Today was a great day, firstly because there were no long bus rides! We left our big bags in the hotel and packed up our small knapsacks. After learning our lesson in Colca where we froze, we stuffed our packs with many many many warm layers! Our guide Roger nicknamed us "the happy group," though I'm sure he does with this all his tours. He directed us outside where a row of rickshaws "the local limousines" awaited us! We took a ten minute ride to the port of Puno, on Lake Titicaca. This is a huge lake that belongs half to Peru and half to Bolivia. Though Roger likes to say he is pretty sure its more 60/40. We boarded a boat, the P.U.N.O, that was just for our group of 14. We learnt that most people in this region speak several native languages more often than spanish. Our first stop was at the floating islands. This was so cool! The islands are man made from reeds and their roots. Each is small and house around 6 families. We were told not to go behind the houses or we may sink (really though we think its where they hide their modern stuff) Then the guide showed us how they build the floating islands, which takes a lot of work and patience. Depending on the reason, they have to lay out new reeds once or twice a month to keep the surface from sinking. The kids go to an elementary school on one of the islands and then go to Puno for higher education. The people live very basic lives, with no electricity or running water, although they did have some tvs! With money from tourists, they are starting to buy solar panels. We spent some time on one of the islands and got tours of their houses. We also bought some "local" souvenirs being sold by the family. They are supposedly hand made by the people on the floating islands though we were suspicious since they looked like the stuff in shops in Puno. Emily bought a pillow case, Lisa a tapestry and both of us bought some reed boat things. Then we took a relaxing ride on a life-sized reed boat that took us to another island where we were able to get our passports stamped.
We got back on the "real" boat and after a couple of hours we arrived at our homestay island, Amantani. The main activity on the island is agriculture which is used to feed the inhabitants of the island. The women usually spend the day knitting hats and cooking. These peoples' ancestors were a pre-Inca people, and they figured out a lot of cool things, such as using terraces for agriculture in order to grow things at such high altitude. All the guides are really adamant to tell us about the pre- Inca civilizations. Even though the Incas are the most famous, they didn't invent things, rather they improved them. Around 8 years ago, the island started housing tourists, and they have used the money to buy solar panels and build up their homes.
We arrived at around one o'clock, and were met by our new 'mama' who took us back to her home where we met her son Bryan. We were rooming with Beth who is from B.C. so we were able to hand the family some Canadian souvenirs. After dropping our stuff off in our rooms, our mama took us into the kitchen where we were able to help prepare lunch. We tried to peel and wash the potatoes though our mama put us to shame with her quick hands. Lunch was absolutely delicious. On the island they are all vegetarians and they love Quinoa! We had a quinoa soup with potatoes and carrots and herbs... Yum yum yum. Then we had some Okra/Ochra potatoes that were so sweet it was hard to stop eating. After lunch our mama gave us some hand knitted hats before dropping us off at the main square. We met the rest of the group there and headed off on a short hike to the island top. It is quite shocking the way the altitude impairs your breathing. We had to take many breaks along the way. What's interesting though is that you regain your breath very quickly. We finally made it to the top. Lots of young kids were there selling bracelets which we were warned not to buy as it encourages kids to not pay attention in school. Instead we looked around and waited for the sunset. While killing some time, we made two friends from New York/ Vermont who we nicknamed "better versions of ourselves" mainly because they were in skinny jeans, volunteered beforehand, planned their own tour and were going to costa rica for vacation after their time in Peru...needless to say we were jealous! Then we hiked back down the hill, had dinner, a short siesta and then came the highlight of the day - the disco! Our mama dressed us up in native wear, a blouse, skirt, belt and headdress and led us to the disco. The boys wore hats and ponchos. Once there we danced the local dances similar to the tango and horrah. We shared some dances with our mama and papa as well as our new friends! It was a spectacular evening. By 9:30 we were wiped out and headed back to our home for bed. Tomorrow we head back to Puno for one night... and then CUSCO!
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