Bolivia’s sailors rise early for the morning’s drill, marching in parade formation and doing physical exercises before heading out on to the water. But compared to other navies around the world, they’re unusual: their country is landlocked. Bolivia lost its only coastal territory in a war with Chile more than 130 years ago. As a result, Bolivia’s navy, which dates back to 1966, is restricted to searching the country’s jungle waterways for drug smugglers and keeping watch over Lake Titicaca. The water – metallic grey in the morning, striking cobalt blue during the afternoon – turns a burnished gold in the evening, as the sun arcs across the sky. Few boats other than the navy’s single ship, and the base’s smaller speedboats, disturb the surface. Every year on 23 March, Bolivians celebrate the ‘Day of the Sea’, to mark the annexation of its shoreline. Sailors don pristine white uniforms and march through parades while children reenact the moment that Bolivia lost her ocean. The navy here is more than just defense; it represents a deep sense of loss and a blind faith that one day the country will return to the sea.