Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ACCOMMODATION AND EATING
Although far fewer (and more basic) than the accommodation options on Isla del Sol, there
is a handful of simple,
locally run lodges
dotted throughout the island; a double room costs
around Bs50. There are also a few shops to buy food, though you should bring some with you
too.
THE SECRETS OF THE STARS
Anyone who sees the night sky from the Altiplano can't fail to be impressed by the bright
canopyofthesouthernsky.It'snosurprisethattheIncaswerefascinated bythestars,using
their comparatively
advanced astronomical understanding
to forecast agricultural cycles
and future climatic events. What is surprising, however, is that five centuries later their
astronomical knowledge is still being used by Quechua and Aymara campesinos in both
Peru and Bolivia. In June of each year the campesinos observe the
Pleiades
- a group of
stars sacred to the Incas. If the eleven-star cluster appears bright and clear in the pre-dawn
sky, they anticipate early, abundant rains and a bountiful potato harvest. If the stars appear
dim, however, they expect a poor harvest and delay planting to reduce the adverse effects
of late and meagre rains. This practice was considered just a superstitious peasant tradi-
tion until 1999, when a team of US anthropologists and astronomers discovered that using
this method the campesinos were accurately forecasting the arrival of
El Niño
, a periodic
change in Pacific Ocean currents that occurs every two to seven years, triggering changes
in global weather patterns, including drought in the Andes. The scientists found that in El
Niño years, high-altitude clouds form, which are invisible to the naked eye but which are
sufficienttodecreasethebrightnessofthestars.Thus,byusingatraditional folktechnique,
Andean campesinos accurately predict the onset of El Niño, a capability modern science
achieved less than twenty years ago.
Huatajata and the islands of Wiñay Marka
Around 35km east of Copacabana lies
HUATAJATA
, a lakeside village popular with
Paceños, who come here to eat fresh trout, drink cold beer and enjoy the views from the nu-
merous restaurants on the shoreline. Just off the coast of Huatajata, on
WIÑAY MARKA
,
are a trio of islands: one has an ongoing tradition of making reed boats, while the others have
some ancient Aymara sites.
Isla Suriqui
About 45 minutes by motorboat from Huatajata,
Isla Suriqui
is home to a small fishing com-
munity that still uses traditional boats made from the totora reeds that grow all around the
lake. In the 1970s the boatmakers of Suriqui helped Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl
design and build the
Ra II
, a large reed boat in which he sailed from Africa to the Caribbean
in an attempt to prove transatlantic travel was possible using ancient technology. Partly as a
