Lake Titicaca

"The blue of Titicaca is peculiar, not deep and dark as that of the tropical ocean, nor opaque like the blue of , nor like that warm purple of the Aegean which Homer compares to dark red wine, but a clear, cold, crystalline blue, even as is that of the cold skye vaulted over it. Even in the blazing sunlight it had that sort of chilly glitter one sees in the crevasses of a glacier; and the wavelets sparkled like diamonds."

"The lake itself functions almost as a closed system; its only outflow river under the present hydrological situation accounts for less than 5 % of the total water losses. The lake water is subject to strong evaporation, has a of the order of 63 years and has a total dissolved salt content of close to one gram per liter, which distinguishes it from the much fresher waters of the majority of the Andean mountain lakes. ... In addition to its unusual features, it is, according to , one of the birthplaces of mankind. The sun, the moon and the stars were born within its bounds according to the wishes of , creator of the world. Here, after the , mankind took its first steps. The lake was a sacred site for the , who saw it as the end of the earth and a point of fusion where the two concepts of time and space came to be expressed."

"Lake Titicaca is one of the world’s great sights. A vast inland sea improbably located in the sky. If it were in Europe, its surface would be above all the highest peaks in Switzerland and Austria, and its area would measure more than twice the size of all their lakes combined. ... ... If Titicaca was never a serious contender as the source of the Amazon (it’s in the mountains to the north), it is the cultural heart for Indigenous people."