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Taquile Island Travel Blogs

Background: Ancient Peru was the seat of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose empire was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peruvian independence was declared in 1821, and remaining Spanish forces defeated in 1824. After a dozen years of military rule, Peru returned to democratic leadership in 1980, but experienced economic problems and the growth of a violent insurgency. President Alberto FUJIMORI's election in 1990 ushered in a decade that saw a dramatic turnaround in the economy and significant progress in curtailing guerrilla activity. Nevertheless, the president's increasing reliance on authoritarian measures and an economic slump in the late 1990s generated mounting dissatisfaction with his regime. FUJIMORI won reelection to a third term in the spring of 2000, but international pressure and corruption scandals led to his ouster by Congress in November of that year. A caretaker government oversaw new elections in the spring of 2001, which ushered in Alejandro TOLEDO as the new head of government; his presidency has been hampered by allegations of corruption.

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By samandanna
November 28th 2008

Catching up on Peru...

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

Hi everyone! Its been a little while since we´ve written anything, so this entry is going to cover most of our 4 weeks in Peru. We´ll try to keep it relatively brief, hitting the highlights from each spot, but there is a lot to talk about. We also attached a lot of pictures to this entry that range from the farm up until we arrived in Cuzco. After leaving Mancora, the Northern Beach hotspot in Peru, we headed towards Lima, stopping for a few days a piece in the major Northern towns of Chiclayo, Cajamarca and Trujillo. Chiclayo is a city [View Full Entry]

By dinosontour
November 1st 2008

Lake Titicaca

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

Very nice view of Quito from the cble car.

Back to Quito now and a final meal and drink with the guy’s and gal’s from the trip to the Galapagos Islands and my first ever Mojito, not bad. Three of us are travelling together to the Inca trail and Machupicchu, Gary and Vickey. They both live in Sittingbourne, just along the road from me, so we have a lot in common to talk about. We, the three Amigo’s, got up early to catch a 7.15 flight only to find it had been cancelled. They put us on the next flight at 18.15. Our theory is that they only had enough [View Full Entry]

James with the silly hat........and its raining.

By cathy gareth
September 28th 2008

lake titicca

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

lake titicca
its very pretty

we got a boat out on lake titicca to see the uros people who live on floating reed islands in the middle of the lake. we also stayed with a family and went to a party dressed up in traditional clothes! very groovy indeed. [View Full Entry]

By Doc Nic
August 21st 2008

No tequila on Taquile, but plenty of beer

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

Reed boats
This is what we got a ride in. They look like the viking boats

The last (real) day of the trip began like the others, with runny eggs (I skipped this time) and really strong, viscous coffee. I feel like our hotel stays were like a pyramid -- began low with the Amazon, peaked with the 5-star hotel in Lima, then slid back down the ramp to this little inn in the crappy city of Puno, and ending with practically camping on the island (unless you count sleeping on the plane as the end, which was really the perfect ending). Waking up in the 12,000 ft atmosphere, my mucous membranes were so dry that my [View Full Entry]

By mich1978
July 13th 2008

Heading for the lake

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

Well I made a decision, staying over night on one of the islands on Titicaca. I´m not sure which one as I couldn´t understand the hotel manager who booked it for me. I think I will be staying at the home of one of the locals. Should be an experience. Puno is horrible, quite intimidating. Although that may just have been as I was in the town at night. Full of beggars and deformed people for some reason. Couldn´t find anywhere to upload my photos either. More soon xx [View Full Entry]

By Bec in Quito
June 22nd 2008

The Floating Islands

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

A local floating islander

The Floating Islands, Lake Titicaca Although 41 natural islands dot Lake Titikaka’s waters it also plays host around 30 manmade islands - created from their very foundations by their inhabitants. These people are resourceful with a capital Reed. They build their islands, houses and means of transport solely out of the native reeds (and they even eat them too). By using the reeds’ root blocks they build the island foundations. They cut them loose from the bed of the lake where they pop up much like corks. By joining together multiple sections of this material with sticks [View Full Entry]

By The Wandering TD
June 15th 2008

Peru - Day 9 - Taquile and Amantani

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

Well, I'm finally updating this blog, after having been neglecting it for quite some time. Today is July 4th, so this entry is a good 3 weeks overdue! We woke up early for breakfast on the rooftop patio at the restaurant (coca tea was Definately in order after all those stairs!), and met downstairs in the lobby at 7:30am. We were met by our guide Marco, who would be with us the whole time out on Lake Titicaca. We all headed outside and hopped in our "Limousines" for the downhill trip to the harbour. Now, when I say Limousines, what I [View Full Entry]

By mbrown
June 6th 2008

Taquile And The Floating Islands

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

Flag Parade Taquile Island

We took a boat tour on to Lake Titicaca to see the floating islands. The people make these islands with reeds, 40 in total. Each belongs to a family. They have their own barter system, cultural norms and laws. We then went on to Tequile Island a few hours boat ride away. We happned on to a flag day celebration. The children here are amazing and so sweet. This island is almost autonomous as well, with the primary language being Quechua, the Inka´s language. [View Full Entry]

By Les Tichats
June 1st 2008

Le lac Titicaca et ses iles - Lake Titicaca and its islands

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

On quitte Puno - Leaving Puno

Le Lac Titicaca est le lac navigable le plus haut du monde (3800 metres). Le nom vient du Quechua (langue inca) qui signifie "Le Rocher au Puma" du a sa population de pumas autour(aujourd´hui rares). On y trouve plusieurs iles dont les habitants ont su garder leurs traditions. Certaines remontent a une periode pre-inca, ce qui est admirable si elles persistent aujourd´hui. Les iles sont separees par la langue: dans certaines, on parle Quechua, dans d´autres, on parle Aymara. La culture Aymara remonte avant les Incas et etaient d´ailleurs un peuple feroce qui a survecu a l´invasion Inca. Les Qu [View Full Entry]

By tnemec
April 7th 2008

Jezero Titicaca (2): Plovouci ostrovy a ostrovy Amantani a Taquile

South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island

Rakosova lod

Hned na hranici jsem si vsim dalsi atrakce: tahle byla typicka pro Peru, v Bolivii jsem ji nezpatril - taxiky - motorikolky, jak nekde v indii. Vpredu ridic, vzadu misto pro dva, cely pod takovou hadrovou kapotou. Cesta do Puna trvala tri hodiny. Nechal jsem se premluvit a ubytoval se v hostelu od ridice. Celkem prostej, ale slusnej krcalek za malo penez a navic v centru. Co se mi ale nepodarilo, premluvit sprchu aby tekla tepla voda. Recepcni se to na chvilicku povedlo a hned zmizela. Jak zmizela, prestala tyct i tepla voda. Nakonec jsem se teda musel oplachnout v ledove [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » South America » Peru » Puno » Lake Titicaca » Taquile Island