Puno and the Floating Islands

Day 138 – No floating toilets

Clean in the centre, but even grubbier than Copacabana everywhere else, we were only stopping in Puno for two reasons – to avoid being stuck in a not very fun part of Bolivia and to see the floating islands.

We organised a 9am tour, but only got there just in time due to our breakfast taking an inordinate amount of time to be made (causing us to take a doggie bag). The tour bus took us down to the dock and onto another ferry across Lake Titicaca about 30 minutes to the floating island settlement.

There are 42 islands, the original Uros inhabitants originally opted for this type of civilisation as a defensive mechanism. Nowadays the primary reason for maintaining the islands is for tourism and only about 10% of the original population still live on an island.

We arrived at Taipi Kili for a demonstration about how the islands are made and also some insight into island life and then sent to explore the island.

Ferry boats chock-a-block waiting to take tourists to the islands.

Tortora reed huts on Taipi Kili, the name of the particular little island our boat stopped at.

The white part of the Tortora reed can be eaten before it is dried for building material.

The head of the island shows us how the islands are built.

The ladies make handicrafts such as weaving and miniature tortora reed boats to sell to tourists.

Across the channel to another set of islands and the one with the school on it.

One of the youngsters on the island particularly enjoyed tormenting the daily throng of tourists, running and throwing himself at them and hanging off their arms. I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine by swinging him around by his feet, which he thought was a fantastic game, as did the other kids who immediately lined up for a turn!

Island life!

The local mode of transport.

The Yavari, was built in England, shipped around Cape Horn in pieces, transported part of the way from the coast by train, before finally being transported over the Andes by mule. All-in-all it took 6 years for it to get from England onto Lake Titicaca! At the moment it is stationary in its home, although we heard rumours that it was currently being restored to sail tourists around on the lake.

Back in town we had an Indian influenced lunch and then were on a bus to Arequipa 6 hours down the road.