7/10: Swimming in the World's Highest Lake ☀️🌊⛰️
I flew back to La Paz to return to my inital itinerary. Next on my list was Titicaca - the world's highest lake at 4000m altitude. From La Paz I took yet another slooow bus to Bolivia's city of Copacabana. There I switched to a 90-min boat to Isla del Sol (the island of the sun) - a beautiful small island with a very well preserved culture, traditions, and way of living.
----sun incas...?
What preserves Isla Del Sol's special vibe?
- No cars
- No bridge
- No Telerifico lifts
- No foreigners can buy land
- Not even Bolivians can buy land
Instead, only locally born people or people with direct ancestry from Isla del Sol can purchase land on the island. I love this local community rule so much and I cheer on that locals manage to keep this law and preserve their island from full-blown westernization.
Locals make a living via tourism (which really started around 2010), fishing trout, and producing food locally. That is about it! :) And while tourism is a key part of the current economy, it didn't feel overly-touristy to me (like it later did in Peru).
/Pics of animals + producing foods/
Someone who wants to teach local kids English, learn Spanish, and possibly learn real-world skills like breeding animals -> ping me and I will connect you to my super friendly local host who might help you :)
/PIC with local kid/
- The 6 hour trip around the island- the altitude, animals, food, the breakfaast, the ppl!
- The breakfast. The animals. The cleanliness. The purity. The early 2000s vibes from my village.
- The vibes
- Safety
