Group Tours with Rosa Ramirez Carlson

Copacabana & Lake Titicaca

Copacabana is a village with about 5000 inhabitants of the Aymaran indigenous background. Long before the Spanish invasion, Copacabana was a sacred settlement for the Incas. Local traditions and customs are still very much alive and throughout the year it hosts an enormous amount of festivals. The original traditions have formed an astonishing mixture with the colonial Christian culture. For local tourism Copacabana is famous for its virgin statue made by the indigenous sculptor Tito Yupanqui.

On the legendary Island of the Sun, you will visit the gorgeous garden stairs and fountain of the Inca. Continue to the Inti Wata Cultural Complex, which features the underground museum of Ekako, a display about traditional shipbuilding with reeds, a handicraft center, and an exhibit about the intricate agricultural terraces of the Incas.

For anyone who visits, it’s a superb location to capture the splendor that is Lake Titicaca. In fact, before the Spaniards changed the name to Copacabana, the indigenous people were calling their settlement Kotacawaña, which means the outlook over the lake.

Lake Titicaca, straddling the border between Peru and Bolivia in the Andes Mountains, is one of South America's largest lakes and the world’s highest navigable body of water. Said to be the birthplace of the Incas, it’s home to numerous ruins. Its waters are famously still and brightly reflective. Around it are national reserves sheltering rare aquatic wildlife such as giant frogs.