On our way to the island, David told us about Lake Titicaca. It covers over 5000 square miles with 55% of it in Peru and 45% in Bolivia. It is the highest navigable lake in the world with a depth of 900 feet and is glacier fed. The average water temperature ranges between 37-41degrees F. I don't think I will be taking a swim here! He joked that these are "Jesus" cows because they can walk on water. Because of global warming, the lake has been losing water and it was very shallow in this area!
The islands are not natural islands, but are man-made. We visited "Big Fish" Island which is one of the biggest. There are five families (17 people) who live there.
New reeds were near the "landing" area of the island.
There are about 2000 people that live in the entire community and most speak the Aymara language. Jose, the president of the island showed us how they make the islands. The members go to the swamping area and cut large sections of the root layer that is similar to cork and pull it to where they want their island and tie the sections together. They are anywhere from 12-20 feet long. They then gather the reed material and place it on top between 7-8 feet deep. They now have solar so they have access to electricity but life is pretty basic.
This was the inside of one of the houses. The women do weavings and sell them to tourists at a very reasonable price.
There are two primary schools located on the islands and a secondary school. After our tour we had the chance to ride in one of the boats for 15Sol (about $4USD). We checked out the "rowing" seats!
Our ride across the channel was interesting and made us appreciate the customs and traditions of these peole. The Uros people live very much the same as their ancestors did and still follow the ancient customs and traditions, although most of them do also have a motorized boat.
The island below is another island.
Our stop in the Uros Islands.
On the way back to Puno in our motorized boat we saw other motorized boats carrying reeds back to their islands to refresh their ground.
We arrived back in Puno City and had a short orientation walking tour of the city center and had time for lunch on our own. We shared an Alpaca plate and were happy with our choice. It had a very nice flavor and came with french fries and veggies.
We then walked around and saw the Cathedral Basilica San Carlos Borromeo. It wasn't open so we couldn't go inside, but we were treated to a fun surprise.
Students were practicing for a marching band competition in front of the church.
If you want to hear what they sounded like, you can click on this link:
https://youtu.be/jVJmuOaDRUA Below is the Central Square.
After lunch we were back on the bus on our way to the pre-Incan burial grounds of Sillustani on the shoes of Lake Umayo. The tombs on this site are built above ground in tower-like stone structures, which house the remains of nobles and complete familly groups. The tombs, or "chullpas" were sometimes more than 35 feet tall. They pre-date the Incas and are from the Colla people.
We wondered how they were able to build the structures so high with such large stones. In the picture below you can see they built a ramp and moved the stones that way. Once the tomb was completed, they took the ramp apart!
This tomb was at the top of the hill.
One family lives on the flat island. They tend llamas, alpacas, and vicunas.
One family lives on the flat island. They tend llamas, alpacas, and vicunas.
Every day this woman rows across the lake and brings this baby vicuna to the ruins and you can take pictures with her for 1Sol (about 25Cent USD!)
We had our walk back down the hill to the little village and back on the bus to our hotel.
We spotted a fire as we made our way back to Puno. It was a "controlled" burn that got out of hand with the wind. Our guide said this happens all too often because the area is so dry and it gets very windy.
We spotted a fire as we made our way back to Puno. It was a "controlled" burn that got out of hand with the wind. Our guide said this happens all too often because the area is so dry and it gets very windy.
We had about an hour after getting back to the hotel before part of our group went back to town for dinner at a rotisserie chicken restaurant. We both ordered 1/4 chicken but should have shared one. It was HUGE, and we both left over half the order.
It also came with chicken foot soup. I traded mine with one of the other women because she was Chinese and didn't get a chicken foot in hers and I did. The soup itself was good, I just had a little trouble with the chicken foot.
It was a late night and we have an early departure (7:30am) tomorrow, so that's all!
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