From the Sun to the Moon & Back in Magical Realism

I’m in limbo with no motivation to do anything. Inertia. Bad thoughts swirling through my head, feeling hopeless. For a month after Iceland I put myself through a cleanse of sorts. No alcohol. No makeup. I let my eyebrows grow out and then the day before I left for Bolivia I got them shaped and was really pleased with the results. A fuller brow feels more modern to me right now.

The night before I left for Bolivia we stayed out all night and I was useless most of the next day. Packed like a zombie. Showered like a zombie. Took a taxi to the airport and got stuck in traffic. Got to JFK about 20 minutes before the flight was supposed to take off, but it was 2 hours delayed. Whew. Met up with my friends, flights went smoothly from there and we landed in La Paz just a few hours after our original time. La Paz was an assault on the senses. For a city of only 2 million people, it felt huge and intensely crowded. We came into town from the mountains and the terrain was amazing. The town was like a bowl, surrounded by mountains.

So much traffic, so much dust, so many people. There were protests surrounding the downtown area so we ended up walking about a mile (thankfully downhill) to our hotel. We were tired from traveling almost 24 hours and the altitude wasn’t helping. Got to the hotel and thankfully it was an oasis, cool and quiet, carved out of an old monastery but with all modern conveniences. We napped and showered then headed down to dinner.

Met the Chilean delegation and had a nice dinner complete with traditional Bolivian music and dancers. Very relaxed. The next day we woke fairly early and headed to a Tennis Club in the embassy section of La Paz. The facility was amazing, but weird to see this opulent Country Club in the midst of a city where most people live very modestly. I used to work at places like that so it felt a bit weird for me. Sat through the press conference and then went for a swim. I felt okay, the altitude and the pollution were really affecting me but I felt better swimming. We did laps outside, I hit the diving board (totally open 1 meter and 3 meter boards…amazing, have not been on one for years) and to lunch. After lunch we took the teleferico back into town and had pizza/pasta dinner downtown.

The next day was more of the same. Swam laps, dive, hot tub, cold plunge, and steam room. I was feeling terrible, feeling cold and could barely breathe (got a sinus infection from the dust/pollution) so I asked about borrowing a wetsuit. Ricardo ended up having an amazing Arena sponsored racing suit that ended up being a perfect fit for me. I hadn’t worn a wetsuit in a swimming race before, so I felt a little weird about it. But if this year has taught me anything, I’ve learned that only I am responsible for my safety. This was a race that didn’t even have a separate category for skin swimmers, so the only thing that was holding me back was some misplaced bravado. I felt like garbage, the air temperature at the start was supposed to be close to 0 degrees and the water only 10…plus the altitude…too many variables, so I decided not to take the risk. The rest of the US team decided to wear wetsuits as well except for Devon and Tom, who came in the day before we left for Copacabana. That felt a little weird as they were already cutting it close by not building in any time to acclimate, but I didn’t say anything. She’s a good friend but a little lost right now and I don’t know him very well. Took the teleferico back again, that view never gets old.

We were invited for an early morning TV show the next morning, but Julieta made it clear it was quite optional. I hate getting up early and I hate doing press so for me it was a no brainer. I was still feeling awful and really needed the sleep. Devon and Tom and Ricardo volunteered to do the show and I slept in. We left for the Country Club to get the coach to Copacabana, but our car was super delayed and we barely made it! Bus ride was long but went pretty quickly. After just a few hours we made it to Lake Titicaca, but the lake is huge (almost 200km long!) so we still had a long way to go. This lake is incredibly beautiful:

Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, with a surface elevation of almost 4000 meters (~13,000 feet.) There are several bodies of water around the world at higher elevations, but all are much smaller and shallower so “navigable” is debatable. We were there to swim from the Isla de la Luna to Isla del Sol, but staying in Copacabana, a small resort town. It was autumn there and very sunny but also chilly.

The sponsor hotel had no heat in the rooms and hot water only during certain hours. We had another press conference/briefing that lasted until like 10pm. It was terrible. People were smoking outside and I felt like crap. I was worried I wasn’t going to pass the medical but I did. Went to bed and my room was sooo cold. I washed my face and teeth with ice cold water and went to bed. I wore my warmest clothes and piled my parka on top of the blankets and was still freezing. I was sobbing and crying under the pile and wondered how I would swim the next day.

View from our hotel:

Of course the next day I woke up, got my shit together, and went to breakfast. Everyone was on edge and I tried to pack some food in to get my strength up. We took the boats to Isla del Sol and I fell asleep in my seat. The Island was really hot and the sun was beating down. I applied sunscreen like a maniac to my face and hands and found one of only two shady spots, behind one of the pillars of the starting arch. (Luckily everyone else likes the sun so there was no competition for this spot.) Hung out, met my personal pilot, Lorenzo, who was a local fisherman in a traditional reed boat. You can read more about the Uros community on Lake Titicaca here - I find it really interesting.

Then it was time to start, we all waded in, the cannon sounded and we were off. I went far left to avoid being kicked in the face (they said men’s boats were on the right, women on the left) which was a good choice. I swam for a while and looked around for Lorenzo. My number on his boat wasn’t visible, and he’d taken off his red sweater since I last saw him, but he seemed to be following me so I assumed it was Lorenzo. I was wearing a watch which I rarely do during open water swims, so when I got to 30 minutes I thought about asking him for my carbohydrate drink. He seemed occupied and then stopped for a while, then went backwards. I had no idea what was happening, until I saw that he’d dropped his paddle and was trying to retrieve it. Luckily he did, and we were off again.

The wetsuit was pretty crazy. I felt like I only needed to move my arms and I was flying. An hour passed, then 1.5 hours, I was getting a little cranky but resolved myself that I would not feed during this swim and felt a bit better. And again, that wetsuit - I felt so buoyant, waves that would usually feel like were slowing me down felt like I was cutting through. Two hours and change and I saw the Bolivian navy boats signaling Lorenzo to change direction. I kept swimming but from the interaction I guess we were going way off course. That didn’t do much for my mood, let me tell you. Then all of a sudden the press boat was waving at me, pointing at something I couldn’t see because it was behind my pilot boat. Oh, okay - it was the finish arch and I was right there. This made me happy, but I was a little sad I wouldn’t actually get to walk onto the Island of the Moon. I got onto the escort boat, then climbed a ladder to the big boat. Devon and the young Chilean sisters, plus a super-fast Colombian girl were already on board, plus a bunch of men. I wasn’t sure if Devon had finished or if she was pulled early, but it turned out she had finished fourth female. I was really happy for her that her risk paid off, but the whole thing made me nervous. If we encountered strong wind or currents (as in previous years) we could have gone almost twice as long for the same 8k.

One by one swimmers came in, Phyllis and Capri but had to drop out due to breathing problems from the altitude. They did the right thing and pulled themselves though. Then almost everyone was back and it was past the time cut-off and Tom was still not back. Ten minutes went by, then twenty, and then about thirty minutes after the cut off time of hour hours, we saw him coming in, doing very slow breaststroke. This is a HUGE warning sign of extreme hypothermia. I was quite scared. He couldn’t get onto the boat himself, then had to be helped up the ladder. He was shaking and medical was wrapping him in blankets. Devon was kind enough to get under the blankets with him which helped his recovery, but even in strong sun under blankets he was out of it and shaking uncontrollably. I was a bit worried but even more pissed off.

Once Tom was on board we headed back to Isla del Sol, where we had the awards ceremony. I came first in my category and placed well overall which I was really happy with given I wasn’t even sure if I’d finish. I was talking to Devon and Tom when he said something to the effect that he didn’t even remember the last 20 minutes of the swim, but that he would have been angry at himself if he didn’t finish. I couldn’t help it and snapped, “Well, pulling yourself out before you hit that point is better than taking risks and not finishing safely.” I am sure I sounded like a total bitch but I was so upset. I have seen too much stupid macho bullshit this year. Insult to injury, we were guests at this competition, and like it or not, representing the US, and I really felt his behavior reflected badly on all of us.

I had to get away so I found Julieta and Phyllis and we went up a very steep set of Inca steps up to an ancient spring. Julieta had told me about this place and it was maybe the highlight of my trip. It was about 400 steps to the fountain and we had to book it because the boat was leaving soon. I was having flashbacks to hiking the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu with all those steep stone steps. But then we made it to the fountain and it was magical. There were three spigots, and I drank from each of them and made a wish. I filled my bottle and for a moment, felt tired and drained, but so happy. This was a truly special spot. The last time I remember having this feeling was in an ancient cave in Latvia with Kobie, where I bathed my face in an icy stream and hoped to be healthy again. I felt cleansed and bolstered by the crystal clear water in my body and my bottle.

We walked down the stairs, got on the boat, and headed back to Copacabana. On the way I had an amazing conversation with Julieta and we watched a fantastic sunset over the water. We got back to the hotel in time for hot water hours, and I was so happy to have a shower and feel clean again. After that we went for dinner at a Thai place (?) with lots of wine. Went for drinks after that and had a nice, festive time. The next day we had a leisurely breakfast and took the public bus back to La Paz. It was pretty comfortable! We went for a beautiful dinner in town, the last time we would all be together. The restaurant, Angelo Colonial was really nice, filled with antique photos and mementos, every surface packed with something interesting. Lots of Chilean red, and really nice Bolivian traditional food. I had trucha from the lake with puree and yummy veggies. We didn’t go out after that, but had a drink from the mini-bar in one of the common areas in the hotel. I drank a tiny shot of Absolut and re-filled it with the Inca fountain water…it was under 3 ounces and I wanted to bring A back some water for a wish.

The next day most of the group departed at the crack of dawn, and Capri and her sister and I left for a group tour to Tiahuanaco. It was interesting and we saw a lot of things, but not sure it really resonated with me as much as Isla del Sol and the fountain. It’s still a work in progress though, so who knows what else will be discovered there! It’s amazing to learn about cultures so old that in comparision the Inca empire is just a sliver on the timeline, let alone the Spanish occupation. We’re all just specks of dusk in the geologic sense, right?

Last updated June 17, 2016