Lake Titicaca

Uros Floating Islands

There is lots of Coca tea to be had in Puno to help with altitude sickness, but I was feeling pretty much fine after arriving in Puno in the afternoon. It's an interesting-looking city as you curve down the hill in the bus toward it. Everything is very small and square and the buildings are mostly reddish adobe, built on hills with square windows. Everything leads downward to the dock, which is the main reason for the existence of the city.

Lake Titicaca is immense.  It's the largest lake in South America, and straddles the border between Peru and Bolivia. Our guide Manuel joked that the Peruvians say they have 60% of the lake and Bolivia 40%, but that the Bolivians say the opposite. It's also the largest lake at such a high elevation. Surprisingly, it's fresh water, though Manuel tells us it used to be salt water and much larger before the Andes mountains started pushing it upward. There are a number of islands on the lake, which feels more like an ocean when you get out on it. We got to stay overnight on one of these islands with a local farming family to really get a feel for the culture.

How the islands float

But before we set off for the real islands, we boated out to Uros, the floating islands. Pre-Incan people used to live out in the lake, making floating islands out of reeds and building houses and boats out of them. Today, the Uros live in the same way, though solar panels make a slight difference to their lifestyle.

We landed on one of the islands, home to a few families. Only the women were there to show us around, as the men had gone off fishing for food. Stepping onto the island felt a little questionable as the reeds crunched pretty well under our feet, and we sunk down a little with each step. But seeing as their houses and all their belongings were still floating, I figured we'd be okay.

A typical home

One of the women demonstrated how the islands were made. They find the drifting roots of reeds and lash them together, then crisscross reeds back and forth along the top, until they're pretty high able the water. They also add extra reeds to their houses to get higher above the water so it isn't as cold and so their things stay dry. They also now use cement pieces to put their cooking fire on, seeing as before there were many accidents lighting the islands on fire.

The islands themselves are pretty difficult to describe, though I've tried my best. Photos will definitely be the better explanation here.

After visiting the floating islands, we continued our boat ride out of the bay near Puno to the peninsula. The boat only goes one speed, which isn't the fastest in the world, so it took nearly an hour to reach the other side. This also helps to demonstrate the size of the lake, especially when we were just puttering around a tiny part of it.

Once landed, we took a small hike up to a local house, where they set up a beautiful table outside with a view of the lake and served us a traditional meal. I had my new favorite Peruvian food, which is quinoa soup. It had quinoa, obviously, but also carrots and potatoes, all home-grown at the farm. They also fried up some trout from the lake, though I opted for an omelet made with fresh eggs instead. JS loved the peppermint tea, where we put the little branches into our hot water and let it soak up the flavor. I found a lot of little bugs in mine, but shrugged and considered it extra protein.  Our walk back took us through where all the sheep were staked or running around as well as past the cows, who had mooed occasionally throughout the meal. They were only the first of many animals we saw on these farms.

After saying goodbye to the family, we got back into the boat and headed out toward the island where we would spend the night. Normally, the family comes out to greet you at the dock, but apparently they were having a problem with their water tank when we got there and didn't realize we'd arrived. Once they did, they showed us to the little hut we would be staying in, which was a one room circle with two little beds, covered in four blankets each. Even with that, the family asked us if we had brought out sleeping bags, as it became quite cold after the sun set and the only electricity they had were dim lightbulbs; no heaters. When we told them no, they gave us two more blankets each.

I was pretty nervous about the night at that point, but we wandered around the island a bit before Manuel took us to the little museum on the island which had been started only four years ago when the high lake water had revealed a grave site. The museum contained several skeletons of women not unlike what we had seen at the Chauchilla Cemetery. They were folded up in the fetal position, wrapped in excellently woven blankets, with their things ready to be taken with them to the next life. 

After poking around there for a bit, we hiked to the top of the island to watch the sun set from the ruins there. The hike felt a lot more difficult than it would have elsewhere because of the elevation, and I had to stop several times to catch my breath on the steeper uphills. But we had a lovely view of the sunset, and Manuel told us about the arch found at the top of the island, saying how the Spanish made arches over everything when they arrived to show their conquering. I only then realized how many arches we'd been seeing in the other towns, in front of churches and elsewhere.

After the sun went down, it was definitely cold. I had five layers on and was still shivering in our little hut. But after a hot dinner, again made from food grown on their farm, I dove under the covers, covered up my head, and slept as best I could.

I only tossed and turned a bit that night, and was happy to awaken to sunlight and warmth again. After feeding us a nice breakfast, we bid our family adieu, having presented them with our thanks in the form of some fruit and staples, such as pasta, rice and sugar, as well as a bag of American cookies, which they seemed pretty excited about.  Then one of the sons set up his sailboat, which was pretty much a rowboat with a homemade sail and mast, and took us across the water to another island, Amantani. We walked around the island a bit, seeing the local morning market and passing the main square as well as several schools. At one of them, we came across another group of tourists and a number of locals playing a friendly game of volleyball and decided to join them. After winning at that, my team then found it fit to beat them equally well at a game of soccer. It was a little rough playing in the higher elevation, but I again felt like I was getting better as time went on.

We parted ways with the other group and went on to another local home for another home cooked meal. But this time, we had to earn it. We went out with one of the women and helped take the cows out to a different pasture, which mostly only meant we walked behind the cows as she led them. I did manage to make one of them try to headbutt JS accidentally, though, as we were helping stake them down. We were really probably more of a hindrance than a help, but it was fun.

After a meal of fried cheese, rice, tomato and avocado, we headed back to our boat for the long ride back. It was pretty relaxing to kick back and nap a bit on the water. But tomorrow is the ten hour bus ride to Cuzco--yikes! Luckily, there will be a few leg stretching stops along the way.