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Published: January 25th 2007
Islas Flotantes
Woman adding reed grass to the floor of a hutWe have officially arrived in our 4th country, Peru. At first glance, Peru is strikingly similar, though a little more expensive than its neighbor, Bolivia. Once we arrived in Peru, we continued to explore the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. The first island visited was a floating island made entirely of reed grass. This so-called ´floating island´first became inhabited due to Incan conquest and expansion, pressuring local tribes to seclude themselves to a sort of safe haven. We learned that the island must be constantly rebuilt with reed grass to avoid sinking. We then travelled 3 more hours on the lake to our next island, Amantani, where we slept and ate with a local family and frequently visited their outhouse of straw. The lunch and dinner of fresh quinoa cooked in the small, brick kitchen was a treat for us all. Upon our return to land in Puno, Peru the next day, we boarded a bus for Arequipa, Peru, a near-by city to Colca Canyon. Arequipa is a small, remakable city, vastly different than most cities we have visited up to this point. Driving into the city, the main plaza opens up to reveal its Spanish-Incan-colonial architecture. We visited a museum
famous for its exhibit of a young Incan girl, Sarita, sacrificed 500 years ago into an Andean volcano. Discovered recently in 1996, the girl is preserved in an ice chamber, similar to Blake Smith´s gameday cooler. We then boarded a 6 hr bus to Colca Canyon, officially the world´s second-deepest canyon, only 163m short of its neighbor. After treasuring mac-&-cheese on the gas stoves in our adobe bedroom, we boarded an early local transit (aka a dirty, smelly Peruvian bus) to a near-by cliff famous for its condor-sightings. For 4 hrs, we hackeyed and shot stones from our slingshots, while a bombardment of condors soared (like a drunk hang-glider without a compass/whistle/mag glass/themometer). We retreated back to Arequipa, where we will board an overnight bus to Cuzco. oh yea, elise got spit on by a llama sitting in our path and graham lost his debit card, emma learned a new tune on her clinking goat hooves, and gordo grew a moustache similar to the famous folger´s coffee guy
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Barry
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Great Pictures
We downloaded all the absolutely great pictures. To be there in person has to be a mind blowing experience. Best of luck and a safe journey to Machu Picchu. Love to all, Barry