Now, as a geography buff and a mountain lover, I'd been reading about Lake Titicaca for many, almost alarmingly many, decades. World's highest navigable lake, an inland sea perched on a great high plateau, etc. etc. And I've got to say the lake lived up to my lofty expectations. Vast, ever-shifting in mood and color, imagination-sparking. (And few places put on such an aerial show: almost surreal sunrises and sunsets with billowing and wispy and curling clouds shifting from light pink to deepest crimson, and, one night, a gargantuan bank of cumulus southeast toward Bolivia turned into a long festival of lightening, strobing across the lake, seemingly across the Solar System).
Titilaka is a prime example of excellence in infrastructure. Big clear, marvelously engineered and installed glass window/doors, a wonderfully warm, airy dining room, bedrooms designed by people who understand travelers, everything made out of the finest and most subtly luxurious materials. I was extremely impressed. (Also impressed by the setting; the little island just off-shore from the hotel reminded me of a particularly comely kopje, those rock outcrops, like big bonsai arrangements, that spring up from the rolling plains of the Serengeti.)
Our guide, Julio Cesar, looked after us conscientiously and enthusiastically. Off-the-charts knowledgeable (and more importantly, enthusiastic) is he about the Lake's ecology and history. I'm more of a landscape and history enthusiast than a natural history buff, but when Mary and I went with Julio on a rowboat tour of the reeds and shoreline near Titilaka's peninsula, I must say I was riveted by his commentary and his fantastic eye for detail.
I was impressed by the number of guided activities available at the hotel, (enough to keep you happily busy for more than a few days), and especially recommend the boat trip out to Taquile Island, which we found deeply serene (it felt like an island in the Aegean somehow, one of the fetching Greek islands). Taquile is inhabited by people whose efforts to maintain their utterly unique and amazing culture (I don’t use those words lightly) is inspiring.
We also went for a fine hike up Pachamama Hill, about 45 minutes east of the Titilaka., giving us not only a grand view of the lake and its varietal shore, but a chance to wander a bit in the tiny villages and farms near the rocky but very walkable Pachamama. Julio Cesar seems to know everybody on and near the lake. Roaming around with him you feel like you're with a friend greeting and being greeted by friends. It’s a lovely experience.
The lake, and the superb little hotel on its shores, was a revelation even for me, a guy well prepared to have my eyes widened by one of the world's scenic masterworks.
Many cheers and thanks-
Tom Cole
