Bolivia & Peru: Lake Titicaca (Isla del Sol, Isla Taquile & Floating Islands)

I was getting pummeled.  Who knows when or if these little hands have been washed or cleaned anytime recently? Where is the bano anyway?

The kids are anxious and just want to run out some of their energy. Unfortunately that isn’t going to happen anytime soon. These kids are part of a hand full of families that call Isla Titino Grande home. It is such a unique place as the island is a floating island, located in the middle of Lake Titicaca. It is made entirely of reeds tied together and is anchored in place. It couldn’t be bigger than the infield at a baseball game so there isn’t much running happening here. I would need to get a new hobby, as running wouldn’t exactly be an option. These kids were so fun loving and friendly and just wanted someone to play with. I didn’t want to roughhouse too much otherwise one of them may have ended up in the drink!

Day 1: Bolivia side: La Paz – Isla del Sol

There are many ways to explore the beautiful cultures and islands in and around Lake Titicaca. The lake is shared between Bolivia and Peru and is famous for being the world’s highest altitude lake at 3,808 meters or 12,493 feet. Inca legend also credits Lake Titicaca with the birthplace of their civilization. The lake is stunning to see in person with the beautiful backdrop of the Cordillera Real mountain range on the Bolivia side with peaks as high as 21,000 feet.

We chose to do a day trip from La Paz that took us to Isla del Sol and ended in Puno, Peru. It was a great way to see the sights en-route to our final destination. We boarded a catamaran cruise ship alongside 20 others in Copacabana, Bolivia (not to be confused with the much more famous Copacabana, Brazil). After a few hours, we landed on Isla del Sol. Legend has it that the god Viracocha and the first Incas, Manco Capac and his sister Mama Ocllo, mystically appeared under direct orders from the sun. Most modern-day Aymará and Quechua peoples of Peru and Bolivia accept these legends as their creation story.

Today the island is home to indigenous people who make their money via tourism. We didn’t spend a lot of time on the island but were very impressed with an Inti Wata Complex that we went to. Inside we learned all about the history of different civilizations of the people that live in this region. We learned about the current day traditions and culture. It was extremely interesting as we went around the various different exhibits. 

After the visit to the Inti Wata Complex, we were in for a surprise. The tour company owned their own reed boat. The boats were built in style similar to the people from many centuries ago to give you an idea of how they navigated the lake. It was definitely a little touristy feeling but fun nonetheless – they even picked me to row the boat for a bit (in traditional attire of course!).

After our visit to Isla del Sol, we arrived at the Bolivia/Peru border. It was one of the more relaxed crossings that we have ever done. We purchased some last minute snacks on the Bolivia side to use up our local currency then walked across the very unsupervised border. Being how relaxed it was, it’s no surprise that many items are smuggled illegally between the two countries. After the crossing we bussed a few more hours until we arrived in Puno, Peru.

Day 2: Peru side: Puno – Isla Taquile – Isla Titino Grande

Even though we aren’t much for day trips, we decided to do another one in order to see as much as possible of Lake Titicaca, this time from the Peru side. We chose a company that advertised to be more off the tourist trail going to places that other companies didn’t go to. This proved to be true throughout the day as we didn’t see any other tourists all day.

The morning started with a visit to the beautiful Isla Taquile. The local inhabitants known as Taquilenos are famous for their fine handwoven textiles and clothing. They are widely regarded as some of the best in Peru. This of course meant that they would be out of the price range for us to buy anything from them but it was interesting none the less. The craziest thing to me is that the males on the island, not the females, do all of the knitting. In fact, guys learn to knit very young. They showcase their talents by making the finest stocking hat possible that they wear each day. They look for a wife and show off by how finely knitted their hats are. After they are married they knit a belt using the wife’s hair then wear that everyday. Extremely interesting!   The local community also lives by the Inca morale code ama sua, ama llulla, ama qhilla which is Quechua for “do not steal, do not lie, do not be lazy”. We really enjoyed ourselves on the beautiful island taking in the local culture and the infectious smiles of the people who seem so happy and content.

Next we were off to Isla Titino Grande which is a little known floating island located in Lake Titicaca. Islands made of reeds are fading fast as it is an extremely hard life to maintain. These days there aren’t many of them left and they often survive on tourism. The original purpose of the island settlements was defensive so if a threat arose they could be moved. The island was small, no more then 25 feet across in any direction and is home to six large families currently. There are little reed huts that they sleep in and even have a dedicated hut used for the island’s kitchen. Again, this felt a bit touristy as if they were putting on a show for you but it was really great to just roughhouse with the cute little kids and take in the amazing sights. It was a lot of fun and I am really happy that we were able to step put on a floating island while they still exist!