Lake Titicaca is one of the must-see destinations in South America. Stretching between Peru and Bolivia, the lake is over 230 km long and 97 km at its widest. The lake is deep, a freshwater remnant of ancient Lago Ballivian, an inland sea which once covered much of the altiplano.
The lake is the highest navigable lake in the world. At 3820 m high and covering 8000 sq km, bounded by altiplano and the snow-covered Andes, Lake Titicaca has a number of islands.
The Incas revered the lake as the birthplace of the sun. They believed their first emperor rose from a rock, called Titicaca, on the northern tip of an island now called Isla del Sol.
The name Titicaca means rock of the puma.
