Bolivia: Farewell Dinner

Back in La Paz on the last evening of our tour, we had time to pack, relax, and enjoy a remarkable farewell dinner. To quote from the Wilderness Travel brochure:

"Tonight we gather for our Farewell Dinner at Gustu, a unique restaurant and cooking school founded by co-chefs Kamilla Seidler of Denmark and Michelangelo Cestari of Venezuela. The pair has trained the Bolivian staff to create menus using entirely Bolivian products, including high-altitude wines and spirits, and their restaurant has gained international renown."

It was truly an unforgettable dinner, just as the entire trip was unforgettable due to our tour leaders Andrea Heckman and Daniel Viveros, our fellow travelers, and to the beautiful country of Bolivia. My final photograph symbolizes both the fine food and drink at Gustu, and also a toast to all who made the tour so enjoyable and memorable.

Bolivia: Copacabana Market

After the cathedral, we wandered around the market and the colorful streets for a while, before returning to our bus for the trip back to La Paz.

Bolivia: Copacabana Conference

On entering the cathedral plaza, I was struck by the separate groups of indigenous men standing, and women sitting, in front of the entry. We were told that these are villagers who have come together to negotiate about rights of ownership and control of areas, such as Isla del Sol, that are used increasingly for tourism as well as for agriculture.

Bolivia: Copacabana Cathedral

For the last day of our Bolivia tour, we ferried back from Isla del Sol to Copacabana to spend a few hours before returning to La Paz. Our focus was the large and impressive colonial cathedral, which was winding up a several-day Blessing of the Cars.

More interesting to me were the religious objects and worship practices going on inside and around the cathedral, some of which had a distinct Latin American character.

Bolivia: Blessing Ceremony and Moonrise

Back on Isla del Sol, we were treated to an after-dinner blessing ceremony at Ecolodge La Estancia, followed by the rise of the full moon over Lake Titicaca. Spectacular!

Bolivia: Isla de la Luna

The small neighboring island of Isla de la Luna has the ruins of an ancient, pre-Inca temple.

Bolivia: Isla del Sol

We spent day 12 hiking over Isla del Sol from our hotel down to the lakeside, taking a boat to the neighboring Isla de la Luna, and coming back to the hotel for an evening ceremony at moonrise. A wonderful day, divided on this blog into three postings. Today, a baker's dozen of scenes from Isla del Sol overlooking Lake Titicaca. The first two are at Ecolodge La Estancia.

Bolivia: To Isla del Sol in Lake Titicaca

On day 11 of our Bolivia tour we drove back to Uyuni, flew to La Paz, drove to the Strait of Taquina, ferried across to Copacabana on the shore of Lake Titicaca (shared by Bolivia and Peru), and ferried again to Isla del Sol. We ended the day with a breathtaking (literally, since we were at 15,000 feet) climb/hike through pretty farmland to our hotel, the Ecolodge La Estancia.

Our blue-green bus is being ferried across the strait in the upper left.

Bolivia: Alpacas, Grasses, and Hot Springs

The Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve features not just stone trees and red lagoons with flamingos, but also golden tufty grasses, grazing alpacas, and hot springs—all set against rugged mountains at about 4000 meters. Truly one of Earth's remarkable places.