Birthplace of the Inca Sun God - Isla del Sol

Osa on our balcony on the island.
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Isla del Sol (Sun Island) is similar to Tequile island on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca where people depend mostly on tourism and agriculture for survival.  We decided to spend a night on this island to give ourselves a better opportunity to explore and see how the people live day to days.  One of the distinguishing factors of islands in Lake Titicaca is that they are actually all mountain peaks.  As a result, they do not really have gentle sloping topographies.  They jut up out of the water suddenly and the largest relatively level areas are on top.  So, upon our arrival to Isla de Sol we had to carry our packs up the "Inca Staircase" which the Inca cleverly designed to torture tourists for all eternity.  I do not know exactly how many meters higher we climbed but at that altitude it was very tough!  In order to make sure we were properly humiliated a little Inca named Amadeus (our 9 year old guide) led us up the stairs without losing his breath.  (He does it every day though and was born at that altitude.  Not fair!)

A view of the terraces constructed during the Inca era and still used by the farmers. The difference between cultivated land and natural is pretty extreme. (Green vs. Brown)
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The climb was worth it.  Our hostel was at the summit of the island and the views were incredible.  I kept thinking "I can´t believe it..." even though I saw the view every time I looked around.  Never got used to it.  The island still has a strong agricultural economy but tourism is gaining fast and we were fortunate to be there before the changes that are likely to take place over the next 10 years.  (Well, except they might build an elevator!)

On a side note... I have never really been around sheep much.  Boy are they dumb!!  They are not animals in my opinion.  They are plants that can move around.  No thoughts in those empty heads at all.  (Llamas on the other hand are awesome!)