The Adventures at Lake Titicaca

So this past Friday, as many people were shopping and fighting to get the best bargains, my Peruvian sister Ana and I were peacefully making our way by bus to Puno, to visit Lake Titicaca and some of the islands there.

(For a bit of a geography lesson for those who are like me: Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America, and the highest navigable lake in the world at 12,500 feet above sea level.)

Our first stop early on Saturday morning as a part of the tour was the floating islands near Puno, Los Uros. Here people live on islands that are made out of reeds, as are their houses, boats, and the people eat the root of the reeds too. It was quite interesting to learn of their way of life.






After our visit there, we had a 3 hour ride to Amantani Island. The people there speak Quechua and Spanish. They were so friendly! As a part of the tour we stayed with one of the families. The houses on this island were very primitive, as in an outhouse, no running water in the house, and no electricity. They had a room set aside for us with 3 beds and a table. The primary form of income for this family is through the tourism, vegetation, and handmade goods. The family we had were so sweet and humble. After we arrived they served us lunch: hot potato and carrot soup then roasted potatoes with fried cheese. They also gave us a type of herbal tea that was supposed to help with the altitude. Here are some pictures of the family and their house.






After lunch we were lead to a colosium where a soccer match between some of the islanders and some of the European tourists had already started. This was the meeting place for where we were going to hike. This colosium is very likely the highest in the world too. After watching a bit of the game, we hiked up one of the mountains of this island (unfortunatly I forgot the name) for a great lookout over Lake Titicaca. We were told we could see other parts of Peru and even Bolivia from this point. I did see a lot of land, but couldn't distinguish which was which. It was a great view though!






When we hiked back down we met up again with our family and had dinner. After dinner they dressed us up in the typical dress of the island and took us to the community center where all the other tourists were dressed up as well. We got to learn some of the typical dances, and then later in the evening we danced by the fire outside. It was a lot of fun!! Like I mentioned earlier there is no electricity on this island and no one told us to bring flashlights, so it was interesting walking to the community center without light. The girl of the family led us around as if it were nothing. Here are some of the pictures of the clothes we wore.






Maybe it was the hiking, maybe it was the dancing, or maybe it was the fierce sun combined with the cold air, but we slept so hard and so good that night. We got up and were welcomed by the fresh air and hot pancakes. We said many thank you's and goodbyes to the family and headed for the port. From there we went to the island of Taquile, where the people there were a lot less friendly and one would be lucky to receive a smile at all. But it was a beautiful island, and very interesting to learn about their system of marriage and courting. (Guys all you need is a few pebbles to throw at the girl you like, and you both have about 8 hours to decide if you will get married....feel free to ask me more about this odd subject!) After lunch on this island we climbed down 535 steps to the port. We traveled another 3 hours back to Puno to catch our bus and go home. Here are some shots from the last island: