island – THE ONLY ERIKA IN THE VILLAGE

Exploring Lake Titicaca

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Lake Titicaca is a giant lake that straddles two South American nations: Peru and Bolivia. Apart from its funny name, Lake Titicaca is also famous for its people that live on reed islands (literal man-made islands from reeds). How radical is that!?!

Top Tip for Lake Titicaca:

Take some time to explore at a slow pace. I was in such a rush on my trip moving between too countries overland without really enough time to do so but in the short time I spent on Lake Titicaca I realised its one of those places where the details are what’s important! Everything you see is pretty cool until you really look closely and see how many different and incredible ways reeds are used for everything.

Where to stay:

I didn’t stay overnight on Lake Titicaca (except on the shores of the Lake in Copacabana, Boliva) but if I was able to go back a Homestay on one of the islands is a popular choice and would be a really good option. Alternatively, You can book on booking.com.

Getting there and away:

Lake Titicaca is one of the stops on Peru and Bolivia Hop – a perfect combo of a tour group, a hop on hop off bus and an intercity bus! You can visit Lake Titicaca on both the Peruvian and Bolivian sides with this company and they even help you cross the border. See my post here raving about Peru Hop as to why this is a winning combo.

Getting around:

Most locals travel on reed boats but there are also ferries to various islands. On the Peruvian side you will find lots of small reed islands and on the Bolivian side you can take a ferry to the very large Isla del Sol. If you head down to the water I assure you you will find somebody willing to take you onto the lake for a fee.

What to bring:

Wear a warm jacket! Lake Titicaca is pretty high altitude and you cannot rely on it being warm. The day we went was grey, rainy and freezing.
I’m not sure why you would but don’t wear heels – I can’t imagine them going down well on the reed islands and on Isla del Sol you will need to do lots of walking.
Bring your passport – on the reed islands there is a little passport office where you can get a tourist stamp on your passport.

What to expect:

Expect to have an authentic, local experience and not DO anything. On the Reed islands you will be invited into a local house to ask questions and buy souvenirs (if you want) and get an opportunity to hop on one of the reed boats. On Isla del Sol the best activity is to lap up the sun and take in the beautiful views from all over the island.

So what are you waiting for? Book a flight to explore Lake Titicaca now!

Erika xx

Itinerary: 1 day in Copacabana Bolivia

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to book a stay or purchase an item I may earn a commission at no cost to you.

This is the lesser known Copacabana – not the bustling suburb in Brazil but a tiny little town on the shores of Lake Titicaca, nestled between Peru and Bolivia’s capital La Paz. It’s a part of Bolivia that doesn’t quite fit with the land-locked; poor, grimy, busy, superstitious image of the rest of the country. Instead, it makes you feel like you are at a seaside resort (admittedly a budget one). The blue of the lake can be seen from most of the town, the houses seem bright and cheery and you can take a ferry from here to La Isla del Sol – ‘The Island of the Sun’ which definitely sounds like a place I want to be!

GENERAL INFO

Getting there and away: Copacabana is one of the stops on Bolivia Hop – a perfect combo of a tour group, a hop on hop off bus and an intercity bus! See my post here raving about Peru Hop as to why this is a winning combo.

Accommodation: The best place to stay is La Cupula – It’s very pricey for Bolivia but worth the splurge. You can book La Cupula on booking.com. La Cupula also has pet Alpacas which is definitely reason enough to stay here.

Food: The restaurant at La Cupula is pretty good. Also we had a basic edible meal at a little hut down by the water.

Getting around: You can walk from one end of the town to the other in about 20 minutes so theres no need for any other forms of transport. If you want to head over to La Isla del Sol you will need to take a ferry. You can organise this through Peru hop or your hotel.

Top Tip: There is not a whole lot to do in Copacabana except unwind and relax. Stop here to take some time to recharge. There are some easy hikes, lots of fresh air, quiet to read and sunbathe. If you head over to La Isla del Sol there is even less to do.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Copacabana has a charming little cathedral that houses a black madonna (the patron of Bolivia). Its an interesting walk through town to visit.

The is a great little hike up Cerro El Calvario. Its only about a 30 minute walk to reach the top and its very steep but you have great views over Lake Titicaca from here. Its a popular walk with locals too so the track is quite busy.

Feeding the Alpacas at La Cupula is one of the best things to do here! Get a bag of food from reception but watch out as these Alpacas are very greedy. They provide tons of entertainment.

The main thing to do in Copacabana is to take a boat to La Isla del Sol. Its about a 1 hour boat trip to the island and there is a fee to visit the island (You can take the Bolivia Hop boat at 2pm and the island fee is included. This boat leaves from the White Anchor). From the Sun Temple where the boat lands, you can take a leisurely one hour walk to the small island town of Yumani to get back on the boat at around 4pm. Alternatively you can choose to spend the night on one of the accomodation providers on the island. Check booking.com for options.

So what are you waiting for? Book a flight to explore Bolivia now!

Erika xx

Our Galapagos Cruise Itinerary

There are so many different cruises available in the Galapagos islands that It can be really difficult to choose just one: See my post here on How to: Plan your Itinerary to the Galapagos to narrow down what you would like to do.

Here is our itinerary for our cruise so you can see what the places we went were like – Bear in mind that the underwater visibility, wildlife and weather will vary from day to day so areas that may have been perfect on my trip may be a little less so on another. Everywhere we went was AMAZING and out of this world though so I’m sure you cant go too wrong!

We took the Golondrina which is one of very few very budget backpacker boats in the Galapagos but is the one with the best itinerary (in our opinion).

DAY 1

On the first day, we met the cruise at Baltra Airport to embark on the yacht and got settled. After having lunch on the boat we headed to Mosquera Island. This Island has a long stretch of soft white sand and many rock and tide pools. It has a flat look rather than the cone shape of the volcanically formed islands of the Galapagos.

Mosquera Island is a great place to stroll on the beach, snorkelling and enjoy the animal life. You are most likely to see sea lions and many shorebirds here. It is a quieter island with less tourists than some of the nearby locations.

DAY 2

On the morning of the second day, we visited Vicente Roca Point on Isabela Island via a small motorized boat. You are not permitted to land on the coast here. Vincente Roca Point is a large bay consisting of two seperate coves with amazing sea life. You may spot seahorses, sea turtles, rays, puffer fish, sunfish, sea lions, sharks, penguins, blue-footed boobies and nazca boobies.

Note: Although Isabela Island is technically inhabited (it has a very small rural settlement) the island itself is HUGE and there are many very isolated locations with lots of wildlife on the other side of the island that are inaccessible by land and too far for a day trip by boat as they are reached from the other side of the island (such as Vicente Roca Point) so this is a good location for a cruise to visit.

In the afternoon, the cruise visits Espinoza Point on Fernandina Island where you have a short hike along the coast to see lava flows and lava cactus, marine iguanas (during nesting time January to June), penguins, pelicans, and cormorants. After hiking there will be time to do some snorkelling from the beach.

DAY 3

On Day 3 your cruise will disembark at Urbina Bay on Isabela Island (again an area inaccessible by land). This bay lies at the foot of the Alcedo volcano. At Urbina Bay you will take a 2 hour walk passing shells and coral visible above the water along with a lot of wildlife: land iguanas, darwin’s finches, giant tortoises and flightless cormorants. After the hike you will snorkel surrounded by penguins and flightless cormorants.

In the afternoon, the cruise visits Tagus Cove on Isabela Island. We again take a walk here that begins from the shore and takes you high up a hill to provide incredible views over Darwin’s Lake (a round salt water crater) through a small forest. After the walk, you will take a boat around the cliffs and then snorkel in the cove. Around the water you are likely to see wildlife such as penguins, flightless cormorants, boobies, pelicans and Sally Lightfoot Crabs.

DAY 4

On the 4th day the cruise will visit Puerto Egas on Santiago Island. We will take a motorboat to land on the beach here. The beach here has gorgeous black rock formations and lots of wildlife. You are likely to see the Darwin finches, Galapagos hawks, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, fur seals and sea lions. You will be able to swim and snorkel from the beach here.

After lunch you will visit Sombrero Chino which for me was the highlight of this cruise. This is an island that looks like a wide brimmed hat and is very picturesque. The beach area is flat and rocky with lava tunnels and lava cactus all over the place. You will do a short walk then swim and snorkel here and the snorkelling is absolutely excellent.

DAY 5

Lastly, before departure your cruise will take you to the Charles Darwin Reasearch Station on Santa Cruz Island. Although this Galapagos tortoise breeding centre is in the main town of Puerto Ayora and easily accessed on an independent journey it was a useful last stop for us as we could leave straight for the town from here and didn’t need to return to the airport with the others on the cruise. Had the cruise finished elsewhere, we would have been dropped at the airport afterwards.

Let me know if you have been to any of these locations or if you have any suggestions for the best itinerary stops on our next cruise!

Erika xx

Itinerary: 3 days on Isabela Island

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to book a stay or purchase an item I may earn a commission at no cost to you.

Isla Isabela is the largest Galapagos Island but it only has a very small population and feels very secluded. It’s a great spot for wild, beautiful landscapes and up close and personal wildlife encounters. If you aren’t able to do a cruise on the Galapagos then the next best thing is to spend some time on Isabela Island. Its also a great option if you don’t like organised tours (like me). I don’t mind them on occasion but I definitely prefer to explore on my own.

GENERAL INFO

See my post here on travelling the Galapagos Islands for general information about the Galapagos.

As always, I recommend comparing accomodation and prices on booking.com. We stayed at Hostal Cerro Azul which was great as it had a kitchen for us to cook in and lots of places to relax.

There is no airport on Isabela Island – the only way in or out is via the small passenger ferries which travel at set times twice a day. Landing on Isabela Island requires an extra $10 docking fee (ontop of the cost for the ferry).

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Concha Perla

Concha Perla is a secluded little snorkelling spot right next to town. To get here, walk 10 mins out of town towards the main dock. Just before you reach the wharf; there is a little slightly hidden boardwalk with a sign that leads to Concha Perla – a short way along this boardwalk you will end up reaching a small ladder leading into the water.

Los Tuneles

Los Tuneles is a great snorkelling spot close to Isabela Island – tours head here daily. We took a half day tour with Rosadelco and it was well worth the trip! We saw seahorses, octopus, mating turtles, stingrays and dived into a cave filled with sharks. On the way back we also saw giant MANTA RAYS which was the coolest thing ever. They were larger than our boat.

Sierra Negra

Sierra Negra is the second largest active volcano in the world and it last erupted in 2005. Rosadelco (the same company as the tour above) takes a tour here so you can hike the volcano. It’s about a 5 hour hike with 45 minutes travel across the island each way. The landscapes are gorgeously wild.

Tortoise Breeding Centre and Pozas de Las Diablas

The Isabela Tortoise Breeding Centre and Pozas de las Diablas (some ponds with flamingoes) are just a short walk outside of town. You walk along a boardwalk that passes the 3 ponds with flamingoes to get to the breeding centre.

Playa Grande

Relax at the beach right in front of the town. Plenty of wildlife can be observed here such as sea lions, penguins and iguanas.

Bike to Muro de las Lagrimas

Hire some bikes for the day to bike to Muro de las Lagrimas to see a wall that prisoners built (at one point there were prisoners on Isabela Island). Supposedly thousands of prisoners died during the wall’s construction. The wall is about 5 km from town. There is a beautiful lookout point here above the wall. Follow the path leading up the mountain on the left side of the wall up until the final lookout post.

On the way back there are lots of stops to take along the bike trail: Cerro Radar, Cerro Orchilla, Tunnel de Estero (best visited at low tide), Playa de Amor, Pozas Verdes, and La Playita. There are signs along the way.

I hope you love Isla Isabela as much as I did!

Erika xx

Itinerary: 2 days on San Cristobal Island

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to book a stay or purchase an item I may earn a commission at no cost to you.

San Cristobal is the alternate ‘main island’ of the Galapagos. Not as populous as Santa Cruz but still feels like a centre of civilisation. San Cristobal is particularly picturesque – the town is right on a nice beach and it feels like a good place to have a vacation.

GENERAL INFO

See my post here on travelling the Galapagos Islands for general information about the Galapagos.

As always, I recommend comparing accomodation and prices on booking.com.

If you need to get into San Cristobal town from the airport its only a 20 minute walk into town. You may not want to walk with your luggage so taxis are also available.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

Las Tijeretas

This is a lookout with beautiful views out to sea which leads down to a calm, sheltered cove where you can swim or snorkel. To get here, start from the Centro de Interpretacion and keep walking up the path that goes past. Follow the signs to Las Tijeretas on the right. When you reach the split in the path keep walking straight and up the stairs to reach the lookout. Once you have had enough time soaking in the views you can take the stairs down to the cove. The walk takes about 30 minutes.

When returning from the jetty at the cove, take the path rather than the steps back up. When this joins back to the previous path head right to walk back to town (this path goes along the waterfront past Punta Carola).

Punta Carola

Punta Carola is a beach just outside of town. It’s a beautiful sandy beach which is home to many sea lions lazing by the water. It’s a great spot to watch the sea lions going about their day or have a dip in the water. Playa Mann (closer to town) is also nice but smaller than Punta Carola.

Tour to Kicker Rock

Many companies take tours to Kicker Rock from Isabela Island. Kicker Rock is a rock that forms a narrow crevice which you can snorkel through. this Tour is most popular as you can see sharks swimming below you between the rocks – often these will be Hammerheads. It’s unlikely to see Hammerheads anywhere else unless you are diving. The day we went the water here was not very clear (nature is always a game of chance) but the tour was still great and we did spot a few sharks far below and come across some blue-footed boobies. We also stopped at a really lovely little beach where we saw pelicans and sea lions. The tour starts early (approx. 8am) and ends at 3 or 4pm.

Erika xx

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