Islas Flotantes de los Uros, Amantani, and Taquile Island (Lago Titicaca)

Friday morning we left Urubamba. and headed to Cusco, we spend the evening there before catching our night bus to Puno, Peru. Puno is a city in southeastern Peru, located on the shore of Lake Titicaca....our kids always giggle when saying that name...so immature! lol...ok we do too.

So far all our travelling has been via air, and we wanted to check out bus travel in Peru. Wyatt did some research on Bus companies in Peru, and we decided to go with Cruz del Sur. They seemed really thorough. They had breathalyzer tests for the driver, they checked everyone's ID, and took a video of everyone on board. The seats were super comfy, and they provided a snack on board. As we told our kids, this is probably the one and only time that we can travel "first class" as a family. We were very impressed with their service, and honestly it was a lot less stressful than air travel.

A few weeks ago we had walked over to the bus terminal in Cusco, and purchased our bus tickets to Puno. While at the bus terminal we met a travel agent in the Cruz del Sur booth who sold us a tour to Puno's floating islands. The tour was supposed to include transfers, meals, a night with a host family in one of the islands, and it sounded pretty good, so we paid a deposit, and agreed to pay the rest of the tour upon arrival in Puno. Wyatt and I were both VERY impressed with the level of organization these tours have. Upon arriving at the Puno Bus terminal at 5:30 am, there was a guy with a little sign with my name. He took us to our Airbnb host's home where we dropped off our luggage, and then he took us to a hotel where we could rest, shower, and have breakfast before beginning our tour.

At 7:45 am the hotel staff drove us to the port here in Puno, where we boarded a big boat for our tour.

Maija and Terran on our tour boat.

Our boat looked a little like this one

Day 1. We started our tour by visiting the floating Islands of the Uros. I apologize for the number of photos, but it was such a beautiful place. The Uros are an indigenous people of Peru and Bolivia. They live on an approximate and still growing 120 self-fashioned floating islands made of dried totora reeds which grow in the lake. The islands are anchored with ropes attached to sticks that are driven into the bottom of the lake. The islands last about thrity years, also the locals use solar power. We met an Aymara speaking group, in other areas the Uros people also speak Quechua.

Maija, Wyatt and Terran after arriving to the first floating island of our tour

An Uro woman showing us her artisanal works

An Uro family home. I am continually impressed by the simplicity of the homes we are seeing. Inside the home it housed 3 people, it had a bed, clothing, and a radio powered by the solar panel you see there.

Our family by an arch made of Totora reeds

Local fish from Lake Titicaca. We learned that in the 1940's rainbow trout was introduced to lake Titicaca from none other than CANADA!

This is a romantic taxi...

Bigger vessels are built for tourist to visit the islands. We rode one of these Mercedes Benz of the Lake. 

The kids loved the cat heads on these boats.

After about an hour of presentations, visiting the families, and checking out their markets. We headed to Amantani. The boat ride there took about 3 hours, and that was not even 1/10th of the width across the largest part of the lake. Lake Titicaca is HUGE.

When we arrived in Amantani we met the families that would host our family for the night. Mama Virginia was so warm, and she took us back to her home to rest, and have some lunch. She told us that most of the time the people of Amantani keep a vegetarian diet. She made us Quinoa soup, fried cheese, and various boiled potatoes. I'm not much of a vegetarian, but the lunch was delicious. I will be looking  for a good recipe for Quinoa soup when we get home.

At the top of our boat on our way to Amantani

Our Mamas and Tatas waiting for us upon arrival to the island.

Lake Titicaca from Amantani

Wyatt had to duck a lot in Amantani...who am I kidding, he has to duck everywhere!

Corn, potato, sweet potatoes, fried cheese, and fresh vegetables.

Monica at Mama Virginia's house

Our guide Joel and Mama Virginia teaching us about offerings to Pachamama, and Pachatata

 After some good food, and rest we had some free time to explore the island. Our family decided (ok, Wyatt and I decided) to walk up to the Pachamama temple, which according to our guide, had the best view of the Lake, and is a sacred site to the locals.

An altar on the way up to the Pachamama temple

Maija and Terran walking up to the temple

Another beautiful view of Lake Titicaca

It felt like we were on top of the world...at almost 4000 m above sea level maybe we were a little bit.

Maija and Terran joking around

Sunset from the Temple of Pachamama

We returned home to a yummy dinner, and then Mama Virginia lent us some typical clothes so we could attend the evening's festivities. We were all very tired, but decided to hit the party for a little bit.

All dressed up and ready to party with Mama Virginia

Dancing Peruvian style....Terran even started to break dance.

We were all super tired, so after only about 3 or 4 song we headed home....a fun day was had by all.