Lake Titicaca, Peru
October 18-20, 2015
Two words often frowned upon in childhood come together to create the name of this high altitude lake called Lake Titicaca! Lake Titicaca sits at an elevation of 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) and straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia in the Andes Mountains. Its one of South America's largest lakes and the world’s highest navigable body of water. Its intensely hot blue skies and brightly reflective waters contrast with bitterly cold nights. Highland cultures are still steeped in the old ways where crops are still planted and harvested by hand, "campesinos" (peasants) wear sandals recycled from truck tires, women work in petticoats and bowler hats and llamas are tame as pets. We did a 2 day / 1 night tour of Lake Titicaca and it was an eye opening and interesting experience.
Our Accommodations in Puno - Marlon's House
The gateway town of Puno is unfortunately a unattractive place that you don't want to spend too much time lingering. But like everyone who comes here, you end up spending at least a night before setting off to see the islands of Lake Titicaca. We were lucky to find a decent hostal called Marlon's House centrally located with very helpful staff who organized our guided tour to the islands.
The Floating Reed Islands of Uros
The floating reed Islands of Uros are a fascinating pre-Incan culture on Lake Titicaca. The Uros people use the "totoro" reeds which grow on the lake to build boats, huts, furniture and the islands themselves. The dense roots that the plants develop are used to interweave a natural layer about 1-2 meters thick that support the islands. These layers are anchored with ropes attached to sticks driven into the bottom of the lake and layers of reeds are laid on top. Since the reeds at the bottoms of the islands rot away fairly quickly new layers of reeds are added to the top constantly about every three months. This is what creates the spongy sensation when walking on the islands. Each island houses approximately 4-6 families and today they're largely financially supported by the many tourist boats that visit daily. The Uros people still hold strong traditions but they have also developed early childhood schools and use solar panels for TV, appliances and radio. We spent about an hour visiting with the Uros people and learning about their culture.
Amantani Island - Homestay
Next we travel 2.5 hours by boat to the permanent island of Amantani. This island has a population of 4,000 Quechua speakers divided among about 800 families. The island is circular and about 9 km² in size. It has two mountain peaks Pachatata ("father earth") and Pachamama ("mother earth") and also contains ancient Inca ruins on top of both. The hillsides are terraced and planted with wheat, quinoa and potatoes and farmed mostly by hand. Livestock such as alpacas also graze the slopes. Today families are also supported by tourism especially through the promotion of homestays where tourists can spend a night or two with a local family. The islanders have developed a system where families are on a rotation of receiving tourists in a fair manner.
Our Homestay Experience
After docking at the port our group was divided among several waiting families and we were sent with a woman named "Rebecca" dressed in traditional garment who lead us up the hill to her family home. The homes are all built in similar style with adobe mud walls, tin roofs and pieces of wood roughly cut and nailed for stairs and rails. By local standards people are living quite comfortably though to us it doesn't seem like much. Upon arriving we meet the husband named "David" and after getting settled Rebecca cooks us lunch of quinoa soup followed by a boiled potato paired with another variety of sweet potato. After lunch we're given some free time so we played with the children named "Brenda Lee" (5 yrs old), "Yorgi" (1 yrs old) and eventually "Nelson" (9 yrs old) who comes home from school but who isn't as enthusiastic by our presence as the other children. At 4pm we meet up with our guide and we climb to the top of Pachatata (father earth) for wonderful views of the island. We then headed home to our host family where we were fed dinner of soup and another dish of potato and rice, all of which is very delicious. After some chatting and laughing using our poor Spanish we then head to bed in the chilly night. We take notice that our room is of high standards compared with the quality of furnishings the family has in their own rooms. Our wooden door doesn't quite close but we're kept warm by the thick adobe walls and four heavy woolly blankets. In the morning we wake at 6am and are given simple pancakes. We also try for the first time both muna tea (for altitude headaches) and cocoa leaf (the leaf of the cocoa plant which cocaine is derived from) for digestive and altitude sickness which is widely and commonly used all over Peru. Neither really provide any relief from the headache but it was worth a try! Our host family then leads us back to the dock where they send us off with hugs and thank you's and a very memorable experience.
Taquile Island
In the morning we head to our last stop an hour away by boat to the permanent Island of Taquile. This island is shaped like a bottle and has a population of 2,000 Quechua speaking people with an area of 5.72 km². The islanders are known for their fine handwoven textiles and knitting is exclusively performed by males starting at age eight. The women exclusively make yarn and weave which you'll witness them doing throughout the day as they go about they're daily activities. Taquile like the other islands is supported by tourism and also offers homestays with local families. Upon arriving to the island it immediately felt very tranquil and in some ways, less affected by tourism. The people of Taquile have very strong traditions and will not marry nor work away from Taquile. After climbing to the top of the hill we enjoyed a short performance of local music and dance and then a delicious trout meal with amazing views overlooking Lake Titicaca.