The Islands of Lake Titicaca

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So after a beautiful bus ride from Cusco to Puno we were excited to visit Lake Titicaca. Devon was still under the weather and was on day 2 with no food/water! A tough cookie, she still was eager to do an overnight stay with a family on one of the islands on Lake Titicaca. In the end, we opted not to spend the night on one of the Islands given the temperature and Devon´s illness. However, we took a nice, although touristy day tour on a boat yesterday. The tour visited some families on the floating islands and a woman showed us her home. It had a solar panel where she could power one light bulb and her tv. The islands are built on the roots of these long reeds that grow in the water. They also eat the reeds like bananas and then use the husks for the flooring of the island. Stepping on it seems like your almost stepping on a water bed. Some say these floating islands were completely created for the wooing of tourists. The story they tell the tourists is that, at the time of the Inca Civilization, the Incas gave the indegenious people an ultimatum - to join the Incas and start hauling rocks for building projects or to get off the land and live on the lake, in boats. Apparantly, the people chose the latter and eventually starting building floating islands to live on instead of boats. These islands we visited were undoubtebly catered to tourists with little shops and vendors everywhere.

Our tour then took us to a natural, larger island. It had incredible views of the lake and was less touristy. The people of the island did not use money to exchange goods between families that lived on this island. Males wore hats showing that they were single, married, or a leader. Women wore black head scarves to protect them from the sun. They wore black as they considered the colour to carry respect. We stopped to eat in a beautiful little building overlooking the island and the lake. I ate trout and rice and potato chips- the meal was really good! They also made a really nice Quinoa soup. Devon was able to enjoy the soup! It was a beautiful sunny day all day yesterday. Last night we saw a procession on the main street in Puno. Catholics here get together and follow a live band and dance in the street😊 There are christmas decorations up in the restaurants and people seem excited about Christmas. Last night we had dinner with a couple from Ottawa (Gwen and Phil) who we have run into a couple of times on tours and buses. I had some great pork (the night before I actually tried Cuy aka guinea pig) and Devon had some delicious hen soup. They were so nice and paid for our dinner! Today is another nice day and we are heading off to Arequipa at 3 pm by bus. We should be in Arequipa for a few days. Stayed tuned for more adventures.

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