Isla del Sol

If you haven’t heard of it before, Bolivia’s Isla del Sol (Sun Island) is this gorgeous island, about 15km in length, and is situated right in the middle of a giant lake (Lake Titicaca), which spans from Bolivia through to Peru.  This lake can be easily mistaken for an ocean.  It’s actually enormous ( 8,372 km² to be exact which is about 10x bigger than New York!!) AND sits at 3,812m above sea level!! … So it’s definitely not an ocean, but it could easily be mistaken as one.  Based on my experiences on this beautiful island, I am going to give you my 5 beautiful reasons why you should visit Bolivia’s Isla del Sol.  (If you want to see another blog I wrote about Bolivia, click here)

(Looks like an ocean, right?)

How to get there?

Before we start you should know how to get there.  It’s actually really easy and only involves catching a ferry from Copacabana (another amazing city in Bolivia) straight to the island.  The ferry ride will take around 2 hours and you get to cross over Lake Titicaca so it’s pretty amazing.  I arrived in the Northern part of the Island and from there made my way South – it only takes 3 or 4 hours of walking a nice pace.  This is what the ‘port’ looks like.

(Arriving at the North end of the Island)

Ok! So now you all know a little bit about the island it’s time to see my

5 Beautiful Reasons Why You Should Visit Bolivia’s Isla del Sol !

1.     Beautiful Walks

As I said, I had arrived in the North of the Island.  There are essentially two main routes.  One takes you along the edge of the island, and the other takes you through the middle.  I chose walking around the edge of it because I wanted to find some nice, secluded spots to go swimming in.  By the way, the water is amazing!!

(Here you can find some really cool parts to swim in!)

2.     Beautiful People

Whilst walking through the island I quickly learnt that it was home to lots of locals.  There are actually a few schools and some farms on the island which is really great to see! AND the amazing thing is that there are no cars! When I passed through several farms I was always cordially greeted by the locals.  Everyone wanted to know what I was doing and who I was.  It was such a heart warming experience.  I even got to hang out with these guys for a little while!

(Friends that I made along the way)

3.     Beautiful Sunsets

Walking to the south part of the island and chasing down the sunset was a very memorable moment.  You can take you pick of vantage points.  I actually found this nice little restaurant on the south end of the island, which had this impeccable view of the horizon and of the sun setting over this giant lake.  It was really amazing.

4.     Beautiful Animals

You can’t forget about the animals! Along my way I was greeted by chickens, alpacas, pigs and donkeys.  I actually almost got myself into trouble one time when I tried asking a police office if he had seen a donkey.  I wanted to take a photo of it but I didn’t know where it went.  The only problem was that when I asked the police officer, my Spanish wasn’t at its best and I ended up asking where the ‘porro’ was instead of where the ‘burro’ was.  Little did I know, ‘porro’ is actually slang for marijuana. Haha he wasn’t impressed.

(I ended up finding my ‘burro’ !)

5.     Beautiful Ancient Ruins

The island was home to lots of the indigenous people, otherwise known as ‘Incas’.  The Incas had created these amazing ruins throughout the island.  I’m pretty sure there are around 80 scattered across this tiny island!!  If you’re in the north end, be sure to visit El Laberinto, (the Labyrinth) which is essentially a maze of stonewalls.  You can also see an old sacrificial stone table and a sun temple! (Templo del Sol)

(Amazing ancient ruin on the North part of the Island)

So there you have it! These are my 5 beautiful reasons why you should visit Bolivia’s Isla del Sol.  Hopefully it’s inspired you to go visit this amazing place in Bolivia, South America.  Also, just one last thing …

Where to stay?

You can either do a day-trip to the island, or, as I did, stay over night.  You can easily find little hostels or huts to stay in once you’re there.  I stayed in the south-end of the island, and then in the morning just woke up and caught the ferry back to Copacabana.  Easy!

If Bolivia is really starting to interest you, you should check out this blog I wrote here on the Bolivian Salt Flats!  There are lots of really cool photos on there, and if you’re ever over that way I definitely recommend you to visit it.

By the way – if you want, you can definitely organise to go on a tour to the island.  I didn’t do one and I personally think you’d be ok with just a little tourist map.  However, if you do want to, you can check out this tour company Peru Hop. They are very well known!  Once you’ve visited, maybe you’ll come up with your own ‘5 beautiful reasons why you should visit Bolivia’s Isla del Sol’ blog.  And if you do wish to start you own blog or need help with starting a blog, check out my tutorial here!

Happy Travels!!