Pat's Photo Gallery

Colombia's Colonial Jewels & the Coffee Triangle
with pre-trip to Bolivia: La Paz & Lake Titicaca
January 31 - February 19, 2019

Part One, Page Three - Bolivia: Lake Titicaca

Link to Part One, Page Three - Lake Titicaca and Tiwanaku

Lake Titicaca

Donkey with Lake Titicaca in the background on Island of the
Sun, an island in the southern part of Lake Titicaca.
Geographically, the terrain is harsh; it is a rocky, hilly island
with many eucalyptus trees. There are no motor vehicles or
paved roads on the island. The main economic activity of the
approximately 800 families on the island is farming, with fishing
and tourism augmenting the subsistence economy.


girl and alpaca
Little girl with baby alpaca seen while we were doing an easy
hike on the Island of the Sun to a small village along the shoreline.


girl and alpaca

hike
Part of our hike to the village of Yumani on
Island of the Sun
. The altitude there is around
13,000 ft.


Island of the Sun
View from the village of Yumani

donkeys
The island inhabitants use donkeys to carry light loads.

donkeys

boy and llama
Young boy with a baby llama. The llama's mother had died
when the baby was born, and the family was trying to keep
it alive by feeding it from a bottle.


Lake Titicaca
Another view of Lake Titicaca from the village of Yumani

balsa
A balsa, a traditional boat handcrafted from totora, the marsh
reeds that grow in shallow water by shore. This is the type of
boat built for the Heyerdahl expedition noted earlier.


lunch
Bobbi from California, Pat, Dan and Liz having lunch with a great
view of the Lake.


bird
A bird near our lunch spot

boys
The boys were waiting for us, at the same spot we had been the
day before, to receive their new shoes (in their hands). Their
mother was also there to thank us. The boys gave us hugs for our
gift.


boy
One of the boys

boy

Holding his new pair of shoes

saying goodbye

Waving goodbye to us as we drove away in the van.

effigy
What looks like a real person hanging on a pole on the outskirts
of the La Paz metro area is actually an effigy, mock-lynched and
hung as a warning to would-be criminals. They can be seen all
over Bolivia, and are a symptom of a lack of faith
in a police force generally considered to be unable to police
communities because they are either under-resourced or,
worse, corrupt and in league with the criminals. Communities
have neighborhood watchers to look out for thieves.

La Paz

View of La Paz as we were heading to Tiwanaku
archaeological site.

farm
We stopped along the way to Tiwanaku to visit this farm, not
a planned stop.

sheep
The young one had been born yesterday and had a very
protective and doting mother.

baby lamp

animals
The farm had numerous animals, including pigs, cows, donkeys,
chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, sheep, cats, and dogs.

puppy
Cute puppy that was wandering around there. Mom was tied
to a rope nearby but was watching closely.

farm owner
The female head of the farm. We did
not meet her husband, who is much older, in his 80s.

weaving
She was weaving a blanket for her bed.

Tiwanaku
At Tiwanaku, on the southern shore of Lake Titicaca, used by
a pre-Inca civilization dating back possibly to 300 BC or more.
The people were great artisans and left behind a series of
mysterious monoliths, like this one, mostly in granite;
as well as a pyramid, temple, and
aqueducts. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

landscape
View of surrounding area from Tiwanaku

boy
Boy at Tiwanaku who was with his mother, who is a street vendor

bird
Birds like this one were in the area

Gateway of the Sun
Gateway of the Sun at Tiwanaku

carving
Carving on the Gateway of the Sun

carving
Carving on the Gateway of the Sun

Tiwanaku
As the population grew, occupational niches developed.
People began to specialize in certain skills. There was an increase in
artisans, who worked in pottery, jewelry and textiles. Like the
later Inca, the Tiwanaku had few commercial or market
institutions. Instead, the culture relied on elite redistribution.
I.E., the elites of the empire controlled essentially all economic
output, but were expected to provide each commoner with all
the resources needed to perform his or her function. Separation
of occupations was accompanied by hierarchical stratification.
The elite lived in a section surrounded by a moat.

Link to Part Two, Page One - Colombia: Bogota

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