Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
would have been stored some distance away from the water to increase their life span. Now the boats are made
and used mainly for tourism purposes.
In the early 1970s Dr Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer, solicited the help of the
well-known shipbuilders from Lake Titicaca's Isla Suriqui, the Limachi brothers and Paulino Esteban, to design
and construct his vessel
Ra II
to sail from Morocco to Barbados.
Dr Heyerdahl wanted to test his theory that migration and early contact occurred between the ancient peoples of
North Africa and the Americas. He planned to show the feasibility of traveling great distances using the boats of
the period, in this case, papyrus craft.
Getting There & Away
Taxis from Copacabana to Yampupata cost about B$80. For those who don't want to walk
or catch a taxi, the easiest way to travel between Yampupata and Copacabana is by
minibus (B$10, 40 minutes). At the time of research, these were leaving Copacabana's 2
de Febrero Plaza, every two hours or so.
Isla del Sol
POP 2500 / ELEV 3808M
Easily the highlight of any Lake Titicaca excursion (and perhaps your entire Bolivia
romp), Isla del Sol is a large island with several traditional communities, decent tourist in-
frastructure such as hotels and restaurants, a few worthwhile pre-Columbian ruins, amaz-
ing views, great hikes and, well, lots of sun.
The large 70 sq km island definitely merits a night or two - you can then devote a day
each to the northern and southern ends. While the day tour gives you a decent introduction
to the island (you can do a walking circuit of the main sights in a long day), whirlwind
half-day tours are strictly for the been-there-done-that crowd.
The island's permanent residents - a mix of indigenous peoples and recent émigrés/es-
capers - are distributed between the main settlements of
Cha'llapampa
, near the island's
northern end;
Cha'lla
, which backs onto a lovely sandy beach on the central east coast;
and
Yumani
, which straddles the ridge above the Escalera del Inca in the south and is the
biggest town on the island.
There are no vehicles on Isla del Sol, so visitors are limited to hiking along rocky trails
(some are now paved in Inca style) or traveling by boat. The main ports are at Pilko
