Hi everyone. I'm John Haggardorne. And welcome to Found in the Footnotes.

Amazing history in 5 to 10 minute sound bites. Now ready to be discovered every Wednesday at 4 p.m. Easter time, right here at 1001 Heroes.

Another gem rises to the surface, and our story begins.

Music I was in the middle of researching a story about the Incas when I came across the mention of Lake Titicaca.

And the first thing I thought was, was this entomology or error?

Or something else?

At the time, I saved it for the footnotes.

Today, we're headed to the Andes to discuss the highest navigable lake in the world,

Lake Tidicaca. Now, if you're 12 years old, or a podcaster with the maturity of a 12-year-old,

you've already lapped. It's okay. Get it out of your system. Tidic, caca.

Moving on.

Historically, the name comes from the Ameri words,

Tiddy, meaning puma,

and caca, meaning gray or lead colored.

Put them together, you have the gray puma.

This refers to the shape of the lake, which, if you squint, flip the map,

and perhaps consume some local fermented maze, looks like a Puma hunting a rabbit.

But I'm not buying that.

History is rarely that poetic.

Think about Pennsylvania.

We're told the Amish you are a somber, industrious people.

But then, but then you look at their maps.

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