My Special Visitors

Mom and Dad with sunset over Lake Titicaca

My parents came to visit! I met them in La Paz Thursday and over the weekend we traveled to Copacabana with Nique and Emily. They came to Cochabamba Monday to visit my Bolivian home and are headed to Santa Cruz today (Wednesday) to catch their flight home.

I am very fortunate to have parents that are willing to travel all the way to Bolivia to visit me (best care package award?). It was a truly amazing weekend. Thank you mom and dad for making it happen – thanks for enduring the 3 vaccinations – for not freaking out when the Bolivian embassy didn’t get your passports and visas back to you until the day before you left – for being patient when your bags were lost somewhere between Miami and La Paz – for not complaining despite the altitude headaches and nose bleeds – for staying positive when Montezuma took his revenge on my body and mom’s – for enduring the 1.5 hour flight delay to Cochabamba – for tolerating the cold showers – and, overall, for always ensuring that the good outweighs the bad despite how bad it may get. Y’all are the best.

Below are some pictures from our adventure this weekend.

LA PAZ

Our trip started in La Paz. I met my parents there Thursday night and we spent Friday exploring the city and eating some delicious food.

Mercado de Hechicería (Witches’ Market)

Llama fetus (to bury beneath a new house as an offering to Pachamama – the earth mother – for good luck)

 

Around town

Plaza Murillo and Presidential Palace

View from hotel room of Illimani mountain

COPACABANA & LAKE TITICACA

On Saturday morning Emily, Nique, my parents, and I took a bus to Copacabana (12,540 ft). We got there around lunch time – just in time to enjoy the Copacabana specialty (trucha or lake trout) at a little stand on the beach. Later that day we explored the city, watched a spectacular sunset, and ate a delicious dinner.

On the way to Copacabana

Mom and Dad on ferry

Lakefront at Copacabana

Dad with the remains of his Trucha (lake trout)

View of Lake Titicaca from our roomCathedral in Copacabana

Bolivia may be landlocked, but it still has a navy (armada) protecting its lake

Lakeside

Kids playing with toy boats

Women on the beach

Sunset on Lake Titicaca

Dad watching the sunset

 

Unique sleeping arrangement: In the words of mom, "a bed for papa bear, momma bear, and baby bear"

ISLA DEL SOL

Sunday morning we headed to Isla del Sol (Island of the Sun) on Lake Titicaca. This island was known as the birthplace of the sun by the Incas. A boat dropped us off at one end of the island, and we spent the day hiking through the hills to the other end – stopping to eat our boxed lunch and to see some Inca ruins along the way. The scenery was dramatic and beautiful – and truly unique – with the highest navigable lake in world framed by snow capped mountains and ancient ruins. The hike was exhausting, but one of the best I’ve ever been on. Afterwards, we returned to Copacabana for a much deserved dinner and night of sleep. Monday we took the bus back to La Paz and caught a flight to Cochabamba that night.

Boats to Isla del Sol

View of Lake Titicaca from Isla del Sol

View of Lake Titicaca from Isla del Sol

View of Lake Titicaca from Isla del Sol

Hiking trail on Isla del Sol

Hiking across Isla del Sol

View of Lake Titicaca from Isla del Sol

Lake Titicaca with Cordillera Real Mountains (chain of the Andes)

Stanley and Stella also made the hike to the birthplace of the sun

View of Lake Titicaca and Cordillera Real mountain chain from Isla del Sol

COCHABAMBA

We arrived to Cochabamba late Monday night. On Tuesday, my parents came to my host-family’s house for an authentic Bolivian lunch of Silpancho. They got to meet and get to know my host-mom and her two sons. It was a fun cultural exchange. Afterwards we walked around the city and enjoyed the warmer temperatures and lower altitude. They left this morning, and it was back to work for me.

It was a wonderful long weekend.