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Lake Titicaca (in local language Titi Kaka, which means 'grey puma') is the highest navigable lake in the world and is bordered by both Peru and Bolivia, Peru owns about 60% of it and Bolivia the rest. The main access points are from Copacabana in Bolivia (to visit Isle de Sol and Isle de Luna) or from Puno in Peru (to visit the Floating Islands of Uros, Isle of Taquille and Amantani island).
I was making my trip from the Peruvian side and was planning to visit the 3 main islands including a homestay on Amantani.
Our first stop was the Floating Islands of Uros....islands made of reeds along with their buildings, boats etc all also made of the same material. The people of the Uros islands had originally lived on the mainland but fled to the lake to escape the Incas and later the Spanish.
It was about an hour boat ride from Puno harbour and we arrived to a group of women in brightly coloured clothing waving us ashore. The islands were amazing and we were given a demonstration of how a floating island is made....binding together blocks of roots, inserting stakes, layering with reeds and then anchoring in place. It takes about a year to make an island and a new layer of reeds needs to be put on top every 15 days, the islands were very bouncy to walk on. All of the houses and communal buildings are also made of reeds..they have wooden frames and reed walls and roofs, which need to be replaced every 5 months. After the demonstration we were shown inside some of the houses and met some of the island inhabitants including a very cute child called Angel who lived with his parents and older brother on the island. We were then given a ride on one of their reed boats (with another cute child called Jefferson) over to the main island where there were shops, a school and a community centre. They hunt ducks and fish to eat, trading some of these for vegetables and grains with the mainlanders in Puno. It was very interesting to see although very touristy and they are reliant on the money they make from island visits and the products that they sell...they were quite forceful salesmen as well!
After Uros our next stop was Amantani Island where we would be staying overnight. It was a 3 hour boat journey from Uros and we arrived into the port just before lunchtime. There are 10 communities on Amantani, 5 on the east side and 5 on the west. Each has a president who is voted in every November and they rotate amongst the communities as to who takes the tourists to stay with families each time.
At the port we found the president of the community that would be hosting our group waiting for us along with representatives from the families that we'd be staying with. All of the women were wearing full black skirts, beautifully embroidered white shirts (which their husbands make for them) and embroidered black shawls...as they waited they were spinning wool, knitting and embroidering, making handicrafts to sell to tourists.
We were introduced to our families and set off to our houses for the night. I was grouped with two Italian girls (Michaela and Frederica) and we were staying with Isadora. It was only a short walk up the hill to her house and they had a beautiful view of the sea. The house was made of clay bricks and was on two stories around a central courtyard, with an external staircase up to the upper level. Our rooms were basic but clean and the beds looked comfortable with multiple blankets and brightly coloured bedspreads (we'd been told it gets cold at night). The house even had electricity generated by solar panels (there is no power on the island).
After freshening up we ate lunch (quinois soup followed by a grilled cheese, similar to halloumi, with potatoes and rice). During lunch we also met Isadoras's daughter Alison and her friends Evelyn and Franklin. We regrouped with the rest of the tour group early in the afternoon at the village hall and were given some information on the history of the island and traditional cultures. For example people tend to get married very young on the island but they have to live with their partner for 3-4 years before they actually marry, normally in the boys parents house, and then once they're married they move into their own place...there are no judges on the island so divorce doesn't exist!
As we were being given information on the culture all of the local children started to arrive and we spent the next hour playing with them and helping them to read. We then set off as a group to walk to one of the highest points of the island, the temple of Pacahatete (Father Earth), for sunset. This is a very important place for the islanders, where they hold a number of ceremonies throughout the year and make offerings asking for a good harvest and other similar requests. It was a steep walk but worth it for the views out over the lake and we were told to walk around the edge of the temple 3 times and make a wish. From the temple we could also see Pachamama (Mother Earth), the other temple/high point on the island. It was getting very cold by this point so we were all wrapped up in scarves, hats and gloves by the time we returned to the community.
We then had dinner with our families and also met Isadora's husband, Alfredo, who it turned out had once been a president on the island and he proudly showed us some of us election posters. Following dinner we dressed up in local dress (the same full skirts, embroidered shirts and the shawls that the women wear) and headed to the town hall for a dance that the community had put on for us. It was lots of fun and a local band played traditional music while we attempted to copy the islanders dance...basically involving lots of dancing round in circles and a bit of an 'okey-kokey' type dance!
We returned to our house pretty tired from all the dancing and had a very good nights sleep...the beds were as comfy as they'd looked!
The next morning it was an early start and a final breakfast and photos with our family before heading off to the port to catch a boat to the Isle of Taquille, our next stop. It was a one hour boat ride to Taquille and we were told it was much more touristy than Amantani. This was evident as soon as we docked at the port and we saw a lady waiting at a gate to take an entrance fee to visit the island! We paid up and it was a 45 minute walk to the main Plaza. Once there we had some free time to wander around and look in the shops and visit the Artesanal Centre which sold all of the wool products that the islanders produce. Taquille is famous for it's knitting and it a UNESCO world heritage site because of this. The patterns were quite different to those I'd seen so far in Bolivia and Peru and I couldn't resist picking up a headband for skiing!
We then had lunch in a restaurant just off of the square. There were two choices....fish or an omelette and we all went for the fish dish as we'd been recommended to try out the local trout. While we waited for our food Hevar (our guide) gave some some information on the culture of Taquille. People on the island are differentiated by what they wear...there are different hats for single and married men and the president has a different hat again (all knitted by the men themselves). We were also given information on the marriage process...prior to the wedding the bride cuts off her hair and weaves this into a belt for the husband to be. The ceremony is then a 7 day party for the whole community, paid for by the grooms parents. Everyone enjoys it but the bride and groom who aren't allowed to dance, smile, eat meat or drink!
Our food then started to arrive and Hevar explained we were eating in a community restaurant. The community owns it rather than individuals and the families take it in turns to cook and serve. The fish turned out to be very fresh as having served half of us they ran out and the chef had to run down to the harbour and back again to get some more! It was as good as people had said and was served with chips, lemon and rice.
After our lunch it was time to walk back down the other side of the island to a different port (our boat had moved while we were having lunch). This took us down via the archway that features on all the postcards and we had an obligatory photo stop.
The sun was shining when we reached the port and we enjoyed most of the 3 hour return journey sat on top of the boat soaking up the rays and enjoying the views of the lake. We could see rain in the distance but luckily it wasn't in our path home.
We arrived back in Puno late afternoon with enough time to do some shopping (Puno is supposedly one of the better places to buy alpaca wool products) and wander around the town followed by a Pisco sour and dinner in a local restaurant.
After an early start this morning I'm now in Chivay getting ready for a visit to the Colca Canyon tomorrow. My group transportation turned out to be a driver, a minibus and a guide just for me (!) . It was another pretty scenic drive with stops at lookout points to see a lake, flamingos, alpacas and the volcanoes surrounding the Colca Canyon and Arequipa, at one point we were back at 5000m above sea level!
After I arrived I was picked up by the company I´m doing the tour with tomorrow and am now waiting to hear from the agent what time I need to be up in the morning before heading into town for a wander.
I now have less than a week left in South America and am starting to make my way back up the coast to Lima, from where I´ll fly home on the 20th December!
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