination where we visited some ruins and enjoyed Aptapi, a traditional lunch of the island. The lunch consisted of chicken, trout, dried sardine-like fish, 3 different kinds of potatoes, chocla (corn with kernals the size of dimes), beans, cheese, and fruit.

After filling our bellies with Aptapi, we headed to another part of the island to see the Incan Chincana Ruins. On this part of the Island, we walked for a few hours up and down hills to see a few temples and places of worship. The views and hikes were literally breathtaking – Isla del Sol is at slightly higher altitude than La Paz, and we definitely felt it! In addition to the altitude, the sun was strong and we mistakenly forgot to bring water along with us, so unfortunately, we had to cut our time at Chincana short, and head back to the boat a little earlier than planned.