Friday, May 26, 2006
Lake Titicaca
Hello,
Let's see the other side of the globe
Titicaca, or Titikaka, sounds like the name of a bird, the burong kaka, but it is not. It is also not related to the volcano Krakatua. It is actually a lake, a very fascinating one not very well-known to our side of the globe.
Lake Titicaca is located at 16°S 69°W, in the Altiplano (High Plateau), high in the Andes Mountains of South America, on the border of Peru and Bolivia. Titicaca has an average depth of between 140 m and 180 m, and a maximum depth of 280 m. It is 120 miles running northwest to southeast, and is 50 miles at its widest point. Its May tide is as much as 16 ft due to the vagaries of rainfall and evaporation. More than 25 rivers empty into Titicaca, and the lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.
Lake Titicaca is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, at 3821 m (12,536 ft) above sea level. It is also South America's largest freshwater lake, with a surface area of approximately 8300 sq. km. Titicaca is the second largest lake of South America; second to Lake Maracaibo. Although Lake Maracaibo contains mostly freshwater it is connected by way of a 54-km (34-mile) strait to the Gulf of Venezuela, the Caribbean Sea, to the Atlantic Ocean.
The western part of the lake belongs to Peru, and the eastern side is located in Bolivia. A narrow strait, Tiquina, separates the lake into two bodies of water. The smaller, in the southeast, is called Lake Huinaymarca in Bolivia and Lake Pequeno in Peru; the larger, in the northwest, is called Lake Chucuito in Bolivia and Lake Grande in Peru.
Titicaca's waters are limpid and only slightly brackish, with salinity ranging from 5.2 to 5.5 parts per 1,000. Being an alpine lake only two species of fish are native to the lake - killifish (Orestias), a small fish usually striped or barred with black, and catfish (Trichomycterus). There are large frogs (Telmatobius ) that live up to 1 ft. long which inhabit the shallower regions of the lake. Trout was introduced in the 1950s..
The Incas called Cuzco, their capital in southern Peru, the navel of the world and the lake Titicaca The womb of Mankind. Lakeside dwellers of today regard themselves as the oldest people in the world.
The most important geographical features of Titicaca include the Copacabana peninsula which contains remains of cultures dating back to long before the Spanish influence in South America . Lake Titicaca has long been known to be not only the largest but also the most sacred in the world. Near it many cultures and civilisations have risen.
The Tiawanaku culture began its raise around the time of Christ and lasted over a millennium , extending far into Puno and Northern Chile. Tiawanaku ceremonial sites were constructed along the shores of Lake Titicaca, indicating that the lake was considered sacred at least 2,000 years ago.
In Inka mythology, Manco Capac and Mama 0cllo, children of the Sun, emerged from the depths of Lake Titicaca to found their empire. This is an indigenous community of some 350 families which continues to live within the traditions of the 14th century, according to the principles of Inca life. Here, without noting the passing of time, the three golden rules of the Empire of the Sun have been kept: Ama suwa, Ama quella, Ama llulla (do not steal, don't be idle, and do not lie). Their contact with other civilizations has not been able to destroy the profound identity of the Inca way.
Titicaca (Stone Puma) has lived a long life of millions of years. It contains the sum of all the ages that have molded and defined the works that humans have undertaken in the southern Americas. Over this span of time, that reaches back some two million years, its body of water has been much larger, and encompassed areas today covered in salt flats and wasteland.
The best known of Titicaca island are Taquile and Uros , the floating islands made of bulrushes, on the Peruvian side of the lake and the islands of the Sun and of the Moon on the Bolivian side.
Bulrushes (totora) grow in the low waters of the lake , they have always been of multiple use for the natives . The people from the Titicaca region weave this plant very well to make rafts or boats which cut swiftly through the waters of the great lake. Birds nest among the bulrushes , providing eggs for human consumption. The matted plants serve as a foundation to built bulrush houses on.
Have a nice day
Ronald
Let's see the other side of the globe
Titicaca, or Titikaka, sounds like the name of a bird, the burong kaka, but it is not. It is also not related to the volcano Krakatua. It is actually a lake, a very fascinating one not very well-known to our side of the globe.
Lake Titicaca is located at 16°S 69°W, in the Altiplano (High Plateau), high in the Andes Mountains of South America, on the border of Peru and Bolivia. Titicaca has an average depth of between 140 m and 180 m, and a maximum depth of 280 m. It is 120 miles running northwest to southeast, and is 50 miles at its widest point. Its May tide is as much as 16 ft due to the vagaries of rainfall and evaporation. More than 25 rivers empty into Titicaca, and the lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.
Lake Titicaca is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world, at 3821 m (12,536 ft) above sea level. It is also South America's largest freshwater lake, with a surface area of approximately 8300 sq. km. Titicaca is the second largest lake of South America; second to Lake Maracaibo. Although Lake Maracaibo contains mostly freshwater it is connected by way of a 54-km (34-mile) strait to the Gulf of Venezuela, the Caribbean Sea, to the Atlantic Ocean.
The western part of the lake belongs to Peru, and the eastern side is located in Bolivia. A narrow strait, Tiquina, separates the lake into two bodies of water. The smaller, in the southeast, is called Lake Huinaymarca in Bolivia and Lake Pequeno in Peru; the larger, in the northwest, is called Lake Chucuito in Bolivia and Lake Grande in Peru.
Titicaca's waters are limpid and only slightly brackish, with salinity ranging from 5.2 to 5.5 parts per 1,000. Being an alpine lake only two species of fish are native to the lake - killifish (Orestias), a small fish usually striped or barred with black, and catfish (Trichomycterus). There are large frogs (Telmatobius ) that live up to 1 ft. long which inhabit the shallower regions of the lake. Trout was introduced in the 1950s..
The Incas called Cuzco, their capital in southern Peru, the navel of the world and the lake Titicaca The womb of Mankind. Lakeside dwellers of today regard themselves as the oldest people in the world.
The most important geographical features of Titicaca include the Copacabana peninsula which contains remains of cultures dating back to long before the Spanish influence in South America . Lake Titicaca has long been known to be not only the largest but also the most sacred in the world. Near it many cultures and civilisations have risen.
The Tiawanaku culture began its raise around the time of Christ and lasted over a millennium , extending far into Puno and Northern Chile. Tiawanaku ceremonial sites were constructed along the shores of Lake Titicaca, indicating that the lake was considered sacred at least 2,000 years ago.
In Inka mythology, Manco Capac and Mama 0cllo, children of the Sun, emerged from the depths of Lake Titicaca to found their empire. This is an indigenous community of some 350 families which continues to live within the traditions of the 14th century, according to the principles of Inca life. Here, without noting the passing of time, the three golden rules of the Empire of the Sun have been kept: Ama suwa, Ama quella, Ama llulla (do not steal, don't be idle, and do not lie). Their contact with other civilizations has not been able to destroy the profound identity of the Inca way.
Titicaca (Stone Puma) has lived a long life of millions of years. It contains the sum of all the ages that have molded and defined the works that humans have undertaken in the southern Americas. Over this span of time, that reaches back some two million years, its body of water has been much larger, and encompassed areas today covered in salt flats and wasteland.
The best known of Titicaca island are Taquile and Uros , the floating islands made of bulrushes, on the Peruvian side of the lake and the islands of the Sun and of the Moon on the Bolivian side.
Bulrushes (totora) grow in the low waters of the lake , they have always been of multiple use for the natives . The people from the Titicaca region weave this plant very well to make rafts or boats which cut swiftly through the waters of the great lake. Birds nest among the bulrushes , providing eggs for human consumption. The matted plants serve as a foundation to built bulrush houses on.
Have a nice day
Ronald
# posted by chunmu @ 10:06 PM 
